1. AREAS OF USE: Virtually unlimited. Successfully tested in the cold
Canadian Yukon and Northwest Territories, Alaska, and in all areas
of the United States and of Canada, from the Arctic Circle to South America,
from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from one end to the other of the great
central regions of our continent. Used by hobbyists, backyard gardeners,
farmers, and commercial growers.
2. ULTRAVIOLET STABILIZER AS PROTECTION:
Ultraviolet solar radiation lies just beyond the violet end of the
visible spectrum. It quickly breaks down untreated plastic, sometimes in
5 months in high radiation areas such as the prairies and plains, where
there is less cloud cover and water vapor in the air. Our clear woven
poly is treated on both sides and in the middle to resist UV breakdown.
This is not always true of other brands of woven polys. Some are UV stabilized
on only one side, or only in the outside coatings. Some brands are not
UV stabilized at all. We sell only UV stabilized poly in our clear woven
polys.
3. LIFE EXPECTANCY:
Most of our customers get at least 2-3 years and some get 7 years or
more in shaded or cloudy areas. Poly life depends on quality of installation,
operation and weather factors. Specifically: Placing the rafters close
enough to minimize flapping in wind, cross bracing the structure and/or
rafters to prevent vibration in the wind, sanding the rafters smooth, wrapping
the rafters with plastic, installing on a warm day to get plastic tight,
keeping kids and shovel blades off the poly, protection from severe thunderstorm
winds, freedom from large, jagged, gale driven hailstones, and amount of
sunshine. Because we cannot be there in person to inspect your installation,
and to give you pointers on how to improve your poly life, we do not give
a warranty, except for commercial growers. For commercial growers
with the warranty being limited to the prorated cost of the poly for the
unexpired months of the warranty. We do not give any warranty for cost
of produce lost, labor, or other problems. Our prorated warranty covers
poly cost only, as explained above.
4. WATER AND CHEMICAL RESISTANCE:
Triple layered woven poly is waterproof, rot and mildew resistant,
and resistant to most chemicals (inorganic acids, alkalis, aqueous salt
solutions) - particularly important in coastal areas like B.C., the Maritimes,
Washington, Oregon, Atlantic states, and Gulf Coast.
5. PUNCTURE, PINHOLE, & CAT RESISTANCE:
Punctures are the bane of unwoven plastics. And pinholes or punctures
can easily expand like a tear in your pants. Our woven poly's thickness,
density, and cross-weave is very resistant to punctures. I sometimes strike
my greenhouse covering with a rake handle and so far, no holes. It has
a higher impact resistance than glass.
TEST IT YOURSELF- Puncture our woven poly with a nail. Try to expand
the hole with your finger, you'll find resistance to expansion due to the
cross-weave. Just try this same test with your regular poly. Now make a
hole with pin. Grab the borders of the plastic & quickly flex the plastic
like a strong wind. Watch the hole vanish as the tightly woven fibers wiggle
in to fill the hole.
6. STRENGTH & TOUGHNESS:
The dense cross-weave makes our super strong woven poly stronger than
the thicker non-woven plastics. Thus its thickness, weave, high density,
and lamination all add up to extra toughness. Try tearing it with your
hands. If you can tear it, write me (and mention the size of your hands).
Two more "strength experiments". The following experiments can be performed
at your own risk. We don't really recommend them. Please make sure you
use safety equipment and common sense to protect yourself and others from
harm if you try them. Most of you will find it safer and more convenient
to just conduct the experiments in your mind and imagine the results, based
on what you know. "Experiment A" (Please remember safety precautions!)
Try throwing rocks at our poly, regular poly, and glass. The results of
this experiment will persuade you that our products have greater strength.
Strength is important to resist rocks and branches, to resist hail, high
winds, animals such as dogs, cats, and rodents, neighboring kids, and heavy
snow loading.
"Experiment B" (Please remember safety precautions!) Tack down tightly
a piece of woven poly on a frame the same size as a discarded framed window.
