CatchSunlight Construction Products
Gothic style greenhouse kit. The base model is $10,400 and has minimum dimensions of 26.5' wide by 34.5' long. It can be widened during construction. You can also build it longer for minimal additional cost by increasing the space of your hoops from 42" to the desired dimensions. This is a turn-key package with all necessary materials to build your greenhouse except for the optional concrete and irrigation supplies.
205 square foot greenhouse kit. The $6,000 base kit is approximately 10' X 20'. The end walls come pre-framed and the trusses are pre-welded. This comes with all the materials you need for completion.
6.9' wide by 19' long 4-layer 6 mm polycarbonate panels $240 each. These have a 71% transmissibility and give an effective greenhouse R-value of 2.2. This panel is optimal for the intermountain west.
19' long Polycarbonate 2-piece Butt connectors for the 6 mm panels: $50 each. These snap together to hold the panels in place and provide an easy way to create a seam.
19' long aluminum 2-piece Butt connectors for the 6 mm panels: $60 each. These snap together to hold the panels in place and provide an easy way to create a seam.
19' long polycarbonate H-channel for making butt joints $15. They are best suited for mending panels for small areas such as doors or vents.
19' long Aluminum U-channel edge trim for the 6 mm panels: $15. This provides an attractive professional finish and is especially useful for locations such as doors where edges could be damaged over time.
8 mm (5/16") head X 35 mm long 5.5 mm diameter premium self-tapping screws: 13 cents each. Typical box contains 500. 50 mm long screws are also available for 20 cents each with a typical box size of 360. All of these screws are fine pitch and designed for metal frames, not wood.
1.2" gasketed washers: $170 for a bag of 1000. 50 washers per 6.9'X19' panel are recommended. These specialized gaskets minimize stress to eliminate cracking over time. Smaller quantities can be custom bagged and are available at 20 cents each.
1" X 164' long foil tape for sealing panel ends: $12.50 This tape prevents dust and water from accumulating within the channels.
Polycarbonate compatible neutral caulking $12.50 per cartridge. Approximately 1 per four large greenhouse panels is recommended. Normal premium Home Depot silicone caulking will cause premature yellowing if used on polycarbonate so voids the warranty.
19' long square 40 mm galvanized tubing with 2 mm wall thickness for $70 each.
19' long round 40 mm (1-9/16") galvanized tubing with 2 mm wall thickness and flattened and drilled ends for $70 each.
1.5 meter (5') long round 40 mm galvanized tubing with 2 mm wall thickness and flattened and drilled ends for $20 each.
19 foot long (5.8 meter) round 1-7/8 inch (48 mm) bent galvanized tubing with 2 mm wall thickness used in greenhouse hoops for $75 each.
40 mm round brace clips $2.00 each.
48 mm round brace clips $2.00 each.
40 mm square brace clips $2.00 each.
2 meter ridge cap $15.
90 degree trim (50 mm), 2 meter long, $15.
Rectangular 40 mm C-channel brackets: $3.00 each.
40 mm hat brackets: $3.00 each.
40 mm galvanized L-brackets: $1.00 each.
Small mending plates: $1.00 each.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Question: Is glazing geographically dependent?
- Answer: CatchSunlight does not recommend 4-layer glazing for cloudy regions due to a lack of light transmissibility in those areas. The high-intermountain west has minimal moisture content in the air
so the majority of energy losses come from thermal radiation. Those radiative losses are delayed by glazing with higher R-values. That's why 4-layer glazing is so important at high elevations
with a clear and dry atmosphere.
- Question: Is shade cloth necessary with multi-layer polycarbonate panels?
- Answer: We don't use shade cloth with our 4-layer polycarbonate. Some growers do. Our experience is that
if your plants are well established in the spring, shade cloth is not worth the cost or time to install for most growing operations.
- Question: Agricultural Polyethelyne (PE) sheeting is much cheaper. Why use polycarbonate?
- Answer: PE becomes cloudy after a few years, reducing the overall light transmissibility. Furthermore, a single layer of PE provides
very little protection from the cold. Wind damage is also very common to PE. Polycarbonate is resilient enough to withstand impacts that would otherwise
destroy PE and provides insulation through trapped air pockets within the layered panels allowing for a longer growing season and minimal long term maintenance.
- Question: Does polycarbonate get damaged from the sun?
