How to Build a Greenhouse Using Second Hand Windows- A Tutorial

Today, many peoples' standard response when
they need something new is to go to the

store, or go online, and buy it and you can
buy cheap junky greenhouses made out of

plastic that will fall apart in a matter of a year
or a couple of years.

So today I am really excited for John at
Old Redding Farm to show you how to build

a greenhouse out of doors and windows that
were being thrown away.

Being able to build a greenhouse nearly
for free, or for free, that is sustainable

and will last a really long time to help
you grow more of your own food.

Here he is.
What's up, everybody? My name is John

and I am from Old Redding Farm. I live
here in South Western Connecticut with my

wife, Catherine; our 2 dogs, Pepper and
Peanut; our 5 Alpacas, Mocha,

Marshmallow, Pumpkin, Linda and Macy.
As well as our flock of chickens and a few

honeybees. And today I am here to show
you a little bit about how we built this

beautiful greenhouse. Sits right on the
edge of an old stone patio that we have.

It is a 12-foot square, mostly. I am
not an expert at anything, so I did my

best to make sure this was as square and
even as possible, but sometimes I can't do

that. So all of the windows that you see
along the walls here are recycled.

We didn't purchase any of these brand new.
We were able to source a lot of it online

through either Craigslist free or the
Facebook market place. Our local buy

nothing group had them also. In fact the
only windows we actually paid for were

the stained glass ones on the front and
those are actually reclaimed from a church

in Texas that was being torn down for some
reason. So we purchased all of the lumber

and the things used to frame everything
out. This is all 2 by 4's and 4 by 4's

because we wanted to make sure that the
structure was sound. Windows don't

provide any structural integrity so we had
to make sure that the whole skeleton

surrounding it was strong enough to
support the weight. We also used

Tuftex corrugated plastic roofing for the
roof. Again, we thought about using windows,

or even recycled greenhouse glass, but
because we live in an area with such high

concentration of trees, and because we
need to support a snow load, we decided

to go with something that was designed
specifically for greenhouse roofs.

So we built the frame around our 3
biggest windows. This one right here

which is made up of 3 is almost 8
feet long. So we have 4 by 4 posts on either

side, right here, and right here, and then
there's another corner post over here.

But so that way, the weight of the roof
and if we have a snow load on there

gets transferred to the 4 by 4 posts
instead of actually sitting on the windows.

Like I said, windows have no structural
integrity, so it is important to support

everything as opposed to just having a
bunch of windows sitting on top of each

other. So when we put this all together
the first thing we did was put in our large

windows. We have 3 windows all
approximately the same size on all 3 sides.

And then we took a 2 by 4, and we got it
in here, along with a cripple stud right here.

Which again, it just takes the weight away from
the window and puts it on these 2 2 by 4s.

And then on top of this 2 by 4 we have,
let's see, 1, 2, 3, 4 windows sitting on

top of here. And we really just had to play
a game of Tetris to just see which ones

fit where. And there were several instances
where we had to add things. Like this

is just a 2 by 4 that we added to block the gap
but once we got the windows sitting

on top of this 2 by 4 we would use
thinner strips of a 2 by 4 to secure them

in place. That also just serves as a means
of closing the air gap. Because when you

have a greenhouse like this it is really
important to keep all the warm air in.

Because what happens is the sun will
heat the air inside the greenhouse during

the day, but if it is all drafty you are
going to lose it all. So our goal was to

make sure this was as airtight as possible.
They are old windows so that is not

always a feat that is easy to achieve. But
that is why we have these little blocks

here. These little furring strips to kind
of cut the airflow.

As far as sealing up the roof goes, there
are these little foam pieces that fit

right in the ridges there and again that
just seals everything up so that no air

escapes and you save all your hot air.
So the whole reason why we wanted to

build this greenhouse is because we live
in Southwestern Connecticut which is zone

6B. It is a relatively short growing
season so we wanted a chance to be able

to start our seeds early. Especially
things like tomatoes and peppers.

And we wanted to also just kind of extend
our growing season. It also afforded us

the opportunity to build a lot more growing
space because we ended up planting

a lot more seeds that we had room to
actually sow. But we would rather grow food

over lawns any day so we will take it.
So overall it took us probably about

8 months to build this thing from
start to finish and that includes picking

up all of the windows which was the most
time-consuming part. Just because we

weren't buying it so we just had to wait
until the opportunity presented itself.

And then, I am sure some of you know, if
you are on the free Craigslist section

some things are only up there for a few
minutes and you have to nab it as soon

as possible so we were on there checking
a few times a day and sending messages as

soon as we possibly can and we actually
started building this in November of 2019.

Because in October of 2019 we were getting
our Alpacas so the first thing we had to do

was build our Alpaca barn. So it was a
little bit tough because we had to build

this thing in the winter months and there
was a lot of time where we had some

trouble with ice and in general it was
just kind of cold and sometimes it was

really miserable to be out here. But we
wanted to make sure we had it ready for

February so we could start our seeds so
that was a good motivation. So about 8

months time, including the time to
procure all the windows, and then 3 or 4

months to build. So again this is a 12 by
12 structure and I think we had about 35

windows so it really all depends on what
sizes you get. We were really lucky. The

largest windows actually came from a local
contractor who was remodeling a house.

We were just driving by, saw there was a
bunch of windows in the dumpster, we did

not just jump right in. That is dangerous
and unadvisable. We actually saw that

the house was for sale so we called the
realtor, realtor hooked us up with the

contractor, and he was so happy to get
rid of them he even loaded them into our

truck for us. Which was really nice because
they are giant and heavy.

So again it was 12 by 12 and it really
suits our purpose well. If you are

planning out your own greenhouse I
would suggest remembering to plan for

the tables. They actually take up a good
amount of space in here and you are

going to want to have easy to use working
space. All in all I am really proud of

this greenhouse. I am super happy with
how it came out. I think it looks great.

It makes me feel nice to have taken a
bunch of stuff out of the landfill.

Super glad we were able to use a bunch of
recycled materials and I hope that this

inspires you to build one of your own.

If you feel like you'd like to try to build
your own greenhouse made out of

recycled windows I totally encourage you
to do it. I am not a carpenter. I am

actually a graphic designer and I have a
full-time job. We built this in our free

time, over the weekends, and honestly I
learned a lot doing it. There is a lot of

information out there on how to build
these types of things. Whether it is

recycled materials or not and only good
things can happen by trying.

That is how you learn.

I hope that you found John's example as
inspiring as I did. I know the first time

that I ever heard of the concept of
building a greenhouse out of windows

and doors that were being thrown away
I was pretty excited about it. So I hope

that many of you will actually put this
into action and use it to grow more food.

Now if you were inspired make sure to
subscribe to John's channel. The links

are in the description to follow him and
make sure to subscribe to this channel

where there are many more educational
and inspirational videos to come.

And if you want this video to get out
into the world make sure to 'like',

comment, and share it with people.
I love you all very much and I'll see you

again real soon.