Welcome again to Saturday Morning Home Repair blogging, where we talk about fixing houses and the things in them that are supposed to work for us. An ad hoc cadre of building professionals and gifted amateurs attempt to answer questions that arise from readers, and offer encouragement and advice for those inclined to do things for themselves, if they can. We all do a lot of things, collectively, and can probably help out with insights from our vast experience. Or sometimes, we just gab.
I’d like to show & tell you about the cold frame I made. I scrounged up pieces of scrap wood and leftover paint, and built the project. Last summer’s growing season was short enough, and the weather was unseasonable enough to convince me it was time to build one.
I found a YouTube video that outlined the steps and I started by going next door to see what intact windows might be hiding out in my brother’s barn. I found one that looked like it would work after I scrubbed off the pigeon poop, scraped off the old paint and reglazed the glass. Next, I built the window frame.
Using scrap wood meant that it wouldn’t be pretty, but maintaining square corners and measuring accurately would make it at least serviceable.
I built the frame first so that the window would fit correctly on the top of the structure.
Next I had to decide how high I wanted the sides. I decided on about 36” at the back and about 24” in front. I could have made the front a little lower so that I could reach into it better, but this was my first attempt so I’m choosing to live with it.
I built each end and the front and back with 2x4s for durability. The hard part was determining the length of the bottom rail front-to-back that would correspond to the the framed window sitting on a slant on top.
I measured the exact width of the frame and the distance from top to bottom of both the front and back upright 2x4s. Subtracting the front measurement from the back measurement, I had the numbers to plug into my handy equation, a-squared + b-squared = c-squared where a = base, b = side and c = the hypotenuse, the length of my window frame. Substituting my measurements into b and c in the the equation I was able to measure and cut the bottom rail, a. This sounds complicated without a drawing of a right triangle so another option is using an online calculator to figure this out.
I connected the sides to the front and back with more 2x4s and placed it in its final location before it got too heavy for me to move.
Next I placed the window frame on top of the 2x4 structure to check whether it fit.
Perfect!
Adding the siding went together easily although you can see where I was running a little short by the time I got to the front. Oh well, another lesson learned.
While waiting for the weather to warm up to paint, I started the seeds and the sun kept them warm and cozy in the cold frame even without my sealing the cracks!
Once the weather warmed up, I caulked the seams, leveled it with bricks “borrowed” from my brother and applied a few coats of paint using the same rules as for the house — two coats of primer and two coats of the finish color. Once I make some sand bags, I’ll put them where the bricks are for a better seal in the winter. I screwed hinges at the top of the window and handles on the window and on each end of the frame so it would be easier to open and move. A thermometer inside tells me when it’s time to open the window.
I’ll relocate the chives in the Fall. Or maybe leave them there to overwinter. The seedlings have done well and I plan to keep the tomato plants in pots and trimmed to 3’ so they can stay alive in the cold frame well beyond the first frost in the fall.
What have you been working on?
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