Greenhouse in temperate climates - building required at any cottage. Sudden cold snaps, frosts near the surface of the ground destroy the plants planted in open ground, while the greenhouse allows you to grow them already in early spring.
And since few people want to spend money on complex structures and expensive materials, there is always a temptation make a greenhouse out of available tools, one of which is window frames. If you or someone you know is changing windows, this is a good chance to get cheap material for building a greenhouse.
Wooden and plastic frames: pros and cons
We are building a greenhouse with our own hands from old window frames: which frames to choose - wooden or plastic?
There are undoubted windows advantages compared to other materials. First of all, it is window frame strength.
The wooden frame will have to be built in any case, but the frames fastened together will take part of the mechanical load on themselves, and the resulting construction will be stronger wire arches or pine polesfrom which most often make frameworks for the greenhouse (but no stronger than factory galvanized steel frames).
Additional advantage appears in such a greenhouse if windows can open. In this way, it is very easy to regulate the temperature inside in late spring and summer, when on a sunny day in a closed greenhouse the temperature can reach a fatal 60 degrees.
Opening and closing the necessary windows, temperature can be regulated even in parts of the greenhouse, if it is large enough.
Double glass provides good thermal insulation in the absence of cracks, through which heat could escape and blow cold wind.
Another plus - durability. The glass does not decompose under the sun, like a polyethylene film, and if it breaks for some reason, it is easy to replace, especially with wooden frames.
Finally, price. If you change the windows yourself, you get the material for the greenhouse is freeif your acquaintance changes them, he may sell material he does not need for nothing.
Disadvantage is less durability in comparison with metal frames, vulnerability to the effects of putrefactive fungi, decomposing wood and various insect pests. It makes a greenhouse out wooden frames short-lived.
A greenhouse made of window frames has its advantages and disadvantages, but if it is necessary to build a greenhouse, try it yourself.
Plastic windows for the greenhouse
As a rule, double-glazed windows are installed in plastic windows, which allows them to provide more reliable thermal insulationthan wooden frames with single glass.
Positive sides double glazing is strength (and the rigidity of the structure), as well as resistance to negative environmental factors. They do not swell and do not crack from humidity drops, like wood, and do not rot. Therefore, they do not need to be either treated with antiseptics or painted.
The disadvantages of plastic windows are their big weightinaccessibility and difficulty in repair (the glass in a wooden frame can be replaced or simply hammered the frame with a film, if the glass is broken, and the glass unit will have to be changed completely).
Preparatory work
How to build a greenhouse from the old window frames with your own hands, how to choose a place, what kind of foundation to make? Let's try to answer these questions.
Choosing a place
When choosing a place for a greenhouse, the summer resident usually has a poor choice. The main thing that the place was not shaded from the south, southeast and southwest. The neighborhood with walnuts is especially destructive for greenhouse plants, for this tree not only casts a shadow, but also emits phytoncides that inhibit the growth of all other plants.
Trees can be dangerous also the fact that heavy dry branches that can damage or destroy the greenhouse break off from the storm.
It is also desirable that the building was protected from the windthat can destroy it.
For more information about the rules for the location of greenhouses on the site can be read by following the link.
Preparation of the project and drawing
When designing a greenhouse, it is important to consider the following points:
- the ratio of the size of the window frames and the height you need (it is desirable that the height of the walls be not lower than 180 cm), if it is not possible to put the frames one on another, you will have to build the walls from below using other materials;
- roof: most likely, it will have to use a timber or metal frame for the roof, because in the winter time it can accumulate on the roof up to several tons of snow;
- roof ridge to orient along the north-south axisto ensure proper lighting of the greenhouse.
If according to calculations it turns out that there are not enough window frames, can use polycarbonate sheets instead appropriate size.
If the greenhouse will be heated by a stove, immediately consider where the smoke will go. Chimney can go both through the wall and through the roof, but if it is made of metal, it will be very hot, and therefore should not come into contact with either polyethylene or polycarbonate.
For her, it is desirable to provide a special window (you can use the existing window), and close the space between the round tube and the square frame of the window leaf, for example, with tin or plywood.
