Finding Old Wooden Windows

Once the decision is made to build a greenhouse from wood windows, locating enough of them becomes the first challenge. The scavenger hunt for enough windows to build your dream is like looking for rare vinyl records or the perfect antique to finish decorating a room. You may get lucky, and find a bunch of perfect windows in one location. Or, you may spend time looking, and come home with nothing. As long as you are willing to spend the time or travel some distance, windows are actually easy to come by.

Considerations should be made prior to jumping in and picking up any wood window. Some of these considerations are appearance of your greenhouse, the size of the greenhouse, and do you want to restore the windows.

First, what look do you want for your greenhouse? Do you want a random appearance with varied sizes of windows? Do you want a clean look with windows of the same size? Each answer has pros and cons for construction and finding the required number of windows.

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For a random appearance greenhouse, locating windows is pretty easy. Almost any wood window will work ultimately. Additionally, your windows costs will be lower because you can bargain shop over time. The downside to building a greenhouse from varying sized windows is construction becomes more of a challenge. It will take time to fit each window in its place without compromising the integrity of the building. Additionally, you will need to make more construction adjustments to the window sashes to make the puzzle pieces fit.

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If you want to build a greenhouse from windows of the same size to give it a clean symmetrical look, finding the required amount of windows becomes more of a challenge. If you are picking them one at a time, it will take a substantial amount of time to locate each window of the same size. Additionally, if you want to try to purchase the windows in quantity, odds are you will need to do some driving to get them. Lastly, your costs will be slightly higher because of having to have the perfectly sized windows.

There are two benefits to building your greenhouse from similar sized windows. First, the aesthetics  are cleaner because of the symmetry of size. Second, your construction time, cost, and frustration will be all lower with the same size windows. It is much easier to frame your greenhouse if you have the same size vertical beams to hold your windows in place.

Next, you will need to determine the size of your greenhouse for the number of windows you will need to locate. Figuring the size will give you a rough number of windows to purchase. Most wood windows in quantity are approximately 28-34 inches wide. Therefore, for whatever size (length and width) greenhouse you determine, divide the feet number by 30 inches, and that will give you a good estimate for one row. Then for a typical 8 feet wall multiple the number by 3; the number of rows of windows on each side. For example, to build a 12 foot greenhouse wall, you would need (12 feet/30 inches*3) = 12 windows. Calculate each side for your ultimate number, and I would add 10% to your number for mishaps like construction breakage or an anomaly shaped window sash.

Lastly, you need to think about if you want to restore the historical windows or not. This is a decision that carries a lot of weight in the amount of time you will need to invest in building your greenhouse and the ultimate longevity of your greenhouse structure. If you can restore the windows yourself, the cost to do so is not appreciable in the overall cost of building your greenhouse. However, the time is a serious commitment in order to do the work. If you take the time to correctly restore the wood windows, your greenhouse should stand for 20 – 40 years.  I will have several upcoming blogs on the window restoration process.

One consideration for way you chose, restoring or not restoring, is the condition of the window glaze. If you are not going to restore the windows, the better condition the glaze is in the longer the windows will last. Additionally, finding windows that have no broken panes of glass is beneficial when not restoring. There is higher costs typically for windows in good condition. Conversely, if you have determined you are willing to put in the time to restore the windows, the condition of the glaze and broken or missing panes of glass are less important. In fact, it is much easier to remove old glaze if it is a poor brittle condition. Finally, your upfront window costs will be much lower. 

Now that you have determined the type, number, and if you want to restore your windows, searching for them becomes fairly easy. Your typical internet sources work very well; Craigslist and EBay. These sources are excellent for locating a large quantity of windows at once. The downside is you most likely have to pick up the windows yourself. Windows do not ship well, and the costs to ship are not feasible. The next source is garage sales. You can often find wood windows at garage sales inexpensively. However, you will be most likely picking them up a few at a time. Lastly, your local retail repurpose location often has wood windows. Additionally, if you are looking for a unique window to accent your greenhouse, they will usually have that too. The downside of finding windows this way is you will often be paying full retail; usually $5 per window pane.

The hunting for windows is one of the best parts of building a wood window greenhouse. It is a day out going to garage sales. It’s a late night searching on the internet to kill time. It is salvaging through second hand stores for the one window you need. You never know who you will meet, or where you might go in order to build your vision. For me, the hunt took me on a journey half way across the country to find the windows I wanted. I know it wasn't the easiest road or the most cost effective. However, for me and as Robert Frost’s poem states, “I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.”