windows and doors

We had three questions after seeing yesterday’s version of the windows and doors contract and spec sheet. They were about:

• Muntins and true divided lights
• Arched window above portone
• Upstairs terrace door

The easy one to solve was the terrace door. The design is as expected: 3/4 glass, 1/4 wood.

The muntins question raised some concern by Kevin, as I knew it would if the budget didn’t already include true divided lights, rather just a wooden grid on top of the glass. As is true here in the US these days, true divided lights are rarely done and they are much more expensive. They also need a thicker muntin to support the weight of the pane of glass. He said we’d need to do some major reworking of the budget to do them.

(There is some irony here. Originally, muntins were used because it was expensive to make large panes of glass. Now, the labor to use small panes is too expensive.)

While we’d like to have the muntins, we don’t want the grid type, so we ditched them. Now the windows and doors will each have one pane of glass.

The arched window is the unresolved issue. We’d like to have it to keep the entry hall from being too dark.

After some discussion with the architect Alessandra and structural engineer Primo, Kevin came back with two options: a 35cm high arch and one 45cm. He said these were smaller than typical, but that we are constrained by a vertical support beam. Here are the options:

The beam appears much lower in the structure than we expected, raising some concern by Anne and me that the ground floor ceiling would be too low.

We went back to Kevin with questions about whether the small arched window would let in enough light to make it worthwhile and to clarify ceiling heights.

I’m thinking Kevin is probably going crazy with all our detailed questions.

An Update

We decided to go forward with the elliptical arch, 90cm wide and 35cm tall.

Since we aren’t sure about the light issue, Kevin and Alessandra recommended we do two things: take the tettoia, the little roof above the door, out of the plan for now, and test the light situation closer to the end of construction. Alessandra also thinks that we can raise it to a higher place on the wall, which may solve the light issue.

After deleting the muntins and adding the arch window (and accounting for the extra interior door that was in the original spec), we’re left with a cost of €28.6k, €600 above the budget, down from the €30.6k from the original spec.

(The €28k budget didn’t include the extra stairway window or the arch window, so we are coming in at or below where we expected.)

Also, Kevin sent along a diagram from the drawings that showed that the ground floor ceiling will be a nice height at 270cm (8.9ft), just what we expected from our plans in July.

He also mentioned that he’s fine with all the questions. He wants to get as much as possible right from the start, so we have only minor issues later.

I’m glad he shares our philosophy.

In response to yesterday’s questions about the windows and doors, Kevin came back from the supplier with a much improved specifications package. It addresses nearly all the open issues and includes attachments that show clearly what the windows, doors, and hardware will look like. It also includes a dimensioned drawing of a sample door.

On the cost front, they removed the interior door that had been added to the budget by mistake, which lowered the total cost to €29.7k from €30.6k.

As expected, as we got more information, it raised a couple more questions. There are three important ones:

• The windows and doors need to have true divided lights. Are they budgeted that way?
• The plan has eliminated the arched window above the front door. Kevin says this is related to the need to have a single panel door, as the opening is not wide enough for a double door. (We had discussed this in December.) I’m confused why the two issues are related.
• The design of the upstairs terrace door was not specifically addressed.

I expect we’ll get this all sorted out and ready to sign tomorrow.

Window images source: http://www.home-style-choices.com/window-construction.html

While the house will have 17 doors, 5 exterior and 12 interior, there are only 11 windows (le finestre, singular la finestra). That’s because the French doors are doing double duty as windows.

(I saw some examples of windows during my last trip.)

Window Design

Of the 11 windows, 9 will be double windows that open in the middle. The other two are the kitchen window, which has three panels, and the stairway window, which has one.

In nearly all the windows, there will be a feature called anta ribalta, which is a window that tilts open at the top to allow airflow or can be opened “normally”.

Window Sills

The sills will be in the local style, using, as Kevin put it, “pianella tiles — known to foreigners as ‘terracotta tiles’.”

We will also use pianella tiles between the ceiling beams upstairs.

(The picture below right shows a windowsill from a house restoration in France.)

Window Color

These will match the door, using the middle color below.

Image sources: http://www.gattinoalluminio.it/SOLUZIONI%20E%20MODELLI%20DI%20SERRAMENTO/modelli%20finestre%20anta-ribalta.html
http://www.linfissodautore.it/component/hikashop/prodotto/finestra-1-anta-ribalta/lang-it-IT.html
http://www.tridentuminc.com/reclaimed-wood-beams.html
https://notrelittlehill.wordpress.com/2012/11/13/petits-problemes-de-bricolage/

Beyond the major design decisions about the doors are a couple of details.

Door Screens

In general, it seems that Italians don’t use screens. It’s a nice, clean look without them, but it lets the bugs in.

For the windows, we found an option to let us have the open, clean look and have screens. They will have built-in screens that roll down from the top frame when you want to use them. Otherwise, it’s just a clear view.

Apparently, even if window screens are used, doors are left open. Obviously, that lets the bugs have their access.

They do use these hanging beads in the door opening, but they don’t look very good in my opinion, and it’s hard to see how they can really work. And they block the view.

Kevin recommended that we add screens to the doors. These also roll into a frame, but here the frame is on the side, not the top of the doors.

So we can leave the screens open when we’re not having bug issues and close them when we are.

Scrocco

Kevin asks, “Where do you want a lock and where a scrocco on the exterior doors?”

Say, what? Scrocco.

Let him explain:

The scrocco is a handy little hardware device that lets you exit, for example, the dining room or master bedroom out onto the terraces without (A) leaving the door ajar (B) without needing a key, BUT with the ability to SECURELY close the door behind you…then, when you reenter, all you do is gently PULL the scrocco hardware, the door unlatches and opens. You return inside the building and either push the door closed, engaging the scrocco (assuming someone else is outside and will reenter), OR, turning the handle down to close and LOCK the door, prohibiting entry from outside.

I’m still a bit puzzled and I can’t find decent pictures online. What’s wrong with a closed but unlocked door? Maybe the doors don’t have exterior handles?

(The decision was locks for the front and kitchen doors, scrocco for the French doors on the back and the upstairs terrace door.)