1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,293 Today, many peoples' standard response when they need something new is to go to the 2 00:00:05,293 --> 00:00:11,389 store, or go online, and buy it and you can buy cheap junky greenhouses made out of 3 00:00:11,389 --> 00:00:15,982 plastic that will fall apart in a matter of a year or a couple of years. 4 00:00:15,982 --> 00:00:21,145 So today I am really excited for John at Old Redding Farm to show you how to build 5 00:00:21,145 --> 00:00:26,793 a greenhouse out of doors and windows that were being thrown away. 6 00:00:26,793 --> 00:00:31,688 Being able to build a greenhouse nearly for free, or for free, that is sustainable 7 00:00:31,688 --> 00:00:37,267 and will last a really long time to help you grow more of your own food. 8 00:00:37,267 --> 00:00:40,688 Here he is. What's up, everybody? My name is John 9 00:00:40,688 --> 00:00:45,020 and I am from Old Redding Farm. I live here in South Western Connecticut with my 10 00:00:45,020 --> 00:00:54,074 wife, Catherine; our 2 dogs, Pepper and Peanut; our 5 Alpacas, Mocha, 11 00:00:54,074 --> 00:01:02,307 Marshmallow, Pumpkin, Linda and Macy. As well as our flock of chickens and a few 12 00:01:02,307 --> 00:01:09,989 honeybees. And today I am here to show you a little bit about how we built this 13 00:01:09,989 --> 00:01:17,194 beautiful greenhouse. Sits right on the edge of an old stone patio that we have. 14 00:01:17,194 --> 00:01:27,113 It is a 12-foot square, mostly. I am not an expert at anything, so I did my 15 00:01:27,113 --> 00:01:31,854 best to make sure this was as square and even as possible, but sometimes I can't do 16 00:01:31,854 --> 00:01:42,479 that. So all of the windows that you see along the walls here are recycled. 17 00:01:42,479 --> 00:01:46,695 We didn't purchase any of these brand new. We were able to source a lot of it online 18 00:01:46,695 --> 00:01:53,314 through either Craigslist free or the Facebook market place. Our local buy 19 00:01:53,316 --> 00:01:58,614 nothing group had them also. In fact the only windows we actually paid for were 20 00:01:58,614 --> 00:02:02,788 the stained glass ones on the front and those are actually reclaimed from a church 21 00:02:02,788 --> 00:02:08,281 in Texas that was being torn down for some reason. So we purchased all of the lumber 22 00:02:08,281 --> 00:02:13,812 and the things used to frame everything out. This is all 2 by 4's and 4 by 4's 23 00:02:13,812 --> 00:02:18,461 because we wanted to make sure that the structure was sound. Windows don't 24 00:02:18,461 --> 00:02:23,606 provide any structural integrity so we had to make sure that the whole skeleton 25 00:02:23,606 --> 00:02:28,924 surrounding it was strong enough to support the weight. We also used 26 00:02:28,924 --> 00:02:36,463 Tuftex corrugated plastic roofing for the roof. Again, we thought about using windows, 27 00:02:36,463 --> 00:02:43,463 or even recycled greenhouse glass, but because we live in an area with such high 28 00:02:43,463 --> 00:02:49,486 concentration of trees, and because we need to support a snow load, we decided 29 00:02:49,486 --> 00:02:55,077 to go with something that was designed specifically for greenhouse roofs. 30 00:02:55,077 --> 00:03:00,013 So we built the frame around our 3 biggest windows. This one right here 31 00:03:00,013 --> 00:03:07,379 which is made up of 3 is almost 8 feet long. So we have 4 by 4 posts on either 32 00:03:07,379 --> 00:03:15,038 side, right here, and right here, and then there's another corner post over here. 33 00:03:15,038 --> 00:03:20,916 But so that way, the weight of the roof and if we have a snow load on there 34 00:03:20,916 --> 00:03:25,613 gets transferred to the 4 by 4 posts instead of actually sitting on the windows. 35 00:03:25,613 --> 00:03:29,900 Like I said, windows have no structural integrity, so it is important to support 36 00:03:29,900 --> 00:03:34,397 everything as opposed to just having a bunch of windows sitting on top of each 37 00:03:34,397 --> 00:03:40,319 other. So when we put this all together the first thing we did was put in our large 38 00:03:40,319 --> 00:03:46,665 windows. We have 3 windows all approximately the same size on all 3 sides. 