The reFurbished Greenhouse

Last summer I started collecting windows for a backyard greenhouse I wanted to build.  Originally, I had old farmhouse style windows in my creative vision, you know, the extra long ones with the wooden panels and layers of chipping paint...those are the ones that I wanted.  It didn't work out that way, of course, because everyone thinks if they have a collection of those old windows, they can sell them and retire. In short, they were too expensive everywhere I looked, so I took what I could get, for free.

I started out with four pallets on the ground to make a square and covered them with large scrap pieces of plywood, then added flooring with my leftover kitchen remodel floor. I used pavers under and around the foundation that I took out from the front of the house when I made over the side garden. Money invested in the foundation - Zero dollars. 

For two of the sides, I used fencing panels I picked up for free from the curb, and for the other two walls and the roof support, I used 2 x 4's that I get from my local sawmills scrap pile, for free!  I used the existing fence for the back wall support.  It's not the way a contractor would build something or the way that my dad would have done it, but by using the fence for the back wall, it saved on material and with the greenhouse built off from it, I know that the greenhouse will never fall down. win-win!

On the back wall, I used old shower doors to regulate the wind that comes in through the fence, they work perfectly. 

Last summer, I bought the "cat proof" screen for the back slider door and I had some left over.  I used it on the roof peaks for ventilation.

The only money I spent on this project was for the clear greenhouse roofing.  I purchased it in two panels at Menards when they were having their 11% rebate offer.  It cost about $50 dollars total. 

This is how it looks now at the end of the summer.  I love that it looks like it's been there forever.  I'm excited about next spring so I can use it to start my seedlings in it.  We've had a few hum-dinger storms here this summer and the roof didn't fly off.  I will keep you posted if she survives the winter here in Upper Michigan. 

I made a video of the project, it's my first upload to youtube, if you'd like, you can watch it here.   

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