We have been re-purposing the old dog house. It has sat empty for many years, the roof was beginning to deteriorate, it was an eyesore, and there was still lots of good wood on it. “Waste not, want not.” Instead of letting it go to nothing it became our new cold frame.
First we removed the roof, keeping all the good wood to use for repairs that needed to be done to make it into a cold frame. When the dog house was built it was well insulated, with double wall construction. To cover the entrance a piece of plywood from the old roof was cut to cover the whole front side, it was glued and secured with screws. On the inside another piece of plywood was fitted, after putting in some insulation, thus finishing the double walled construction all the way around the structure.
Some on line research showed that white is the preferred color to paint the interior and exterior of the cold frame. The box got one coat, inside and out, from an old bucket of flat white exterior paint, it will need another coat, probably in the spring.
The cold frame will have glass doors on it when completed but for now it will be covered with plastic.
It works!
At one point the temperature was up to 105.5 the outside temperature was in the mid 60′s. We pulled the plastic cover almost completely off to keep the plants inside from baking, one little plant had begun to wilt.
The total cost of this project $0.00 using only things that were laying around the place. The glass doors will cost nothing, we have glass from some old storm windows. Wood will be used from the dog house roof or out of the scrap pile, it is just a matter of designing them, cutting the glass, constructing and installing, my husband has chosen to do this part of the job.
I am looking forward to learning what can be done with this new tool to increase the amount of produce we can grow at home.
Thanks for stopping by for a visit.
Filed by Shari at 11:06 pm under Handwork 
4 Comments
Cheers!…”
