My garage workshop has been fantastic. It’s great to have a separate building to go into and do some woodworking, away from the screens and other distractions of the house. However, there is one flaw in the garage shop, there is no natural light. Sure, during the summer I can leave the door open and let some light and breeze in. But in the transition months, I want to hold on to the heat, so I leave the door down often. Even in the heat of summer, the insulated garage can maintain much of the coolness if I leave the door closed. In these times, it’s easy to feel disconnected from the outside world. In the winter, I often forget the time of day as I work under the immense brightness of the LED lights.
Therefore, I decided to add a window to my workshop. Just a small window to add light and a nice view on occasion. Since it would be facing towards the yard (east side), it’d get nice morning light. But this also means it had to look nice from our back patio. I decided I’d make a nice octagon frame, which would add a nice distinctive touch to the backyard view while also testing my woodworking skills.
I cut the frame from poplar boards, ensuring the width was just right from the outer wall of the garage to the inner wall.
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Next, I added a decorative frame for the inner outside part of the window, this part would hold the glass.
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The second decorative frame was for the outside, to hide the crack and gaps between the window and the wall. This was more difficult, as I had to ensure the size was perfect before gluing it to the rest of the frame.
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With the frame completed, I had to cut a whole in my garage wall. I first put the frame up against the wall on the inside and traced its location between two studs. I then started with a few holes using a 1/4″ drill bit at each of the corners. I then used a combination of my jigsaw and Japenese pull saws to cut the perfect octagon hole. It took some careful edge trimming to get it to fit the frame perfectly.
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The (now painted) frame fit snugly in the hole.
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I filled the insulation back in and cut out a similar octagon from the OSB wall panel. Then that fit over the hole, creating a near-seamless window.
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Next, I added some crossbars to ensure birds wouldn’t try to fly into the glass and to add to the decorative beauty of the piece. These were held in with simply screws, in case the glass every needs replaced.
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The overall result turned out great!
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A nice addition to our backyard experience.
