What kind of windows would work well here?
We are building a new house in western Oregon. The dining room faces south, with a wooded view. The architect (or was it us?) called for in-swinging patio doors, flanked by two fixed sidelites, for a total width of 10 feet of glass.
After talking it over with several door and window salesmen, and spending more time on the building site, we are having doubts about this choice, because:
A) there is only a two foot roof overhang, which voids most wood door warranties (and we don't want fiberglass doors in the house).
B) winter storms come from the south, and we're advised that swinging patio doors tend to leak.
C) with the doors open wide it seems to welcome you to step outside..... but there is no patio out there, in fact it drops off rather steeply after 15-20 feet or so.
D) The cost of the doors is about $6,000.
So we are going round and round trying to decide between a row of tall casements, a row of large double-hungs, a central fixed pane flanked by 2 casements (for ventilation), fixed panes over awnings, mulled vs not-mulled, etc. etc.
It is the only south-facing window(s) in the great room, so we need lots of light and at least some ventilation. The wall is 9 feet tall (with vaulted wood ceilings).
Can anyone suggest a logical basis for making this decision - or is it simply a matter of personal aesthetics?
Comments (16)
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What sort of ground cover would work here?
Comments (4)I think we had this conversation before. The husband is adamantly opposed to St Augustine. Is not going to happen. I've tried Shadow Turf, also from Fanick's. There's a patch in the front that I planted a year ago. It barely budged. However, it was VERY shaded under a cedar elm. Eventually I trimmed back the tree substantially, though that was in the autumn. My hope was that it'd fill in, and I'd use it to plug the side yard. A year later, that area is still mostly dirt. It's finally spreading, but very slowly even with the extra sun it didn't have a year ago. I'd be more than happy if it took over the side yard, but it wasn't going to happen for a few years and we've already had 4 years of weeds and dirt. It also costs a small fortune and this is a large space (took 4 pallets of grass) and could probably do with one more to fill in the sides. Everyone I know in SA with zoysia has been really happy with it a few years on, even in shadier spaces than we have, so I feel pretty comfortable with it. Each area gets at least 4 hours of sun, some more, at different times of the day (part of the lawn is shaded in the morning, but the other half is full sun; opposite in afternoon). I'm not found of the ash (if indeed that is what it is), I prefer the palm. The husband doesn't want ANY trees cut down (I convinced him we had to lose some if we were going to have any grass, and that most were weeds anyway, so we got rid of a few weed trees last autumn). Then the ash was trimmed and 'shaped' and looked quite good, but I'm not going to hire an arborist on a regular basis. I'll give it another year then fight that battle ;) (The St A vs. Zoysia is not one I'll ever win, so I won't bother). I'd be happy to lose one of the pecans, or at least cut it back a bit more, but one battle at a time... In any case, I'm trying to figure out what's going to work under this tree. I hate the chainlink but that also isn't moving for a number of years (too expensive to replace), but I don't want to plant shrubs which will block out my neighbor's plants which include some vines that will eventually cover the side fence. if I plant shrubs its going to block what little sun their side gets. I'm ok with waiting for their plants to grow and cover the fence. We're not really worried about a privacy fence there, that would make it difficult for us to chat over the fence ;) I don't like roses (yes, I'm strange but I have no love for them). I do like the Indian hawthorne, but I thought that required full sun? This doesn't get nearly that much sun. I love lavender also, but I don't see that doing very well in this spot. Is there something similar that would work and is at least moderately drought tolerant? The grass edges will be smoothed eventually. Right now I'm trying to fight off the weeds in the dirt where we didn't clear to plant. Once I figure out if I'm going to let the grass spread or put a border, then I'll clean up the edges. One step at a time....See MoreWhat would look good/do well here?
