The final part of the shed project: replacing the windows.
The original plastic panes were in a sorry state. Years of UV exposure had clouded the plastic and made it very brittle. Note the cracks covered up with gaffer tape in an attempt to maintain watertightness.
The new glass. I was surprised it was so cheap. The sawmill had just taken a delivery of new glass and had a huge pile of the stuff. They don't usually sell it directly to customers but my man let me have three panes for a fiver.
First pane out. The wooden retaining strips were removed with a bit of encouragement from a pallete knife and a flat-bladed screwdriver.
First one done. The glass was exactly the right size (18"x24" seems to be a standard size for sheds) but was slightly thicker than the plastic (3mm vs 2mm, i think) so the wooden strips didn't go back on in exactly the same place. I used the original nails to re-attach the strips.
Hammering next to glass is a bit unnerving, but once you get the knack it's fine. The guy at the sawmill told me to always slide the hammer along the glass. Since it's already touching the glass it's less likely to bounce back and smash stuff.
...and compared with the other two.
Two done!
All done, and just in time: partly because it was starting to get dark and I couldn't actually see the last few nails; but also because the next day our nice spell of weather broke and it pissed it down.
There's a shelf just below the windows and now that there's some proper light going in there during the day I can start thinking about getting some crops ready for next spring. I'm going to start with some garlic and see how it goes.
The original plastic panes were in a sorry state. Years of UV exposure had clouded the plastic and made it very brittle. Note the cracks covered up with gaffer tape in an attempt to maintain watertightness.
The new glass. I was surprised it was so cheap. The sawmill had just taken a delivery of new glass and had a huge pile of the stuff. They don't usually sell it directly to customers but my man let me have three panes for a fiver.
First pane out. The wooden retaining strips were removed with a bit of encouragement from a pallete knife and a flat-bladed screwdriver.
First one done. The glass was exactly the right size (18"x24" seems to be a standard size for sheds) but was slightly thicker than the plastic (3mm vs 2mm, i think) so the wooden strips didn't go back on in exactly the same place. I used the original nails to re-attach the strips.
Hammering next to glass is a bit unnerving, but once you get the knack it's fine. The guy at the sawmill told me to always slide the hammer along the glass. Since it's already touching the glass it's less likely to bounce back and smash stuff.
...and compared with the other two.
Two done!
All done, and just in time: partly because it was starting to get dark and I couldn't actually see the last few nails; but also because the next day our nice spell of weather broke and it pissed it down.
There's a shelf just below the windows and now that there's some proper light going in there during the day I can start thinking about getting some crops ready for next spring. I'm going to start with some garlic and see how it goes.
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