I don’t do windows
Posted by Rich on 15 Nov 2007 at 06:22 pm | Tagged as: Construction, General, Renewable Energy
I need to adopt those words.
In what seemed to be the never-ending project, the barn has windows in it. I thought I was so lucky to find all the original windows sitting in the barn. There was only one window that was complete. The rest were missing glass. Luckily, our local Ace hardware could do the glass replacement and glazing. I knew it was worth whatever price they set. 
Well then, these windows were original. They were weather beaten, animal chewed, and sometimes rotten. It took days of sanding, gluing, re-sanding, adding filler, and sanding again to get to a good and useable state. Then the painting began. Do you know how annoying painting loose windows are? You can’t do both sides at once, and you can’t get to the all the edges at the same time either. It seemed to take forever to finish a full rotation. The hardest part was getting enough space to lay all these out in order to dry. The best part is that they needed primer, then paint. Another three days of the painting one side at a time.
Finally, they were painted and dry. Cleaning went pretty fast, I got that done all in one night. I didn’t mask the glass, so a pass of a razor blade was needed on all the edges, then a good blast of glass cleaner to get all the grime, glazing goo, and fingerprints off.
The final step was getting them into the barn. The frames were mostly good, and got some primer during my painting spree. The hardest part was trying window after window in each hole. I didn’t realize that each window was a slightly different size. I think it took about 3 tries to get the best fit.
The locking pins had me confused. Most window frames had a hole on each side that accepted the pins. However, I had 2 windows with a single pin on the top. I looked all around, and found only 1 window frame with this option. There is an opening at the very top of the south side of the barn. I set up the 20 foot ladder inside the hayloft. Yes, this is one floor up already. I doubt that standing, on the top rung, would I be able to reach that opening. Besides, there was so much wind, the window would have flown from my hands. Needles to say, the window found another home.
The sides of the barn have two windows in place. The back wall has two of the three windows on the ground floor done. I am not replacing the one waaaayy up there right now. None of the holes on the north side seem to take windows.
I have 4 more frames in the garage. These are the ones that will take serious rebuilding, as these are missing pieces. I need 2 of them….I wonder where the other two goes? I think there are some in the upper ends of the crib as well.
I did notice, that once these single paned windows were in place. Standing inside the barn was actually very comfy. We might actually get some work done during these colder Iowa days. I have plans on making a large thermosiphon air heater on the south wall. Maybe some winter work will be feasible.
Hey Reagan,
Wow, you put a lot of time into fixing up those windows. I couldn’t have done it, hehehe. You’re smart not to go up on top of the ladder to do the high up window. Barns can be very warm if they are in fairly good shape. Have a good weekend.
Wirey Hugs!
Linda, Butchy & Snickers
Hey! Those windows look great!!
What the heck is a thermosiphon whatever?
Tell Mason GOOD JOB on those bean bags! I can’t work a sewing machine to save my soul!
Oh, and I got my worm shirt — I love it! How dare you design new ones though, now I have to get another!! I love the worm wrangler idea!
TTYS!
~T
The barn is really shaping up nicely. Seeing progress is a great reward when you are the ones supplying the sweat equity. That barn is going to be a real “attention getter” when it is completely remodeled. You are all doing a really good job.
BTW. I too would like to know how a thermosiphon air heater works. Thanks.
I’ll be doing the heater, and documenting it, right after Thanksgiving.
It’s basically a solar air heater, built into the wall, that uses it’s own convection currents to move air.