- Answer: Each panel has a 50 μm layer of UV resistant material to slow sun damage to the product. It is important
that the UV protected side be placed up during installation. This UV layer slowly errodes over time, which is why polycarbonate does
not last as long as glass. Even though this errosion of the UV protected layer slowly occurs, the panels are warranteed for 10 years
against significant yellowing and cracking. There will be yellowing within a few years of installation,
but the yellowing will not significantly impact growing for at least 10 years. Yellowed polycarbonate can be used for decades but will decrease the amount
of photosynthesis light to the plants over time. We have inspected commercial greenhouse operations still using yellowed polycarbonate from over 40 years
ago without any problems for their plant production.
- Question: Are the Catchsunlight high-tunnel greenhouse kits engineered for a certain snow or wind load?
- Answer: No. These kits are not stamped although they were designed to be stronger than the typical NRCS high-tunnel. We know of no high-tunnel greenhouse designs
that have an engineering stamp on them as most states have agricultural exemptions that do not require such structures to meet either the IBC or IRC requirements for
occupied structures. Jurisdictions within Idaho are prohibited from barring you from erecting an agricultural structural based upon the following
H0104 law.
There may be local zoning requirements such as a minimum land area and specific offsets, but municipalities must follow the State law to allow you to construct a high-tunnel used for agricultural purposes.
Even Oregon does not require high-tunnel greenhouses to meet structural requirements of the Building Code.
- Question: Typical NRCS approved greenhouse kits using polyethylene can be inexpensive. Why go with polycarbonate?
- Answer: The
NRCS cost sharing program
currently (2025) provides up to $8,000 for a 1,000 square foot high-tunnel. The cheap high-tunnels available on the internet
that are frequently used for the NRCS cost sharing program seem like a bargain, but often do not include
end-wall materials, and frequently ignore bottom side wall construction materials as well. Furthermore, the single layer PE on cheap high-tunnels will last typically only four years due to tears
and clouding, but may blow off much sooner in windy areas.
The Catchsunlight high-tunnel is NRCS approved in Idaho and includes everything except concrete and irrigation supplies making it turn-key at your construction site. They are also designed to last much
longer than the typical high-tunnels, and may likely last your lifetime with proper care. We have had to request the regional director communicate to some local NRCS field office representatives
that polycarbonate is acceptable for NRCS grant high-tunnels, but none of the Catchsunlight high-tunnels have ever been rejected for the grant reimbursement.
- Question: Do you recommend untreated wood for greenhouse construction?
- Answer: No. Spend the extra money now on galvanized steel or pressure treated wood if you live in a cold environment and plan on growing year around.
Even cedar and redwood will rot due to the winter cycling of cold and hot in a greenhouse if
you keep the vents/doors shut and still water your crops. This cycling leads to rapid damage in the wood as the frost on the glazing melts and pours over the wood daily.
- Question: Do you recommend the Harbor Freight greenhouses?
- Answer: Yes. You can get 120 ft2 for about $1,000. These greenhouses use cheap 4 mm 2-layer glazing and weak frames and they will not structurally stand in most windy areas.
If you are willing to put in a few days of extra work and extra money to reinforce them, the greenhouse will work for most areas.
- Question: I've found glazing for the same price on Amazon after shipping is calculated.
- Answer: You can find small pieces of multi-panel polycarbonate for about the same price on Amazon. Those small pieces are easy to handle, store and ship, making their prices seem cheaper upfront.
Keep in mind that you will have to do something with all the seams using those small pieces of glazing, making your final cost much more expensive than if you used a large panel.
Contact CatchSunlight
Just call us directly for inquiries at 208-520-4625, or email at russ@catchsunlight.com. We also support visits to our site if you are interested in previewing a greenhouse kit or other items prior to purchase or otherwise want to share or learn some greenhouse ideas. Just call us in advance. We deliver at $6.00 per loaded mile for purchases over $1,500. Labor is available for a fee to help the owner-builder with construction at the site.
Our greenhouse address is:
3179 W 2700 N
Arco, Idaho 83213
- This playlist reviews the cheapest solutions for building a quality polycarbonate glazed commercial hightunnel:
- A customer requested that we setup his posts and frames for 66" centers and 27'-3" wide for a commercial high-tunnel:
- Playlist for constructing commercial heavy-duty high-tunnels:
- Example of a retrofit of a standard PE greenhouse frame with Polycarbonate:
- This is the HOBBY STYLE KIT (~200 square feet) construction explanation. We currently pre-build the end walls and weld the trusses to save time during field assembly: