My First Tunnels Polytunnel Build
Over the course of 9 articles, or work stints, I have written about the build process of our First Tunnels 12 foot by 6 foot polytunnel. I opted for the timber base rail option with added crop bars, but left everything else as standard. No upgrades or add-ons. If you're interested, you can find more info about First Tunnels here.
I'm not intending for these posts or page to be a review in any way. There's plenty of that to get stuck into elsewhere on the internet. I have no particular allegiance to First Tunnels, but they sold the size of tunnel I was after, and at a competitive price, so I went with them. I opted for self build as I'm confident in my DIY skills and after watching the instruction videos on their YouTube channel, there wasn't anything in there which made me think I couldn't do the build myself. A word for the wise though, if you do go with a First Tunnels polytunnel and choose the self build option, their videos are very good indeed and worth using the teabag they send you, to make a brew and watch them before venturing outside to start the build.
The tunnel components arrived all together with the carrier, in 10 parts consisting of bundles of timber, metal work, boxes of fittings and polythene cover. They also throw in a customised paper instruction manual for your specific build too along with some books on constructing a polytunnel, growing in a polytunnel and a raft of other information.
To make it easier to go through our build adventure, I thought it would be easier to put the links to all 9 parts in one location, so here goes!
- Polytunnel Part 1 - Early Christmas Present
- Looking at how I decided what tunnel to go for, and who I sourced it from.
- Polytunnel Part 2 - Prep Work Starts
- Doing some ground prep work for where the tunnel will be build and making sure the ground is ready.
- Polytunnel Part 3 - From Construction Begins
- Delivery has been taken and construction of the frame starts.
- Polytunnel Part 4 - The Doors
- Making the doors at home.
- Polytunnel Part 5 - Building and Fitting the Door Frames
- Building the door frames at home, transporting them to the plot and installing them on the frame.
- Polytunnel Part 6 - The Base Rails
- Installing the base rails around the frame.
- Polytunnel Part 7 - Battens
- Adding the rebate battens to the door frames and base rail and preparing the remaining battens for installing the cover.
- Polytunnel Part 8 - Protective Tape and Covering
- Making sure the right protection for the cover is applied to the right areas of the frame and base rail before finally installing the polythene cover.
- Polytunnel Part 9 - The Final Push
- The main build is complete, but there are a couple of additional bits to just finish things off.
