6 Best High Tunnel Repair Kits For Storm Damage That Save Your Season
Quickly mend storm-damaged high tunnels. Our guide reviews the 6 best repair kits for patching film and bracing frames to salvage your growing season.
There’s no worse feeling than walking out after a big storm to see your high tunnel—the heart of your season extension—slashed and broken. The wind howls, a branch falls just right, and suddenly your carefully controlled environment is exposed to the elements. Your season, and all the work you’ve put in, hangs in the balance.
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Assessing Storm Damage Before You Buy a Kit
The first thing to do after a storm isn’t to start ordering supplies; it’s to take a deep, calming breath and assess the situation methodically. Before you even step inside, do a quick safety check for downed power lines or unstable sections of the frame. Your safety comes first, always.
Once it’s safe, start a full inspection, moving from the general to the specific. Look at the structure from a distance. Is it leaning? Does the ridgeline look straight? Then move closer and examine every component.
- Plastic Film: Note the type of damage. Is it a small, clean puncture from hail, a long rip along a purlin, or a completely shredded panel? The size and nature of the tear will dictate whether you need tape, a patch, or a whole new sheet.
- Frame: Sight down each hoop to check for bends or kinks. Heavy snow or wind can subtly deform a hoop, creating a weak point for future storms. Check purlins and cross-connectors for bends or breaks.
- Hardware: Don’t overlook the small stuff. Look for sheared bolts, wiggle wire that’s been pulled from its channel, or ground posts that have been lifted from the soil. These small failures can lead to catastrophic damage later.
A thorough assessment prevents you from buying a roll of tape when what you really need is a structural splice. It’s the difference between a five-minute fix and a five-week headache. Triage the damage into immediate, important, and long-term categories to build a smart repair plan.
Farmtek Poly Patch Kit for All-Purpose Tears
For those ugly, fist-sized holes and complex L-shaped tears, simple tape often isn’t enough. This is where a dedicated poly patch kit shines. Think of it less like a bandage and more like a skin graft for your high tunnel.
The Farmtek kit typically includes a piece of actual greenhouse film and a specialized adhesive. This is crucial because the patch will expand and contract with temperature changes at the same rate as your main cover, preventing stress and future tears around the repair. It creates a permanent, waterproof, and UV-stable bond that’s nearly invisible.
This is not a peel-and-stick job for a windy day, however. The process requires a clean, dry surface and a bit of patience to apply correctly. But for holes caused by flying debris or clumsy accidents with a tool, it provides the most durable, long-lasting repair short of replacing the whole film.
Bootstrap Farmer Woven Repair Tape for Rips
Long, straight rips are a different beast, often caused by the plastic rubbing against a hoop or purlin during high winds. For this, you need something with incredible tensile strength to stop the tear in its tracks. Bootstrap Farmer’s Woven Repair Tape is the perfect tool for the job.
This isn’t your average clear tape. It’s a reinforced, fabric-like tape with an incredibly aggressive adhesive designed to bond permanently to polyethylene film. The woven construction prevents the tear from continuing to run, which is something standard poly tapes can struggle with under high stress.
For the strongest possible repair, apply the tape to both the inside and outside of the rip. This creates a structural sandwich that can withstand serious wind and weather. It’s a fast, brutally effective fix for linear damage and a must-have in any grower’s emergency toolkit.
Grower’s Solution Splice for Bent Hoops
A bent hoop is a structural crisis. It compromises the arch’s integrity, creating a low spot that collects water or snow and a weak point that will likely fail in the next storm. Simply trying to bend it back into shape will only further weaken the metal.
The proper fix is a hoop splice. This is a short piece of steel tubing with a slightly larger diameter than your existing hoop. You carefully cut out the damaged, bent section of your hoop, then slide the splice over the two clean ends, securing it with self-tapping screws.
This repair is brilliant for the hobby farmer because it saves you from the cost and hassle of replacing an entire 20- or 30-foot hoop. It’s a targeted, surgical fix that fully restores the structural strength of the arch. Just be absolutely sure to measure the outer diameter of your hoops before ordering to ensure you get a splice that fits snugly.
