Close to a year ago we found 4 matching windows in the basement of our Hawthorne house. They were in such a state of disrepair. Surprised? Not! We assumed they had been removed from the house, however, once we had gutted the house down to the studs, we realized they had not been a part of the main house. A couple months later a former resident stopped by and we learned some things about the house and its past. Not only was it pink in earlier days but also it had a small garage or carriage house.
We decided to recycle 3 of the mystery windows by using them inside the house, and, in doing so, I solved the mystery of the 4 windows. As I scraped away the old glaze and stripped away layers of paint I uncovered PINK paint. The windows must have come from the old carriage house.
Since the master bathroom is on the north side of the house it receives very little natural light. We decided to use one of the windows on the west wall of the shower in the master bathroom. Set at 10 feet high it will allow in light from the adjacent room on the west without sacrificing any privacy.
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| The rectangle framing at the top of the photo is the space created in the shower wall for the old window |
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| In order to center the windows, we cut off an inch from the bottom of each old window. |
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| Some people can use the table saw with confidence. Not I. The table saw intimidates me so I remain at a distance. |
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| After building a frame, we level and install one window in the shower wall. |
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| The installed window as seen from the adjacent room |
Very happy with how the installed window looks, Donnie and I build 2 more windows and install them in the stairwell on the 3rd floor. The large window on the west side of the house floods the stairwell with afternoon light and the newly installed recycled windows allow the light into the north and south side rooms.
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| Two windows in the 3rd floor stairwell |
After the painters prime the house interior, I will return the original old glass and glaze each pane for the final topcoat of paint.
That is my kind of recycling!
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