DIY Greenhouse Built with Repurposed Windows

Why did we decide to build a greenhouse?

In the spring of 2020 we felt it necessary to expand our garden and to incorporate growing plants from seeds. We would usually purchase started plants from a nursery. However, the only way to do that in the northeast is to have a greenhouse and extend the growing seasons. This will get you about a month on each end of the summer. Years prior on a larger house remodel, my husband replaces all the windows with upgraded vinyl. We take out the old wooden double hung six lite windows. Jesse decides to save them for a project like this – which I’m so glad he did! Read on to find out more about our DIY Greenhouse Built With Repurposed Windows.

The first steps to building a DIY Greenhouse Built with Repurposed Windows:

After categorizing all of the windows we find that most are consistent in size. There are only a few smaller windows which I’ll add on to the ends. Next, I find the general size that we want our greenhouse to be. We lay the windows out in the garage to work out the framing and design of the structure. 

The foundation is on sono tubes bracketed with 4 x 4 posts as a foundation including a gravel base, so when we water in there, it will drain properly. I frame up the walls to fit the windows and I make custom trusses for the roof system that will allow as much light in as possible while holding the structure together. I design it to be like an old church structure with a little steeple on one end. 

DIY Greenhouse Doors

The front doors I have left over from a log cabin remodel, and I frame those in as well. The roofing is an opaque clear corrugated roof, which lets in 90% of the light. I choose that because I don’t want it to be very bright in there when we are working. I am able to build the inside shelves and storage areas out of scrap wood. To add some character I use T1-11 siding to fill in where there are no windows trimmed with primed pine and paint it the same color as our house. 

I dig up some rocks I find around the property to add some cute steps going in and then frame out the outside with rocks as well. I even discover a huge heart rock to add to the space, which holds special meaning to our family.

We are fortunate to have a small cedar forest on the back acreage so I go hunting for cedar posts to use as fencing since I don’t want to use pressure treated wood anywhere near this fruit forest garden. I use 6 foot high 2” x 4” rectangular animal fencing for the perimeter of the fruit forest and build two gates out of the cedar logs. After watching many growing and gardening channels on YouTube, I realize that using wood chips will be a great way of making this fruit forest floor since fruit trees love this type of bedding. We add two pear trees two apple trees two cherry trees, a fig tree, blueberry bushes, strawberry and asparagus.. all of which grow well in our grow zone.

I hope this inspires you to think about building your own greenhouse! Check out more of our Fern design projects here!