How To Make A Greenhouse Out Of Old Windows
It all started with a want to build something and garden twelvemonth-round in Ontario, Canada. I had only spent the summer gardening after building an elaborate organisation of potted plants and vegetables on my back porch in downtown Toronto. The cold was on its way and the inevitable cease of the planting season.
After a week away at a cottage up north, my mother-in-law Christine and I decided we would build a greenhouse and make it winterized! We would search out old doors and windows as the walls. I must admit, Pinterest may accept helped nudge united states of america along. Having worked in the window and door merchandise for most of my life, I had a feeling I could obtain a fair amount of the materials through contacts and searching the city.
Search for used doors and windows
I savour using sometime materials to requite them a second life! Likewise, they accept a history. For example, We located several doors through Facebook Marketplace, a tool I accept found useful for my upcycling needs.
For the terminal 100 plus years, ii of these doors were dividing doors between the living room of a home in East York Toronto. They at present have a second life equally the characteristic doors at the front of the greenhouse. Similarly, the second pair of doors (I also purchased off of Facebook Market) was likewise separating the living and dining rooms in a dwelling in Mississauga for over 30 years.
Although they had reached the cease of their purpose inside each domicile, we were (and still are) able to see the beauty in these doors. They have and then much character! The just negative aspect, they were all interior doors with single pane glass. Thus the R-value was side by side to zero. They also required exterior paint to withstand the Canadian weather.
The R – value is the building industry term for thermal resistance "per unit area."
Wikipedia
The other doors and windows were obtained from a friend who installs for Ridley Windows and Doors. Dave Darvince was kind plenty to drop the doors off to my abode as it would have taken me at least four trips to get them all. The doors came from an install in downtown Toronto. All of these were exterior doors with double glazed glass, thus much more appropriate for the construction we were building.
The build upwards
We now had all the windows and doors required to go united states of america started. My father-in-police force and I loaded up the doors and windows and transported them to his place in Whitby, Ontario, where we would construct the greenhouse.
The structure itself went up fairly fast, only starting time, I had to prepare the area. Two big planters had to be moved, no like shooting fish in a barrel task. Now in hindsight, fifty-fifty though nosotros checked with the neighbours before building, I volition never once again build as close to a contend, hedge, or any other impeding object. It made working on the back and right side very difficult.
Subsequently moving any impeding objects and marking the full general piece of work area, it was time to dig four holes to prepare the foundation blocks. I then filled the holes with gravel and leveled them to the aforementioned height.
Next:
- nosotros installed the main iv×4 posts with the bottom plate, followed by attaching the top plate;
- nosotros installed the floor joist and added blocking underneath;
- we bolted all the corners at the height and bottom, adjusting to ensure plum and square along the way;
- and then nosotros installed a ¾ inch plywood as the subfloor.
When we designed the greenhouse, we decided to build it to ten feet by 8 feet to stay within measurements required to avoid building code requirements. Nosotros and so installed the doors in lodge of which ones Christine (my mother-in-law) liked the well-nigh.
We placed the doors on top of the subfloor and screwed them into the tiptop plate, directly through the doors. On the inside, I cutting two×two woods pieces (fastened to the subfloor) to screw the bottoms of the doors into. I used the same 2×ii woods pieces along the perimeter of each window location (one on each side, and one at the middle back).
The windows are lovely, simply they are also unmarried pane. The hardware was in bad shape. I took it all off and re-hinged each of them using hinges from another prepare we had gathered. Below, yous can see how I marked out each new one, chiseled them out, and attached the new ones for installation. Then, I installed the windows.
Even so, subsequently after installing the rafter joists, information technology became apparent I had to lower each window a couple inches to permit them to move freely. One time the rafters were up and reinforced, I was able to install ¾ inch plywood.
For the front doorway, I had installed several 2x4s to get the desired width for the door we had selected. Regardless, when framing a door, you always want at least 2 2x4s on the hinged side for proper performance and security.
Calculation a Skylight
It was at this point in the build we discussed adding a skylight to allow more than light into the greenhouse. At first, we tried PVC plastic for the skylight. I then shingled the roof with brown shingles, Dave and I had purchased. Yet, information technology became apparent chop-chop that it was as well weak and would cleft once the climate became common cold. In the pictures below, you tin see more than a few imperfections. More than importantly, information technology was not what the client wanted.
Thus, I searched out local window and door companies, close by. I found Canada Windows and Doors. In that location I met with their possessor Andy Van Hoof and was able to assist me in obtaining a few sliding doors. I took the door apart and installed it on the roof with some expanding cream strips on the bottom to permit for movement during weather fluctuations. In hindsight, I should take waited to get my hands on the double-glazed glass, as this sliding door drinking glass was a unmarried pane.
Next, I covered the plywood roof with a protective roofing material in the preparation of installing the shingles. I primed all the woods around the skylight. Afterwards subsequently installing the glass, I sealed information technology with caulking and blue skin primer with blue pare over top, followed past flashing.
I remember thinking Christine had said she wanted black, but I said nothing. That cost me twenty hours of work and a agglomeration of wasted shingles, that upset me more than the waste of time.
However, I had only shingled once in my lifetime. I was happy to have a hazard to do it over every bit I was non 100% satisfied with how information technology looked finished. When I took off the brown shingles, I as well decided to enhance the skylight to ensure information technology was waterproof. During this, I managed to break the glass. Luckily, I had a spare one.
Too, in that location was skillful chance h2o would infiltrate the skylight. At that point, I decided to build a ladder truss for the front of the greenhouse to both enhance its appearance and provide room for a solar console Christine bought.
