It's impossible now for me to remember when I first wanted to build a greenhouse, but I do remember when I had the idea for this greenhouse. It was late in the summer of 2009 (august?) and I learned that my parents were planning on having new windows installed. I thought to myself, what will they be doing with the old windows? It occurred to me that it might be possible to build a greenhouse from recycled windows. But was that possible? I googled it and found out that it was indeed possible, but discovered that it would have to be done on an ad hoc basis, without any clear plan. Having no overall plan was partially due to having to use windows that varied widely in size and partially to my inability to solve all of the myriad problems of building a greenhouse more than on an individual step by step basis.
I first called my parents and laid claim on the windows. I also picked out a space in the backyard where I would build it. There used to be an old trashed pool shed in the yard next to the fence and the powerline, but it was absolutely wrecked and decaying because the pool had been filled in something like 20 years ago. I wish I had taken a picture of how awful it looked, but I didn't.
I then proceeded to try to convince my wife Lisa that this was a wise move, since the windows would be available for free and I could build everything else extremely cheaply. Note to those who plan on replicating my results, which can't and probably shouldn't be done exactly: it will always cost more than you think. The reason I don't feel so bad about selling my wife on a bad investment is that she was already on notice that the projects I "pitched" to her (and there have been a lot) almost always come in over budget and with a completely different mission statement from when I started. Needless to say, it's been more expensive than I thought it would be.
When it came time for the windows to come out of my parents' house, I made sure that they told the contractor to save the windows and not break them, because I was planning to build a greenhouse with them. He reportedly said "I'll save them, but he won't build it." Hearing this statement from my mom made me realize that I was risking a shame if I didn't follow through with my attempt.
Once I got the windows out and measured them all, I put the measurements down on paper. There were something15 windows, with about 8 different sizes. I dreamt up a roughly 11'x7' structure which would use the most windows. The measurements for length and width were conjured up by closely estimating the distance I'd use between support posts on the ends, including the windows and the framing that would be needed to hold the windows. Once I had those measurements, I pitched the plan to some friends and got them to commit to helping me build the major parts in October of 2009. I'll stop here with some pictures. Unfortunately I didn't start taking pictures until I had cleared the old shed out and put in posts and the door.
