French windows installed at last!

[Chataigner]

Actually, they were fitted a week or so ago, but the rest of the room was such a mess I didnt want to post pictures! :lol: :lol:

These are the windows that I built, with some setbacks, a few months ago, but I didnt fit them as I could not face a day or so with a huge hole in the wall while it was still cold.

They are solid oak, 4/12/4 double glazed, inward opening (like most windows in France) and secured with a traditional "Cremone" in cast iron that pushes a locking bar into sockets at the top and bottom of the window. Secure, easy to install and attractive I think. The sill is also in oak. Everything is stained dark oak to match the structural woodwork in our house (17th C forge). The window itself has 4 coats of Lasure, a local concoction that combines weather proofing with insect and fungus treatments. size is about 1m60 high and 1m.30 wide. Notice all of the opening light is inside the thickness of the 80cm stone wall.

The eccentric stone work at the back of the sill is due to the old aperture having a downward sloping sill (30° or so) done to allow more light in I presume. We have levelled it up, but not all the way as we did not want to restrict the light any more than we had to.

 

[Chems]

Very beautiful. Can't beat attractive hand made windows.

 

[cambournepete]

They look good.

I'm rather worried though, my first thought was about Microsoft!

 

[barkwindjammer]

Zoot alors !, you can almost smell garlic looking at those pics, very slender-they look amazing

 

[Halo Jones]

The windows look amazing but why do ground floor French windows always seem to have steel bars across the outside. When I stay at my FILs near Nice I always worry how I am going to get out if there is a fire!

 

[Chataigner]

The windows look amazing but why do ground floor French windows always seem to have steel bars across the outside. When I stay at my FILs near Nice I always worry how I am going to get out if there is a fire!

Blame the insurance companies, there is a surcharge at least for houses without bars on windows below 3m from the ground, some companies actually insist on them.