Do the same with regular unwoven poly and glass. Jack up all three frames
a few inches off the ground. Then (in appropriate safety gear only) start
walking by turns on the glass, the plain poly, and the woven poly. Tell
me which two break first, better still, tell others! Again our woven poly
wins! And you win, if you choose to use it for your buildings and projects!
7. STRETCH & SAG RESISTANCE:
Our woven poly is highly resistant to stretch due to the dense tight
weave. Try stretching it & stretching regular polys. Once regular poly
is stretched it can sag inviting destructive flapping in gales. Woven poly
will resist stretching & keep its original tautness well under stress.
8. COLD WEATHER RESISTANCE:
Most materials, including plastics, contract in cold weather like mercury
in a thermometer. Formerly I covered my greenhouse with ordinary 6 mil
poly. At low temperatures regular 6 mil poly turned very brittle and shatter
prone. One frigid day a winter gale lashed that ordinary plastic, shattering
it into thousands of shreds blowing them over the countryside. Woven poly
has less contraction and less brittleness than non-woven polys. The dense
cross-weave fibers resist contraction and give it added strength to resist
cold brittleness. The thickness and lamination also add strength. Most
greenhouse polys in use are 2, 4, or 6 mils. Put some 10 mil woven poly
and regular poly in your freezer. While both are frozen solid try bending
and flexing them. Since most freezers are only at 0 degrees F., it's more
effective to try the test outdoors after temperatures dip to 30 or 40 below
zero. Our woven poly has resistance to cold- cracking down to minus 100
degrees F.
9. HOT WEATHER RESISTANCE:
Plastic expands in the heat. The dense poly weave of woven plastic
stands up well here in summer storms. If you want to test it, mount it
and brand X on two identical frames corresponding to the space between
2 of your greenhouse rafters. Turn your house temperature up to 95 degrees.
Watch the results.
10. WIND RESISTANCE:
Our woven poly is highly resistant to wind stress at any temperature
due to its strength. This is important on hot days (#9) when the greenhouse
is even hotter inside than out, and it's important on cold days (#8) when
the winds of winter howl mercilessly.
11. HAIL RESISTANCE:
I hate hail. Many greenhouse owners fear hail more than heat cold,
or gales. Large jagged wind-blown hailstones can destroy non-woven coverings
& the crops in seconds. Small hailstones have taken paint off my house.
Our woven poly is resistant to hailstones due to its thickness lamination,
high density and the tight weave. Small hail bounces off it like a kid
on a trampoline. If you live in a hail prone area, a steeper angle is better
ideally. It is cheaper to cover a greenhouse with plastic than with glass
if you get repeated devastating hail storms. It's also easier and faster
to install or replace in an emergency.
12. LIGHT PROPERTIES:
Woven poly is not clear like glass. It is translucent, diffusing light
in all directions.
A. DIFFUSION: In full sunlight I can read and am not blinded by the
light since a soft, diffused, uniform, glare free light is produced by
our woven poly. House plants thrive, the carpet doesn't fade, and strangers
can't see in. A few of our customers run photographic studios & one
studio owner told us our woven poly creates the ideal conditions for color
work and editing because of the bright clear well diffused light.
B. LIGHT TRANSMISSION:
Most plants require 65% to 85% of available light for optimum growth.
Woven poly light transmission is very favorable compared to greenhouse
fiberglass. Commercial greenhouses need maximum growing light. Rafters
can be farther apart than for glass permitting more light as well. Optimum
light transmission remains high throughout the poly life due to protection
from the yellowing or discoloring common to many other coverings.
C. ENTRAPMENT & INTENSITY: The WEAVE reflects and "traps" light,
lowering light escape, bouncing it around like a frosted mirror. Many comment
how bright it is in a woven poly greenhouse on a cloudy day.
D. TRANSLUCENCE PROTECTS AGAINST LEAF BURN (SO NO
WHITEWASH OR SHADE CLOTH): Leaf burn is a common problem under clear
glass or plastic, especially on hot, clear, windless days. The solution
used to be to whitewash and/or add light shading materials such as shade
cloth or lath. An undesirable side effect of whitewash is that the light
reduction is permanent, even on cloudy days when you don't want it. In
many cases shade cloth or whitewash are not even needed with woven polys
nice even light distribution is produced. Woven poly provides an excellent
diffused light which is free of glare, hot spots, and sun shafts, thus
reducing or eliminating damaging leaf burn. The extra labor cost and extra
shading product cost is eliminated, all with no reduction in light.