Comments (11)Ooh, so many good ideas that would be great in terms of color and shape. As for caladium, we have tons of elephant ears that grow happily here but they're plain green and too much like the philodendron, but I'll look into smaller colorful ones. and turks cap looks terrific. I've never heard of crotons so I'm off to look them up. I forgot to mention that I have 3 early daylilies there that seem to do okay -- they blossom, though not much. I like the novelty ideas re art or benches, but this particular area isn't a good place for sitting, and Art Will Be Stolen. (I have a neighbor who had a potted tomato plants stolen from his yard, and another had a bench lifted from his open front porch. Sometimes it's a student prank, sometimes not, but we don't leave valuables near the road. Thank you all so much for the great ideas. Now I have a list to consider. (BTW, I realized that it was my zone info that was causing the per cent marks.)...See MoreWhat kind of window treatment would you do here?
Comments (23)mtnrdredux - thanks for the pic, that looks great in your room. How was your experience with Smith and Noble, I've never ordered from them but was considering for this treatment. Les - Thanks so much! I like the idea of a wood valance to hide the shade. So the valance should be wide enough to cover the top piece of trip completely? I'm going to discuss this with my husband as I think this will give it a clean look. Thanks for the link Chris. Julie, thanks for the tip, I think it would be so much easier to just take the cranks off or look for a smaller size. They are a pain! springroz - I'm in between the solar shade and the cellular shade. I like the insulation the cellular will give as well. We got all of our romans from jcpenneys and they were very reasonable during one of their big sales. Annie - are your shades bamboo? I would love to see a pic. Jeannie, you place sounds lovely, do you have any previous pics to share? Yaya - your link takes me to JCp's blinds but not sure which one you were referring to. cliffandjoann - thanks for the pics. I love the way the solars let the view shine through. Do you have direct sun through that window? I'm wondering if they do a good job reducing the glare? Thanks everyone! Right now, I'm leaning towards a wood or fabric valance and roll-up solars or the cellular shades. I know the cellulars are great for insulating, how about the solars, any insulating benefits? Also, do the solars reduce the glare or do you think I'll still be squinting once the sun hits this window?...See MoreWhat kind of window treatment goes well in this room?
Comments (14)I have seen your three threads concerning the same dilemma. I think your room and windows are beautiful and I have gleaned that you don’t need window treatments for privacy, but my sense is you would like them for adding more layered interest. I love mixing patterns also , and have seen several in previous posts, which in my opinion would work beautifully together. —- What I do think you should NOT do is have full length side panels at either window - the small window has registers at both sides below . ( It would be nice to have a carpenter build decorative boxes around those, btw, using white latticed material made for that purpose. ) The bay would look too heavy in comparison and they would take up most of your side wall space there . —- I suggest Roman shades for both windows in the white and blue vine- like pattern ( Duralee - from your ideabook ) , Windowseat cushion in the cobalt Kravet fabric , AND 2 pillows in your blue zebra drape material ( I loved that pattern with your rug - just not so much of it ) , combined with 2 solid light linen pillows. Here are the fabrics I pulled from various places -...See Morer m
4 years ago
WestCoast Hopeful
4 years agoWestCoast Hopeful
4 years ago- PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agor m thanked Patricia Colwell Consulting User
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoI can' imagine why a wood door warranty would be voided because of the size of the roof overhang. Who told you that? If it true, why would you be considering that door company? If you are concerned about weather protection, there are PVC, aluminum and fiberglass clad wood French doors available.
Who told you swinging French door tend to leak? Compared to what? ... Sliding doors? Are you on the ocean or in a hurricane zone? What brand of door are you considering? This sounds like the same misinformation issue you're having with the warranty.
I've put multiple French doors in a row with two steps down to a narrow walkway immediately outside of the doors with no roof overhang.
If the view is important, casement windows are not a good option. For a horizontal view you should have wide windows. You could save a lot of money with a row of 4 large double-hung windows.
If you have an architect involved, why aren't you getting better information?
r m thanked Userr m
4 years agothank you for the comments. here is the south elevation. the dining room is just to the right of the portico.
- PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
4 years ago r m
4 years agohere is an amateur (me) rendition of the interior elevation (could not figure out how to render the vaulted ceiling.....)
scottie mom