I walked into my credit union two months ago, just as they were starting a remodel on their building. The counter was busy, so the manager called me over and helped me at her desk. As I sat there looking out the large front windows, it occurred to me that the wall in which they sat would be removed in construction. I asked the manager, “What are you doing with those windows when the wall comes out?”

She paused, puzzled, in the midst of my transaction. “I don’t know. Nothing, I guess.”

“Can I have them?” I asked.

“I guess so, if you want them.”

You bet I wanted them! There were four windows, each 4′ wide by 7’2.5″ high. All were double-paned, and two of them were tempered glass. I had given up the idea of building a greenhouse this year, the price of materials being prohibitive; but sitting in that bank I began to think I could use these glass windows instead, and build my greenhouse anyway.

I mentioned my find to the contractor who had framed our house, and he said he could haul them out to our house. He had experienced in glass moving and installation, and had the truck and tools to move it. I gratefully accepted. It took some time and persistence, but the day finally came when the windows were removed, and soon our contractor and his boys were pulling up the steep driveway by the garden, laden with our glass.

There were five panels, not four! It took them most of an hour to unload and stack them so they would not break while the greenhouse frame was under construction. I asked him what I might have paid for these panels. We estimated $10 per square foot for the regular glass and “more than that” for the tempered. Let’s say $13? That’s over $1600 worth of glass (including the fifth piece, which was larger than the others). The foreman at the construction site learned what I wanted the glass for and reportedly said, “I should have thought of that!”

It never hurts to ask.