E. TRANSLUCENCE DEVELOPS MORE UNIFORM PLANT SHAPE:
A clear covering on a sunny day casts intense shadows, in the greenhouse
corners and below rafters. Woven poly diffuses (scatters) the light similar
to a day with a high thin cloud cover where the light comes from all directions.
You may observe the lack of shadows. Woven poly acts as a dispersion screen
at no extra cost. This illuminates the plants from all directions, eliminating
shadows, and giving a more uniform plant shape. They won't become one sided
trying to face the sun.
F. TRANSLUCENCE DEVELOPS BETTER FRUIT & FLOWERS:
Hot spots and varying temperatures can lead to flower malformation
and decreased growth. Diffused (scattered) light reduces such fluctuations
and the moisture content of the buds and fruit becomes more uniform.
G. TRANSLUCENCE ALLOWS MORE GROWING AREA:
The need for re-racking (moving around) the plants is reduced as more
light reaches around and even in some cases under the benches.
13. LESS LEAKAGE:
The large width and length of poly panels mean less leaky joints and
less edge perimeter length. [On the domes, upper levels of triangles overlap
those below, to avoid leak problems.] This cuts down on leakage of water
and air. Little sealing is needed, compared to glass. It eliminates most
of the potentially expensive and drafty leaky joints typical of many glass
greenhouses.
14. HEAT LOSS MINIMIZED:
The flat surface has 20% less surface than corrugated types thus reducing
heat loss and requiring less energy to maintain the desired temperature.
15. SPEED OF INSTALLATION:
It's far quicker to install a wide sheet of woven poly than the smaller
widths and lengths of glass or solid plastics. Extra sealing time is eliminated.
Just nail edges down instead of using a caulking gun. [This is true with
the domes as well as other structures.] Also eliminated is the continual
re-puttying of edges that glass can require.
16. WOVEN POLY ALLOWS LIGHTER SUPPORTING STRUCTURES:
Glass requires a stronger, heavier more rigid structure, to carry the
dead weight. Poly is lighter and can thus be attached to a lighter frame.
17. WOVEN POLY ALSO ALLOWS LESS EXPENSIVE FOUNDATIONS:
Woven poly weighs less than glass and is not breakable. This eliminates
the need for heavy foundations which frequently have to be extended beneath
the frost line to prevent the heaving in spring which could break glass.
Such a foundation may cost more than the greenhouse itself. With woven
poly I can use free/cheap railway ties or tires for a very strong but cheap
foundation, which "floats" on a few inches of gravel.
USES OF SUPER STRONG WOVEN POLY
FARMING AND GARDENING: Small & large greenhouses, cold & hot
frames, pond & ditch covers and liners. I have lined wooden containers
with it for outdoor water troughs. I use it to cover broken shed &
barn windows. It's cheap, very fast to apply, hail resistant, and cat proof.
RECREATION: Pool covers, boat covers, tent floors, lightweight tents,
ground sheets, picnic windbreaks, protecting golf greens and playing surfaces.
AT HOME: I use woven poly on the outside of my house for storm windows
giving
privacy; also as a vapor barrier in the walls. I lined a wooden container
13 ft. long with it in the basement and filled with 5 tons of earth for
a waterproof basement garden.
INDUSTRY: Covering machines, salt piles, sand, gravel, earth; paint
drop sheets, container liners, fertilizer & grain bags, heavy duty
tarps, temporary garages & buildings, carpet rolls, heat exchangers.
Our clear woven poly is different than construction site poly. Our clear
woven poly contains an ultraviolet resistant stabilizer, but most woven
poly on construction sites is NOT treated to resist ultraviolet light breakdown.
Thanks to Bob Davis of Northern Greenhouse Sales
for the above information