Tiny House in Portugal: We have windows!

Finding windows

We have been searching the Portuguese secondhand websites for a while now looking for secondhand double glazed windows.
We had found some locally, but when we went to look they turned out to be single glazed :(
We thought about it, but we really want to make the house as energy as efficient as possible and we are going to invest a lot in cork insulation so it does make sense for us to put in single glaze and then lose a lot of heat. But we figured for the bathroom they would be ok, and because they needed to be repaired, we got them for a good price. I hope I can manage to fix them! :-))

I was getting a bit frustrated because that we were not managing to find any secondhand double glazed ones. The next stage of the design and build it is necessary for us to know all the dimensions to build the timber frame. The idea we had was that we would build the wall frames around the windows, which is the reverse way you would normally build a house. Generally you build the walls of a house and measure the size that you want the windows, and then have some made to fit.
As there are so many good secondhand windows out there, or at least that is what I thought, we were planning to buy some roughly the size that we wanted, and then I would include them into the frame design. I have bought them before in the UK and have found some really good used ones, whole window units at a fraction of what you would pay new. I think generally people don't want the hassle of using secondhand.
So slightly frustrated at what I was finding in Portugal I looked on ebay in the UK. There were loads and at good prices. So I started to do the maths of what it would cost to rent a van and drive to the uk to buy some. I wasn't being totally crazy as there was some other things that I could also bring back to make the trip worthwhile, but it just didn't seem right. We are building a tiny house in Portugal and part of or mission is to used secondhand, locally sourced materials. Ok, scrap that idea and with the gentle re-assurance from Raquel I let go and trusted that we would find what we needed.....

The next day we searched again but this time allowed for a search over a larger area. This proved to be a lot more fruitful and we came a cross a guy that had quite a collection of good secondhand and nearly new units. It turned out that he works for a company that makes them and he therefore had a lot that were either wrong orders, or ones that had been taken out and replaced. Anyway, they all needed good homes, and we were happy to help :)
It was quite a drive to get there, he lives near Santarém which was about 2.5 hours drive away, but it was well worth it. He had a treasure trove of windows, everything from very small, to full sliding doors. We got the tape measure out and went to work measuring, contemplating and feeling out which were the right ones. It was awesome to do this process together as it helps to feel out what the right choices are, even if sometimes it doesn't make logical sense. We managed to find some for the rest of the house, including the loft, which was a total bonus as we were looking for unusual dimensions. It just shows what happens when you let go and trust, I am in awe of what is possible. :)))