Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Renovate Fox Ridge: Not eating my boot today. Phew!

Last week, I (snottily) wagered a bet that we wouldn't finish the green house project before I had to return to the city. To be more specific, I offered to eat my right shoe (pictured at left) if we managed to finish the green house... And thankfully (or unfortunately) I have dodged that bullet and the green house remains incomplete. For now.


I have to confess, I kind of wish I was eating my shoe instead, since building this green house has been a real son-of-a-#%!&.

Mysteriously, the process is taking forever. The first two days really moved along at a clip, but the following days, it was like we were building in slooooow-mo. Even on the days when we weren't rained out and didn't stop for antiquing side-trips, it felt like we didn't really get that much accomplished. Crud. However, it is already looking pretty awesome, so let's all take a moment to check out these latest photos:

Slow Going: The Roof Going Up 
One Side Of The Roof Is On! Hurray! 

(Please feel free to shower us with wonderful words of encouragement and praise by clicking on the "Comments" link in the green bar at the bottom of this posting. 
We can use all the extra motivation we can get!) 

Now With All Four Sides and Half A Roof! 
Next Weekend, We'll Tackle Installing The Door,
and Hanging The Other Half of The Roof. 
This whole process has been quite a venture-- and I'm pretty sure a more experienced contractor would wince at some of the techniques we've utilized. However, the whole thing feels pretty bloody sturdy considering we had very little (no) idea what we were doing, and I'm hoping after a coat of paint, it will really be a thing of awe-inspiring beauty. (Or something close to that...)

I'll fill you in on our progress next weekend, but in the meantime...

I'm back in the city, back to the grind! 
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11 comments:

  1. carrie @ brick city loveMay 4, 2011 at 11:56 AM

    I think this is going to be amazing when you're done! I have a couple old windows I rescued back in high school but not nearly enough to do this. It's going to look SO good. Awesome idea!!

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  2. John and ChristinaMay 4, 2011 at 12:02 PM

    Thanks Carrie! Stay tuned and hopefully we'll manage to get it finished by next weekend... fingers crossed!

    I can't wait to start filling it up with seedlings, so we better get it finished soon. Spring is here!

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  3. GretaMay 11, 2011 at 12:22 PM

    Found your blog via re-nest and am so glad I did. I think you've made amazing progress. How did you decide which windows to use where? Sketches on graph paper? Auto CAD? Did you use any particular references?
    I, too, have a collection of rescued old windows and a dream, so I'm excited to watch your greenhouse come together.

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  4. John and ChristinaMay 11, 2011 at 3:05 PM

    Hi Greta! Thanks for swinging by... I didn't even know that we'd been included on Re-Nest, what an exciting honor!

    I would love to say that I used CAD, but I confess: I literally laid all of the windows out on our lawn, measured them all (and then wrote their measurements on a piece of blue tape on each window) and then just jiggered them around until I found the best combination to build each wall.

    I was channeling the beautiful greenhouses I saw here (www.heligan.com) when I was thinking about how I wanted it to look, though I was working on a far smaller, much less grand scale.

    You should take a look at our more recent posts-- they show more "after" pictures of the greenhouse as it is now.

    Thanks for coming by,
    John & Christina

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  5. Connie MyresMay 15, 2011 at 5:06 AM

    I've thought about doing something like this. Especially when I see old windows by the the road for the garbage man or free to take. Thanks for the inspiration!

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  6. John and ChristinaMay 15, 2011 at 5:24 AM

    Thanks for all of the positive feedback guys! We're just loving the greenhouse so far... and are hoping to start planting seeds this weekend.
    Check back in soon to see how we're faring...

    Thanks again!

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  7. Ada @ New YorkMay 24, 2011 at 6:44 PM

    It's looking GOOD!!!!! Glad u didn't have to eat the shoe (phew!). What's the bet next time? Have fun planting the seeds!!!

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  8. TonyaJanuary 17, 2014 at 8:55 AM

    We are buying an old house and having the windows replaced. I told the window man to be careful with the old windows, they would soon be my new greenhouse. So excited to find this today and see that I am not the only one who thinks of these sort of things!

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  9. AnonymousOctober 24, 2014 at 10:20 PM

    Great idea, my husband is a contractor and he just renovated a old house (1906), and replaced all the windows. I have been asking for a green house for years. So this is his next honey do project. I will post pictures for you when he is done. Thanks for a great idea!!!

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  10. UnknownOctober 2, 2021 at 3:43 PM

    Hello is it possible to know how it looks like 10 ys after? Thks, Catherine

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  11. Rebecca GellarsJuly 21, 2024 at 8:02 AM

    Thiis was lovely to read

    ReplyDelete

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