Greenhouse Update #7

We worked nearly 8 hours on the greenhouse on Thursday, and didn't get nearly as much done as I had hoped. We were at the stage where it's more detail oriented. It doesn't look like much by the photos, but we did accomplish a lot.

The first thing we did was fix those two windows on the front side that were bugging me so much. I think they look better. I know they still aren't the same height as the windows on the sides, but it's much less noticeable than before so I'm happy.



Then Gary began to frame up the windows on either side of the peaked areas. These windows will actually function and they will have automatic openers attached to them so that when it gets above a certain temperature inside, they will open automatically. We didn't have the right size hinges handy, so we didn't put them in yet.

While he was doing that, I put on some door knobs and handles and finished putting in the door stops and finished the trim on the inside above the side windows.

This doorknob came from Gary's parent's farmhouse and I just love it. It doesn't function like a regular doorknob would. I had to fill in the inside of the door with wood where the old door hardware was and some wood filler or caulk will do the rest before we paint the whole thing. Once that's done, I'll screw down the handle more permanently, but at least now we can get in and out without having to put our fingers through the holes. I'm trying to come up with a creative way to cover up the deadbolt hole in the door. If you have any ideas, I'd love to know. Otherwise we will just cut a piece of wood to fit and then putty up the seam so it's not noticeable.
Once the framework was done for the window, Gary covered that with plywood as well. We had thought to fill in this area with the polycarbonate roof panels also, so it would be clear, but that would have been very difficult to pull off and I think this will look better anyway. We will cover it with the same siding that will be down below.

Gary did the same to the back side with the double doors and we decided to fill in the areas on either side of the door with plywood also. Just easier and faster right now. Maybe in the future I will hang some mosaic panels there instead.

Then we began working on the soffit. Again, we are sticking with the plywood as it might provide a little shade in the summer, plus it's just plain easier. We only got one panel up before it decided to start raining. We were dead tired, so it was fine with me.
There will be a trim piece all along the soffit on the left side so there should be no way any bugs can get up in there. I can't even imagine the amount of caulking we are going to have to do, which is why I bought a caulk gun for Gary's cordless drill. That thing is going to be a lifesaver on our hands.

My goal for this weekend is to get the soffit finished, install the windows in the peak and trim up the whole building so we can start insulating and then putting up the siding. The weather may not cooperate long enough for us to get the siding finished, but at least the whole greenhouse will be completely enclosed. If the weather is too bad, maybe we can start building some shelves inside instead. We'll see.