installation, fastening & attachment
Fastening Poly Greenhouse Plastic to Rafters
Inner Supports were built when framing. Then, the main piece of poly plastic was added to finished frame. Poly plastic for the ends will be added next.
Poly plastic must never be attached with bare staples or nails. Some sort of strip must be used to spread the stress of the attachment point. Here are three appropriate choices.
Cinchstrap
If you want something smoother and more attractive than wooden lath, try our Cinchstrap. Cinchstrap is plastic lath: an attractive white high-density ultraviolet stabilized polyethylene strip.
The white reflects the heat, keeping the poly plastic on the rafters cooler. Being smooth it does not abrade the poly in strong winds. It bends easily around curves and corners, unlike wood lath. It's flexible, tough and durable. But it can be cut with sharp scissors. It's almost 2" wide. It's simple and fast to apply. Some nail it down on each stud so that the poly rests on the smooth surface of the strap. This helps prevent abrasion. Then nailed on top of the poly plastic. You can use those big headed roofings or shingle nails. This strapping can also be used thrown over the poly plastic side to reduce flapping.
Polyfastener
Polyfastener is a smooth, white, 2-piece system for clamping the poly greenhouse plastic to the frame without making holes in the poly plastic. It is used on the outside/perimeter rafters and base. It is especially used on steel-arched greenhouses, where you can't nail down the poly on every rafter. With Polyfastener, our poly greenhouse plastic can be installed on a cold day and when it gets hot you can easily remove the insert strip in the Polyfastener and re-tighten the poly plastic. This can be done repeatedly without any puncturing of the poly plastic, since it is clamped rather than nailed.
Wooden Lath
Wood lath is harder on poly plastic. These are strips of wood perhaps 1/4" thick by 1 & 1/2" wide. Sometimes you can get lath free from lumberyards where it's often used as spacers between lumber, some of my customers do that. You can sand them smooth to lessen abrasion and lengthen poly life. Or use white carpet. Poly plastic disintegrates first beneath the wooden lath.
Optional: To reduce abrasions, insert an additional strip of woven poly plastic between the woven poly plastic sheet and the lath. The smoother and whiter the surface of the rafter, the better it is for the poly plastic to reduce heat, so sand and paint if using wood.
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