So we just started building our second glass house. If you search under my user name you can find pics of the first one. We moved even before we got to finish that one so the new owner got a great perk with the house :) Got the foundation and floor in this weekend (now have to run down and get the building permit!) and am waiting on Home Depot for 2 16 foot beams I need for the top sides. This one will be 12 x 16 with 10 foot high walls and and an 8 foot ceiling peak. The first greenhouse was 8 x 12 with 8 foot walls and a ceiling height dictated by the windows I had. This new one will have a metal roof so we will have a much steeper pitch. I went to pick up some windows from a lady on Craigslist and she also threw in these 2 great old french doors - really narrow and tall. They will be the focal point of the building. Can't wait to get the walls up. It's like putting a puzzle together. Someone on my facebook page said:" You know you can build a pvc hoop and plastic greenhouse for about $250." I said it wasn't really going to be used as a greenhouse and I wanted something a lot nicer looking than that for my glass garden house. It has to fit in with my 1780 colonial.

You may want to look into Home Depot 4' x 8' x 5/8" aluminum faced rigid foam board ($12.00 each?). It has a very reflective surface to maximize light and in a cold garage, the foam will give you lots of insulation. For your zone, this set up may give you enough heat from 600 watts. I can't guarantee that cops will not find what you are growing with this set up. LOL dcarch

Many hardware stores or glass shops will do the repair. There are however dozens and dozens of different types of storm window latches, some of which are obsolete. Hopefully the hardware store would have the type you need, or one that is close enough to use. If you're going to do the work yourself, you'll have to risk breaking the glass, and there are two main ways that the latches are replaced. Some storm inserts are made in such a way that the latch easily slips out without taking apart the storm insert. Those types have a small hole in the bottom and part of the latch drops into the hole to interlock. By pressing the "button" that pokes through the hole it will pop out and is easily replaced. The other type (the most common) is made so that the only way to remove and replace the broken latch is to take apart the storm insert. It's easier than you would think. Here's how: The aluminum storm insert is normally held in place by 4 corner keys that are merely lightly crimped into place. Set the storm insert on a workbench. Take a chisel (I prefer about 1" wide), place it along the inside edge of the aluminum frame in the bottom corner (the chisel would be lightly touching the glass and is pressed against the aluminum, perpendicular to the glass) or into a weatherstrip groove near the corner and gently tap the chisel with a hammer to knock apart the aluminum extrusions in the corner. Once you have one corner pushed apart by about 1/8" you can start the other bottom corner. Continue to knock the bottom rail off, replace the broken latches, and then tap the rail back into place. Use a nail set to recrimp the corners. It seems as if you'd break the glass but that rarely happens (if done correctly). Again, you could have a hardware store do it (it actually only takes about 5 minutes) and let them worry about it. The following link shows about 50+ different types of latches: http://www.blainewindow.com/catalog/itemlist.cfm?catid=193&compid=1&pcatid=74

The metal polishes should help coat the aluminum with a sacrificial layer that will keep it from oxidizing as quickly, but uncoated aluminum is going to oxidize. Depends on the paint as to what works best. If you really want to keep them, pulling the glass and media blasting them is probably easiest.