Replies

1. 
   s._collins | May 01, 1999 06:48am | #1

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   You may not like vinyl but it is the best bet in a high humidity area. No matter how well you paint and caulk you are going to have an area uncover on almost every window. It will eventually cause a problem with the operation of the unit.

2. 
   Guest_ | May 01, 1999 08:13pm | #2

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   Rufus

   It would be interesting to know what went wrong with the Spar Varnish as it was what I would recommend. Poor quality product, poor quality installation, or both perhaps. . . as you point out it
   i is
   meant for marine applications, and I've used it sucessfully for years on boats, screen doors etc. Follow instructions with a quality product. . . thin first coat etc

   Definitely dissasemble windows and seal all surfaces.

   Will you provide some ventilation to mitigate excessive condensation buildup??

   -pm

1. 
   Guest_ | May 02, 1999 09:56am | #3

   *The door and windows can be opened for ventilation, but I want to keep it warm in the greenhouse in the winter, so some other type of ventilation is called for, I think. Vents, fans, etc. I'm going to consult with some greenhouse manufacturers around here for those details. Any idea of the advisability and success(?) of painting vinyl to match the rest of the windows?

1. 
   Guest_ | May 02, 1999 10:19pm | #4

   *I asked my local glass dealer - I consider him a straight shooter and trust what he says - about painting vinal windows awhile back and he advised against it because the vinal has a very low melting point and dark colors trap heat and you could get into structural integrity issues...and so I only painted the ones on the East and North walls dark green. No apparent problems after three years in South Puget Sound region.BTW - that is my chief complaint with vinal windows, the color. If you use a light color for the body of house, and a dark color for trim, you have that light color window sticking out like a sore thumb. Other than the fact that wood windows look better and connote quality, I think vinal windows work very well - a huge improvement on alluminun which was the norm here for decades. - yb

3. 
   Guest_ | May 02, 1999 10:19pm | #5

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   New construction in the Pacific Northwest. Plan to install Willmar or Kolbe & Kolbe aluminum clad wood casements. (Like Willmar better but they cost about 25% more). Have an attached greenhouse breezeway between house and garage and would like the windows to match the rest of the house and garage. Don't like the look of vinyl for the greenhouse, and neither manufacturer can match the color; said they would provide exact color of paint as the aluminum and I could paint the vinyl, but I'm skeptical of that. Besides, I hate vinyl. So, assuming I go with the wood windows in the greenhouse, how am I going to protect that wood from the high humidity in there? Would a high quality exterior paint be enough? Should the frame be disassembled and painted on all sides of each piece of wood? Should I caulk all the joints with something like clear Phenoseal? Could I use something clear, like marine varnish, so the wood still shows? An acquaintance once recommended that someone use spar varnish on his exposed-to-the-elements front door, and he said it was a disaster within a year. Maybe the guy didn't apply it correctly...thought that stuff was used on ships.