Foundation
Unlike conventional greenhouses made of wood or steel frame and plastic film, greenhouses from window frames foundation is required. This is due to the fact that the frames are too heavy, and the soil beneath them will sink unevenly if you build a greenhouse without a foundation.
What materials can serve to create such a frame? It turns out quite a lot of options:
- Tree. It is very durable, but totally short life. In the soil it will quickly rot, and after a few years (usually 5-6, but it may happen that faster, it depends on humidity), the greenhouse will have to be rebuilt.
Fig. 1. Greenhouse of window frames with wooden foundations. - Red brick. The material is good, durable, but also not very reliable. Under the influence of moisture and temperature changes, a brick made from baked clay is destroyed, and the greenhouse on such a foundation is unlikely to last more than ten years.
Fig. 2. The foundation of red brick.
- Silicate (white) brick somewhat stronger than red, and the whims of the weather will not be able to overcome it for dozens of years, so that even when the greenhouse itself becomes useless, it will be possible to build a new one on the same foundation. Disadvantage white brick - his high price.
- Concrete. This material is cheaper than bricks, and is made by itself from cement, sand, rubble and water. Strip foundation of such material will last for many years and will be vulnerable only to extreme cold.
Fig. 3. Concrete Foundation - A rock. This material is the most reliable, but also very expensive, especially in areas that are remote from the deposits of this building material.
Fig. 1. Greenhouse of window frames with wooden foundations. 
Fig. 3. Concrete FoundationIn an area where there are severe frosts, the foundation should reach maximum depth of land freezing. Use the same insulation, for example, from foam.
Step by step: greenhouse construction
How to prepare the frame?
Before you start building walls, frames should be prepared. First of all, remove all metal parts like hinges, awnings, bolts and protruding nails. Then the frame is cleaned from the old paint with metal brushes.
After that the tree is necessary pickle with antisepticso that bacteria and fungi do not destroy it too quickly. Fortunately, the choice of antiseptics today is quite wide. After that you can additionally paint the frame, but the antiseptic itself provides sufficient protection against fungi, insects, rodents and moisture.
If you decide to nail the frames, glasses need to be pulled out during installation, if screws, then you can not do this.
Frame
How the greenhouse is built from the old window frames with your own hands: photos and drawings will help us to more clearly see this and build our version of the greenhouse from wooden or plastic windows. For the construction of the frame, use beam 50x50 mm or board 40 mm thick. The frame consists of racks, upper and lower straps. The latter should be made of identical boards and increase the height of the greenhouse walls. Racks from each other should be kept at such a distance that the window frame is placed strictly between them, and they, in turn, would cover the gaps between two adjacent frames.
For real the roof frame should be strong. It is best to have a gable roof, with additional supports under the ridge, because otherwise it may collapse under the weight of snow. Therefore, perform the roof frame best of bar.
Fig. 4. Scheme of the device frame and placement of window frames on it.
Assembly
Installation can be done both with nails and screws. Screws hold stronger, but are more expensive. Each frame is fixed both outside and inside, with each of its four sides. Then the gaps between the frames are sealed with foam.
Installation of greenhouses from plastic windows will have to perform with bolts and nuts, drilling holes for them.
Roof
It is undesirable to use for the roof of the window. Instead, you can stretch the plastic film or use polycarbonate. Fully transparent roof means it will be too hot inside in warm months, therefore, it is necessary to sprinkle it with a suspension of chalk (as for whitewashing) to create a small shadow. That light that penetrates the walls is enough for photosynthesis. The film is attached with rails.
Doors
They are desirable to make two greenhouses at the ends, so that if necessary, ventilation can create a draft. The easiest way to knock out their frameworks of boards and tighten them with plastic film, nailing it to the tree with the help of thin rails.
Fig. 5. The role of the door is played by the opening window.
Conclusion
Thus, window frames are cheap and convenient material for self-construction of the greenhouse. The advantages of such a greenhouse are the availability of materials, ease of installation and operation, and the disadvantages are the need for a foundation and lower strength compared to the steel frame.
