Hello,
My DH and I are new here, posting for the first time to ask a question about windows that we can't seem to find in the forum anywhere.
We're from south central Minnesota and it gets quite cold (-20ish) in January. We're converting this small grainery into our coop.
As you can see in the photo, the coop has two identical doors (measuring 22" x 8'). We're planning on making one of the doors into a large window as well as adding three windows on the other walls plus ventilation near the roof and closer to the floor for the summer months.
We're thinking of making the windows ourselves out of hardware cloth and plexiglass. I see many neat ideas for making a window out of 1/2" by 1/2" hardware cloth, but we can't quite picture how we should do the plexiglass to make it both easy to open in the summer and draft proof in the winter.
My simple thought is this: Screw the hardware cloth on to the outside of the coop to prevent predators from pushing it inward. On the inside build a frame around the window that allows the plexiglass to slide up and down (similar to a pop door). However, I still don't know how we'd prevent drafts. Weather stripping?
Does anyone have ideas (or especially photos) on how to do this or something similar?
Thanks in advance! BYC forum is great - I don't even bother with books anymore
My DH and I are new here, posting for the first time to ask a question about windows that we can't seem to find in the forum anywhere.
We're from south central Minnesota and it gets quite cold (-20ish) in January. We're converting this small grainery into our coop.
As you can see in the photo, the coop has two identical doors (measuring 22" x 8'). We're planning on making one of the doors into a large window as well as adding three windows on the other walls plus ventilation near the roof and closer to the floor for the summer months.
We're thinking of making the windows ourselves out of hardware cloth and plexiglass. I see many neat ideas for making a window out of 1/2" by 1/2" hardware cloth, but we can't quite picture how we should do the plexiglass to make it both easy to open in the summer and draft proof in the winter.
My simple thought is this: Screw the hardware cloth on to the outside of the coop to prevent predators from pushing it inward. On the inside build a frame around the window that allows the plexiglass to slide up and down (similar to a pop door). However, I still don't know how we'd prevent drafts. Weather stripping?
Does anyone have ideas (or especially photos) on how to do this or something similar?
Thanks in advance! BYC forum is great - I don't even bother with books anymore
