Dear Chuck,

This has a couple of tips on cheap construction.  Today I finished my rear deck’s 4′ x 8′ potting shed, and the “There’s a Better Way” has to be given credit for more than one reason for the successful completion of the project. 

FHB article about saving old windows? I saved three sash from the trash pile of a local contractor. Used glass and muntons from #3 to patch #1&2.  The first photo shows the use of the door spinner as a great place to hold window sash while you putty (I made the frame from treated 2 x 6, with top mortised hinge pairs for awnings).  But I could not find awning window operating hardware except for almost $35 each on the internet.  At Goldberg’s Hardware in Norfolk, the manager and I had a discussion of how to do it (I had started with box lid hoders, not successful).  He came up with the idea of the hydraulic holdopens for auto/truck rear windows.  These were each $20 minimum at the auto parts store, with no mounting hardware. I got the pair you see in the second photo at the junk yard for $5 — hardware and all!  They work great to push open and hold the windows.

The other photos show the shed, with the windows in photos 3 an 4, and the doors that I varnished using the door spinner (took only about a half-hour a coat) in photos four and five. 

The trim, doors, hardware, and roof were new stuff – rafters are double 5/4 x 6 porch flooring.  The shed is made from treated 2 x 4’s from an old shed I tore down, the windows from the trash, and cedar plywood from a local architectural salvage yard at $7 a sheet.  The potting sink is OSB glued with Gorilla Glue and painted with Satin Impervo.   

Oh, yeah, I got a gallon of Satin Impervo Alkyd Enamel for $0.00 at the Benjamin Moore store out of their mistake pile — when they mess up a color mix, they have to dispose of the wasted paint as hazmat.  Many paint stores will give you the paint for nuthin’ or very little. Otherwise they have to pay to dispose of it.  Color choice, of course, is not an issue.

Thanks for all your FHB help with my project!