39 00:03:46,665 --> 00:03:53,266 And then we took a 2 by 4, and we got it in here, along with a cripple stud right here. 40 00:03:53,266 --> 00:03:59,413 Which again, it just takes the weight away from the window and puts it on these 2 2 by 4s. 41 00:03:59,413 --> 00:04:05,132 And then on top of this 2 by 4 we have, let's see, 1, 2, 3, 4 windows sitting on 42 00:04:05,132 --> 00:04:11,438 top of here. And we really just had to play a game of Tetris to just see which ones 43 00:04:11,438 --> 00:04:18,082 fit where. And there were several instances where we had to add things. Like this 44 00:04:18,082 --> 00:04:23,380 is just a 2 by 4 that we added to block the gap but once we got the windows sitting 45 00:04:23,380 --> 00:04:29,048 on top of this 2 by 4 we would use thinner strips of a 2 by 4 to secure them 46 00:04:29,048 --> 00:04:34,047 in place. That also just serves as a means of closing the air gap. Because when you 47 00:04:34,047 --> 00:04:38,970 have a greenhouse like this it is really important to keep all the warm air in. 48 00:04:38,970 --> 00:04:42,288 Because what happens is the sun will heat the air inside the greenhouse during 49 00:04:42,288 --> 00:04:47,682 the day, but if it is all drafty you are going to lose it all. So our goal was to 50 00:04:47,682 --> 00:04:53,848 make sure this was as airtight as possible. They are old windows so that is not 51 00:04:53,848 --> 00:04:57,831 always a feat that is easy to achieve. But that is why we have these little blocks 52 00:04:57,831 --> 00:05:02,803 here. These little furring strips to kind of cut the airflow. 53 00:05:02,803 --> 00:05:11,361 As far as sealing up the roof goes, there are these little foam pieces that fit 54 00:05:11,361 --> 00:05:16,697 right in the ridges there and again that just seals everything up so that no air 55 00:05:16,697 --> 00:05:21,981 escapes and you save all your hot air. So the whole reason why we wanted to 56 00:05:21,981 --> 00:05:26,481 build this greenhouse is because we live in Southwestern Connecticut which is zone 57 00:05:26,481 --> 00:05:32,063 6B. It is a relatively short growing season so we wanted a chance to be able 58 00:05:32,063 --> 00:05:37,032 to start our seeds early. Especially things like tomatoes and peppers. 59 00:05:37,032 --> 00:05:41,813 And we wanted to also just kind of extend our growing season. It also afforded us 60 00:05:41,813 --> 00:05:46,963 the opportunity to build a lot more growing space because we ended up planting 61 00:05:46,963 --> 00:05:52,981 a lot more seeds that we had room to actually sow. But we would rather grow food 62 00:05:52,981 --> 00:05:58,798 over lawns any day so we will take it. So overall it took us probably about 63 00:05:58,798 --> 00:06:04,433 8 months to build this thing from start to finish and that includes picking 64 00:06:04,433 --> 00:06:09,815 up all of the windows which was the most time-consuming part. Just because we 65 00:06:09,815 --> 00:06:15,476 weren't buying it so we just had to wait until the opportunity presented itself. 66 00:06:15,476 --> 00:06:19,665 And then, I am sure some of you know, if you are on the free Craigslist section 67 00:06:19,665 --> 00:06:22,714 some things are only up there for a few minutes and you have to nab it as soon 68 00:06:22,714 --> 00:06:27,847 as possible so we were on there checking a few times a day and sending messages as 69 00:06:27,847 --> 00:06:36,581 soon as we possibly can and we actually started building this in November of 2019. 