Bay Windows

[e36Adz]

Our living room has one medium sized window which is at the front of the house and as a result at times not much natural light gets in. The front face of the house with this window is completely flat and it's the same as many of the houses on our street but some have bay windows (I think they're called) where the front of the house protrudes with 3 windows, a large central one and smaller ones either side.

It would be nice if more light came in and I'm wondering if that would make any difference? Has anyone ever had bay windows installed? How much did it cost? Did it make any difference? Rather then mess around with any brickwork I've seen it done where they simply install a larger window ledge, I'll try find some pics.

 

[radderfire]

The more glass area you have, the lighter the room will be, so I would say it will make a difference. Also, as bay windows generally come down lower, they can make a room feel more spacious and airy. Bear in mind though that greater glass area may mean the room gets hotter in Summer and colder in Winter.

 

[fastwunz]

You can have a bay whereby the internal wall remains however the window itself projects - I.e the actual floor space doesn’t change - or you can have the classic 1930’s bay that actually increases floor space

 

[e36Adz]

Yes, it would be the one where the wall remains and just the window projects. This would be less expensive and hopefully have the desired effect of increasing the amount of light in the room. If anyone's had this done I'd be interested to know how much it cost and if you feel it was worth it.

 

[Uhtred]

We have a 'floating' bay window which projects and isn't supported underneath but it is original to the house. I don't actually know how the weight of the windows and small flat roof section are supported to be honest, probably some steel work?

Looking at other houses in the street, a lot of people have chosen to get the bottom bricked out to make the bay into useable floor space (we've just got a huge ledge which is awkward to fill, a pot plant looks ridiculously small )

Even in its current state it does add to the room for sure, it would be pokey without it.

We recently got the windows replaced which wasn't cheap, the glass has to be toughened too.

 

[LuckyBenski]

If it's on the front of the house you'll likely need planning permission if doing one that reaches from the ground. Possible even for a floating one but I'm not 100% sure on that.

 

[sovietspybob]

My in laws did this and had a floating one put in a few years ago, it did make the room feel bigger and lighter.

 

[e36Adz]

My in laws did this and had a floating one put in a few years ago, it did make the room feel bigger and lighter.

Thanks, that's just what I wanted to know really. If you can find out roughly how much it cost them and what company they used that would be great!

 

[e36Adz]

If it's on the front of the house you'll likely need planning permission if doing one that reaches from the ground. Possible even for a floating one but I'm not 100% sure on that.

Doubt it very much for a floating one but I'll double check as planning permission never even crossed my mind!

Edit: After some checking online it seems you may be right. Can't find anything specific to floating bay windows so will do a bit more research.

 

[gc123]

i always thought the floating one people mention is a bow window ? ie it fits the same size hole but bows out in the middle having a larger sill and sometimes a support (but not always ) in the middle. these are usually a straight forward fit although now you may need a company to fit . i remember many moons ago replacing all my own windows on the first house and fitting a bow window in the front room did make a lot of difference to the feel , much more light.
had to do some fancy leading with scallops on the top board as well

 

[Foghorn Leghorn]

What you describe is a bow window not a bay window. We have one the previous owner had fitted, it makes the room very cold because the board that extends out is only around 1 inch thick and can be 5-10° colder where the board overhangs the house wall. Terrible design and also quite difficult to insulate under without it either looking awful or being completely ineffectual.

 

[BUDFORCE]

What you describe is a bow window not a bay window. We have one the previous owner had fitted, it makes the room very cold because the board that extends out is only around 1 inch thick and can be 5-10° colder where the board overhangs the house wall. Terrible design and also quite difficult to insulate under without it either looking awful or being completely ineffectual.

Good point actually.

We were sort of ish thinking about getting bow windows, our living room has two windows and the added light and perceived added space seems like a good idea, would also make the front of the house look a bit better from an aesthetic point of view.

But yes not without draw backs as you say.

 

[e36Adz]

So my first quote for a bay/bow window to fill the space of the current window which is ~170cm wide and ~155cm high, came in at 5k or 4.5k if I decide to go ahead with it this week! That is more than double what I thought it'd be!

Last year when I wanted a motor fitted on our front gate, the quotes were all over the place as well. Quote 1 was 4k +vat, quote 2 was 3.5k and quote 3 was ~£1700. I went for option 3. I'll keep getting quotes for now.