Christine had also purchased 2 old stained drinking glass windows from a market. Both are over a hundred years old from a church building in England. I attempted to find the location merely was not able to find the information for this story sadly.
Both needed a fresh glaze of paint to freshen them up! I installed each of these in the middle of the greenhouse above the doorway. I was quite pleased how all the lines match upward with the onetime leaded glass windows we obtained.
Floor Insulation, Flooring and Trimming
After the roof was consummate, it was time to add insulation to the floor. I used two-inch thick rigid insulation with a high R-value. Followed past ¾ inch plywood. Next, it was time to tile. Christine and I thought it would be all-time to utilize a dark colour to help absorb the warmth from the sunlight. Once the tiles were done, I was able to decide the door height. I cutting the door to the required top and began to frame out the doorway. This was circuitous, merely I managed well.
After, information technology was time for trim, trim, and more trim. This function took much longer than I expected. For many of the doors were different widths, thickness, and height. Thus, to hide all the imperfections and beautify the greenhouse, I added a substantial almost of trim. Nosotros bought trim boards that were approximately 10 inches broad past eight feet long. Before cutting to size, I painted the majority of it and fifty-fifty managed to get my eldest girl Josephine to assistance out.
Afterward installing the former stained drinking glass, we were left with four triangles. We could have simply covered upward with wood, but we wanted to maximize the sunlight coming in, and nosotros liked how it looked. So I built some framing effectually each window sash and so used inexpensive thin styrofoam from the dollar store as templates. This way, I could cut them to the verbal size for the opening. Always exit 1/8 spacing effectually the perimeter of the glass to let for the wood expansion and compaction during weather changes.
Solar Energy and Heating
Next, information technology was fourth dimension to add insulation and vapour barrier to the roof. I had to frame out around various parts of the rafters and blocking then that I could properly attach the plywood afterwards. Before I could consummate the insulation, I had to install the solar panel and run the wiring through the roof. It took a while to notice what we needed and where to buy the mounting kit.
Sentinel Solar in Vaughan had merely what we needed. Four mounting plates had to be installed. I drilled a hole near the eye towards the stop where the wires come up out of the panel. Nosotros decided a shelf for the battery would be handy.
Next was the stage of setting up a heating system with the solar console providing the energy to a battery for storage. Either a heating mat or a small power heater may be used. We researched using big barrels, painted black, and filled with water (making sure to accept the ratio of water match the exposed glass surface). Likewise, during summer, we may have to use some blazon of shading system, possibly with a fan, to keep airflow moving and prevent the plants from overheating. In the end, the power from the single solar panel was non enough to power a heater in the greenhouse. We used it to ability a fan.
With the aid of a friend (Trever Penford) who saw my Facebook postal service about requiring just a few batts of insulation, I was able to finish off insulating the ceiling. Then came the complicated part of covering the ceiling with plywood while working around the joists to keep them exposed. Likewise, trimming around the window was not piece of cake. I framed out around the skylight, installed the trim on all sides, and identify insulation within open spaces to avoid common cold spots. Too, I tried to use leftover cutoffs to cut down on waste product. Information technology was challenging to install large pieces of plywood or trim as the ceiling joists got in the way. Finally, it was time to caulk and paint.
Takeaway
Upon completion and monitoring, there are at to the lowest degree 4 changes I would make to the greenhouse to make information technology more than efficient:
- I would only use double glazed drinking glass, no single pane;
- I would reduce the overall drinking glass coverage to assist command the temperature;
- I would make the North wall a solid structure with thermal mass materials that help regulate the temperature but capturing the heat in the twenty-four hour period and releasing it at nighttime;
- I would build the foundation differently, and use the earth to help regulate the temperatures as well.
By employing these iv techniques the temperatures inside the greenhouse would exist much easier to control, thus leading to improve success of growing plants year circular.
The best resource I establish after building the greenhouse was a book called The Year-Round Solar Greenhouse, How to Design and Build a Cyberspace Zero Energy Greenhouse. Wish I had read information technology before nosotros started the build!
This projection emphasizes how "trash" can take both a useful and attractive utilise after its first life span has come up to an terminate.
With some creativity, hard piece of work and investment the possibilities are endless. In the time to come I plan to build fences, enclosed porches, furniture, and various options of pocket-sized structures like this greenhouse.
If you're interested in any of these projects and relish helping the environment, please feel free to contact me or follow me on Facebook to keep upwardly with our upcoming projects.
If upcycling is your thing, you can also read How to Upcycle Furniture: A Guide for Beginner wrote by Evan from Porch.
About the author
Aaron LeHeup
Built-in and raised in Toronto, Aaron graduated with honours from George Dark-brown in Construction Engineering science Technician programme. He likewise has a degree in Environment and Resource Management from the University of Toronto, where he learned in depth about diverse ecology issues and how everything was interconnected.
Currently working in the construction manufacture, he is well aware that construction waste accounts for a big percentage of the solid waste material entering landfills. Aaron believes materials such every bit wood flooring, moulding, windows, doors, beams, steel, etc., can be reused in other projects to give them a 2d life.
Board fellow member of the Greenish Neighbours Network of Toronto, he is dedicated to work towards improving communities throughout Toronto. Aaron is as well involved in the development of an app to help capture some of the construction waste that would otherwise enter local landfills.
Y'all can follow his projects on reclaimedtreasures.ca or Facebook
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Source: https://rakearound.com/2020/08/15/how-to-build-a-greenhouse-from-reclaimed-doors-windows/
Posted by: fernandezving1979.blogspot.com
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