Sun Master UV-Resistant Film Repair Tape
Not all damage requires heavy-duty woven tape or a full patch kit. For small punctures, pinholes, or sealing up the edges of a larger patch, a dedicated film repair tape is essential. The key feature to look for is in the name: UV-resistant.
Standard packing tape or other all-purpose tapes will fail spectacularly on a high tunnel. The constant sun exposure degrades the adhesive and turns the plastic brittle in a matter of months, leaving you with a peeling, yellowed mess and the original hole. Sun Master tape is formulated with UV inhibitors that allow it to last for years, just like the greenhouse film it’s repairing.
This tape is perfect for quick, preventative fixes. See a small abrasion from a tree branch? Tape it before it becomes a tear. Have a screw head you’re worried about? Cover it. It’s transparent, flexible, and ideal for minor sealing jobs where strength isn’t the primary concern.
Tunnel Vision Complete System for Major Damage
Sometimes, the damage is just too much for a kit. A fallen tree, a microburst, or a massive snow load can leave you with a twisted wreck of bent steel and shredded plastic. In these moments, you have to shift your thinking from repair to rebuilding.
This is where a supplier like Tunnel Vision, which specializes in complete high tunnel kits, becomes your best resource. Instead of trying to Frankenstein a structure back together with parts from different sources, you can order a package of replacement hoops, a new cover, and all the necessary hardware. This ensures every component is compatible, saving you immense frustration.
This approach acknowledges a hard truth: it’s often cheaper and safer in the long run to rebuild a compromised section than to patch it. Pouring time and money into a fundamentally weakened structure is a bad investment. Knowing when to cut your losses and start fresh with a complete system is the mark of an experienced grower.
Gothic Arch Greenhouses Quick Patch Tape
Sometimes you just need a reliable, no-nonsense tape that you know will work. Gothic Arch Greenhouses has been in the business for a long time, and their Quick Patch Tape reflects that experience. It’s a simple, high-quality polyethylene tape designed to do one job well: patch greenhouse film.
This tape is perfect for the kind of repairs you need to do right now. It has a strong acrylic adhesive that bonds well even in less-than-ideal conditions. It’s the roll you keep handy to immediately patch a small hole you discover during your morning walkthrough, preventing it from becoming a major problem by evening.
There’s a certain peace of mind that comes from using a product from a dedicated greenhouse company. They understand the materials and the environment. This isn’t a rebranded tape from a big-box store; it’s a purpose-built tool for growers.
Preventative Bracing to Minimize Future Damage
The most effective repair kit is the one you never have to use. After you’ve patched up your tunnel, the next step is to make it stronger for the next storm. Most high tunnel kits are engineered for average conditions, but adding a few key braces can make them exponentially more resilient.
Focus on three key areas to add strength where it matters most:
- Corner Bracing: Install diagonal braces at all four corners, connecting the ground posts to the end hoops. This is the single best thing you can do to prevent the structure from twisting and racking in high winds.
- Purlin Trusses: Add support trusses that connect the center purlin (the long pipe running down the ridgeline) to the hoops below it. This prevents the roof from flattening under snow or deforming in strong gusts.
- Baseboard Anchoring: Double-check that your baseboards are securely bolted to your ground posts. Wind load is transferred from the plastic, to the hoops, and finally to the ground. A weak connection here is a critical point of failure.
Investing a weekend and a few hundred dollars in steel tubing and bolts for bracing is an investment that pays for itself the first time a major storm rolls through and your tunnel is left standing. It transforms your structure from a passive victim of the weather into a robust, season-long asset.
A storm can feel like a major setback, but with the right tools and a clear plan, it’s just a temporary problem. By understanding the damage and choosing the right repair, you can get your high tunnel sealed up and your season back on track. Even better, use the experience as motivation to build a stronger, more resilient structure for the future.