70 00:06:36,581 --> 00:06:41,897 Because in October of 2019 we were getting our Alpacas so the first thing we had to do 71 00:06:41,897 --> 00:06:47,765 was build our Alpaca barn. So it was a little bit tough because we had to build 72 00:06:47,765 --> 00:06:51,624 this thing in the winter months and there was a lot of time where we had some 73 00:06:51,624 --> 00:06:55,250 trouble with ice and in general it was just kind of cold and sometimes it was 74 00:06:55,250 --> 00:07:01,450 really miserable to be out here. But we wanted to make sure we had it ready for 75 00:07:01,450 --> 00:07:06,247 February so we could start our seeds so that was a good motivation. So about 8 76 00:07:06,247 --> 00:07:10,648 months time, including the time to procure all the windows, and then 3 or 4 77 00:07:10,648 --> 00:07:15,914 months to build. So again this is a 12 by 12 structure and I think we had about 35 78 00:07:15,914 --> 00:07:21,648 windows so it really all depends on what sizes you get. We were really lucky. The 79 00:07:21,648 --> 00:07:26,316 largest windows actually came from a local contractor who was remodeling a house. 80 00:07:26,316 --> 00:07:30,850 We were just driving by, saw there was a bunch of windows in the dumpster, we did 81 00:07:30,850 --> 00:07:37,015 not just jump right in. That is dangerous and unadvisable. We actually saw that 82 00:07:37,015 --> 00:07:40,248 the house was for sale so we called the realtor, realtor hooked us up with the 83 00:07:40,248 --> 00:07:44,130 contractor, and he was so happy to get rid of them he even loaded them into our 84 00:07:44,130 --> 00:07:49,714 truck for us. Which was really nice because they are giant and heavy. 85 00:07:49,714 --> 00:07:53,481 So again it was 12 by 12 and it really suits our purpose well. If you are 86 00:07:53,481 --> 00:07:57,982 planning out your own greenhouse I would suggest remembering to plan for 87 00:07:57,982 --> 00:08:01,447 the tables. They actually take up a good amount of space in here and you are 88 00:08:01,447 --> 00:08:06,314 going to want to have easy to use working space. All in all I am really proud of 89 00:08:06,314 --> 00:08:11,065 this greenhouse. I am super happy with how it came out. I think it looks great. 90 00:08:11,065 --> 00:08:15,348 It makes me feel nice to have taken a bunch of stuff out of the landfill. 91 00:08:15,348 --> 00:08:18,464 Super glad we were able to use a bunch of recycled materials and I hope that this 92 00:08:18,464 --> 00:08:20,348 inspires you to build one of your own. 93 00:08:20,348 --> 00:08:23,163 If you feel like you'd like to try to build your own greenhouse made out of 94 00:08:23,163 --> 00:08:28,331 recycled windows I totally encourage you to do it. I am not a carpenter. I am 95 00:08:28,331 --> 00:08:33,452 actually a graphic designer and I have a full-time job. We built this in our free 96 00:08:33,452 --> 00:08:38,631 time, over the weekends, and honestly I learned a lot doing it. There is a lot of 97 00:08:38,631 --> 00:08:42,530 information out there on how to build these types of things. Whether it is 98 00:08:42,530 --> 00:08:47,364 recycled materials or not and only good things can happen by trying. 99 00:08:47,364 --> 00:08:48,667 That is how you learn. 100 00:08:48,667 --> 00:08:53,531 I hope that you found John's example as inspiring as I did. I know the first time 101 00:08:53,531 --> 00:08:58,447 that I ever heard of the concept of building a greenhouse out of windows 102 00:08:58,447 --> 00:09:03,164 and doors that were being thrown away I was pretty excited about it. So I hope 103 00:09:03,164 --> 00:09:08,197 that many of you will actually put this into action and use it to grow more food. 104 00:09:08,197 --> 00:09:13,098 Now if you were inspired make sure to subscribe to John's channel. The links 105 00:09:13,098 --> 00:09:17,398 are in the description to follow him and make sure to subscribe to this channel 106 00:09:17,398 --> 00:09:21,597 where there are many more educational and inspirational videos to come. 107 00:09:21,597 --> 00:09:25,497 And if you want this video to get out into the world make sure to 'like', 108 00:09:25,497 --> 00:09:29,888 comment, and share it with people. I love you all very much and I'll see you 109 00:09:29,888 --> 00:09:31,245 again real soon.