Hello!
I have a question that might seem a bit silly, but it’s been on my mind a lot lately.
For cost reasons, we decided against a lift-and-slide door to the terrace. Besides the price, another reason was that the access to the terrace would be narrower compared to a door that opens both ways.
But as often happens with building a house, doubts come up afterwards or during the process. Now we’ve been thinking, what if someday it really bothers us, and due to inheritance or something else, we suddenly have enough money? If we wanted to widen the window area later, or install a completely new terrace door on another side, that would probably be quite complicated (or maybe even impossible)?
So here’s my silly question: Such extensive work would probably take more than one day, right? How would the house be secured during that time? You can’t just leave the ground floor open for a week while you’re already living in the house.
Has anyone ever done something like this, or do such window enlargements mostly apply to older buildings that aren’t yet occupied?
Thanks a lot for your advice :-)
We’re having a really hard time balancing budget and wishes. On one hand, we’re afraid of financial trouble, but on the other hand, we’re worried we’ll regret it later. That’s why these thoughts keep bothering us...
I have a question that might seem a bit silly, but it’s been on my mind a lot lately.
For cost reasons, we decided against a lift-and-slide door to the terrace. Besides the price, another reason was that the access to the terrace would be narrower compared to a door that opens both ways.
But as often happens with building a house, doubts come up afterwards or during the process. Now we’ve been thinking, what if someday it really bothers us, and due to inheritance or something else, we suddenly have enough money? If we wanted to widen the window area later, or install a completely new terrace door on another side, that would probably be quite complicated (or maybe even impossible)?
So here’s my silly question: Such extensive work would probably take more than one day, right? How would the house be secured during that time? You can’t just leave the ground floor open for a week while you’re already living in the house.
Has anyone ever done something like this, or do such window enlargements mostly apply to older buildings that aren’t yet occupied?
Thanks a lot for your advice :-)
We’re having a really hard time balancing budget and wishes. On one hand, we’re afraid of financial trouble, but on the other hand, we’re worried we’ll regret it later. That’s why these thoughts keep bothering us...
Winniefred4 Feb 2021 17:28Hausbautraum20 schrieb:
Thanks for sharing your opinion!
We also don’t see sliding doors as the only ultimate solution. The main advantage would have been the barrier-free step outside.
However, we actually planned significantly fewer windows than the rest of the new development. This really stands out to us now that the house is finished. The plots are relatively small, and to the south we have 10 meters (33 feet) to the next duplex, to the east even less than 10 meters (33 feet), and to the west it’s less than 10 meters (33 feet) to the street. Somehow, we simply never thought of installing huge window fronts there.
Still, everyone else seems to have at least large, or even gigantic, windows facing the street. This is making us second-guess ourselves. What if we end up being bothered by it in the long run? For now, nobody is living in those houses yet, and construction work is still possible.That’s a matter of personal taste. I can tell you what will happen with the neighbors: They will pretty much keep their windows and doors covered at all times, because nobody wants to feel like they’re sitting on display. Not in winter, when the lights are on inside, and not in summer, when it’s too hot anyway. This trend with the huge window fronts is exactly that—a trend. Just my opinion. 😉 Friends of ours have huge windows everywhere as well, and now their curtains and blinds are always closed because of too much visibility from outside and excessive heat in the summer.
H
Hausbautraum204 Feb 2021 17:29Yes, I’ve never heard of anyone doing that either, probably because it’s really too complicated. Especially if you’re already living inside.
It’s more likely that a conservatory or something similar will be added instead.
It’s more likely that a conservatory or something similar will be added instead.
H
Hausbautraum204 Feb 2021 17:35Winniefred schrieb:
That’s a matter of personal taste. I can tell you what will happen with the neighbors: they will pretty much keep their windows and doors closed all the time because nobody wants to feel like they’re on display. In winter, because the lights are on inside, and in summer, it’s just too hot anyway. This trend with large window fronts is exactly that—a trend. That’s my opinion 😉. Friends of ours also have huge windows everywhere, and now they permanently keep curtains and blinds closed because there’s too much visibility from outside and too much heat in summer.That was exactly our idea as well.
I really don’t like being watched.
It would be interesting to know if this is just a trend.
If there were undeveloped open land behind me, or if I had a huge plot, I’d probably like it. But not when you can be seen from all sides.
The thought was that maybe in 10 years the hedge along the street might be dense enough that we could rethink the situation.
But it seems like building a conservatory would make more sense than spending a five-figure amount just for a few more windows.
Winniefred4 Feb 2021 17:36Hausbautraum20 schrieb:
Yes, that was exactly our idea.
I really don’t like being watched.
It would be interesting to know if this is just a trend.
If there was undeveloped open land behind me or if I had a huge plot, I would like it a lot. But not in a place where you can be seen from all sides.
The thought was that in 10 years the hedge along the street might be dense enough to reconsider.
But it sounds like a conservatory would make more sense than spending a five-figure amount just for a few more windows. Of course, for example if you live by a lake, naturally you would have a window front facing the lake. But in normal situations, where houses are close together... for me, that wouldn’t be an option.
Hi,
Low thresholds are also easily achievable with standard hinged doors. We have door thresholds of no more than 15–20 mm (about 0.6–0.8 inches). However, this comes with additional effort for terrace drainage; otherwise, heavy rain can push water through the doors into the house.
Regarding your thoughts on larger window areas:
Large window fronts basically require external venetian blinds on the ground floor and automatic shutters. Without these, you won’t manage.
In my avatar, you can see the south side of our house. From around 5°C (41°F) outside temperature, the sunlight is enough to provide heating. When it’s above 10°C (50°F) on a sunny day, it already gets too warm inside without shading.
Best regards,
Andreas
Low thresholds are also easily achievable with standard hinged doors. We have door thresholds of no more than 15–20 mm (about 0.6–0.8 inches). However, this comes with additional effort for terrace drainage; otherwise, heavy rain can push water through the doors into the house.
Regarding your thoughts on larger window areas:
Large window fronts basically require external venetian blinds on the ground floor and automatic shutters. Without these, you won’t manage.
In my avatar, you can see the south side of our house. From around 5°C (41°F) outside temperature, the sunlight is enough to provide heating. When it’s above 10°C (50°F) on a sunny day, it already gets too warm inside without shading.
Best regards,
Andreas
M
motorradsilke4 Feb 2021 19:05Hausbautraum20 schrieb:
Yes, that was exactly our idea.
I don’t like being watched at all.
It would be interesting to know whether this is just a trend.
If there was undeveloped open land behind me or I owned a huge plot, I would really like that. But not in a situation where everyone can look in from all sides.
The thought was that in 10 years the hedge along the street might be dense enough that we could reconsider. Just plant a tall hedge right away 😉
I don’t think big windows are about trends; it’s more about lifestyle and personal preferences. We’re going to build with large windows and have a big sliding door. I know these will often be open whenever the weather allows. For us, the house can never be warm enough.
And in Germany, it rarely gets too hot. Most of the time, we will be happy to finally have enough natural light in the house and for the sun to help warm the interior through the glass.
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