Building Windows & Doors
To save money, we decided to build our own windows and doors. Most of our windows are non-opening which makes them very easy to build in wooden frames.
I have not built the frames for the doors yet. I will build them at my cousins house where the tiny house is being built, as they would be too large to transport.
Our window and door sizes are approximately:
4 x Upstairs windows – 92cm (36.2″) high x 73cm (28.7″) wide
3 x downstairs windows (office, bathroom) – 95cm (37.4″) high x 69cm (27.1″) wide
Kitchen Opening Window – 64cm (25.2″) high x 235cm (92.5″) wide
2 x Lounge room Doors – 230cm (90.5″) high x 120cm (47.2″) wide
If you look back at the design post, you will notice our downstairs windows and upstairs windows are slightly different sizes. This is due to how we found the glass. We did not order it new. It’s very easy to find bulk lots of double glazed glass for as low as $1 which people have ordered incorrect sizing and have no use for. We actually found 3 different sellers selling bulk lots of double glazed glass, kept what we want and gave the rest away. Then designed the tiny house design to suit the windows. Doing this and using wood for the frames saved us thousands of dollars.
Non-Opening Windows & Doors:
To make a non-opening window is pretty easy. You cut up some 190mm (7.5″) x 20mm (0.8″) wood to surround your glass as a wooden frame. Then you can either purchase 20mm (0.8″) squared wood as a skirting to hold in the glass on either side. Or you can do what we did and run a few sheets of the 190mm (7.5″) wood through the table saw to cut it to 20mm (0.8″) width. This actually saved a lot of money as a single length of 190mm wide wood created about 7 lengths of 20mm wide skirting.
Then build the frame around the window, and build two frames out of skirting wood. Nail one skirting frame inside the windows frame. Place in the window. and then nail the second skirting frame on the other side to hold it all together.
Apart from that its just painting, and sealing with silicone to ensure its completely weatherproof. We did use double glazed glass which we picked up really cheap.
Opening Windows & Doors:
The kitchen area does have large opening windows. So this simply meant making smaller frames for the windows in the same fashion. Then making a large frame around them both with another skirting frame to rest behind the window. I attached a rubber seal to make it weather proof on this skirting frame. We repeated this process for the doors. Which we found second hand, and ordered double glazed glass to replace the single glazed glass that came with them.
Photos:
In true fashion…. I have managed to lose all of the video footage and photos that were taken when we were building the windows and doors. Here is what I have left.
