I don't have pictures, but have friends who have them. The most useful ones have a counter on the outside so that a person inside can put some things outside without there being a second person there to catch them. The prettiest one I've seen has the same granite on the outside counter, the kitchen counter, and the sill in between, making one, unified surface.

I seem to remember someone in the Finished Kitchens's Blog having a pass through from their kitchen to outside. I think it might have been Cloudswift

I'm pretty sure cloud_swift has one, but I can't find it in the FKB. It had the same beautiful granite inside and out.

We have a 6-foot wide (pass through) window in front of sink and dishwasher cabs. It sits at counter level and half of it slides open (a la a sliding door). There is a 7' x l8" counter on other side of window (outside). Very handy.

This is only really practical in a very mild climate unless you can figure out a method to employ a thermal break between the exterior and interior counter surfaces. (No continuous counter from window to outside.) Otherwise, you have a thermal intrusion of exterior temperature straight into your kitchen. Hot as Hades in the summer and colder than ice in the winter.

Thermal intrusion? Maybe I don't know what that means.

Yes, I'm in mild climate, So.Cal., but we have double insulated windows. It get's to be 115 in summer and as low as 18 degrees in winter.

Oops, may have answered my own question upon rereading LiveWire response. Counter is NOT continuous from inside to outside. The framed window is the break between inside and outside; it sits at (on) countertop level. Five wood 2 x 6 outriggers attached to the house wall studs at initial construction sit 1" below window frame and support the heavy ceramic tile countertop outside. Air space of 1-1/2" between wall stucco and start of tile shelf is allowed. This set up is very common here.

I have a 5' window in front of sink that is utilized as a pass through. There is a small ledge counter top tiled to match the pool on the outside. Took the screen out and mounted aluminum channel on outside wall. Made a new screen to fit channel and just slide it open to pass things out or in.

LWO, yep. Mild here. I'm appalled by Teedup1's variances considering the area :) We take serious offense at lows below 40F and those only happen about once a decade. (I saw a snowflake once on vacation.)

Thanks for mentioning the thermal break. I learn so much here!!

Appalling? Yes, Agoura Hills, CA has weird weather. Our winter appears to be starting early; this past Sunday morning it was
32.2 degrees at 7am
35 at 9am
41 degrees at 10:15am

Right now, Wed 12:52 a.m. is 69.8 degrees! Go figure.

There's a picture of Cloud_Swift's window in the linked thread. If you scroll down past her pics for mocking up her faucets to the first picture that shows the "final result", you can just make out that the granite extends past the window and out onto her pool deck. Her window, as I recall, is a slider.

HTH!

Here is a link that might be useful: Thread: show me your faucet set up with undermount sinks

Thank you! You all are too good! And fast too!

These are exactly the ideas I had in my mind; just didn't know they existed/can be implemented.

It's a high of 33 degrees here today (Massachusetts): woohoo, so no continuous counter inside-out for us.

jab913: "mounted aluminum channel on outside wall"

Granite behind sink goes out to meet the track of an aluminum sliding window, beyond which a matching piece of granite was used as a 1'wide x 7'long shelf, bolted to the outside wall. The aluminum slider is not the best insulated of windows, but it was all we had to work with. If you are starting from scratch, you might want to consider a different window. Biggest think is you need to think how easy it will be to reach over the counter when opening or closing. For that reason either a slider or a crank out works best.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pass-through window

I saw these and thought it looked very cool.

Here is a link that might be useful: Nana Wall

That is very cool looking, but there are no screens. I would worry about bugs coming into my house.

Good point. I think it would depend on where you live. We don't get a lot of flying bugs in our area (just the occasional fly or bee; we're not in mosquito country), so it didn't cross my mind.

sarschlos_remodeler: those sliders ARE fantastic; I would love to have those.
But alas, w/ 1+ acre of wooded land, we ARE the heartland of mosquito country. And I am pretty allergic (huge welts) to their bites. So we do need lots of screens.
I actually do not leave my house ~1 hour before dusk.
I've 'enjoyed' parties from the inside of my house sitting by the screen door (I'm that allergic).

svwillow: "Biggest think is you need to think how easy it will be to reach over the counter when opening or closing" - that is a good point, especially since I'm not even 5 feet tall, w/ a very short reach.

thanks again.

huango - the channels are for the screens so that they can slide open. All of my windows have outside mounted solar screens so on the kitchen I took out the original window screen and then made two frames for the solar screen and mounted them into the aluminum channel which permits them to slide. That way I can still leave the window open with a screen in place. My wife made the mistake of letting the cat in that way a couple of times so now she thinks it is a door.

Just saw this thread - I don't read kitchen forum as often now that my kitchen has been completed for almost a year.

Our pass-through window is pretty much a miniature version of our sliding doors - one fixed window and a sliding window with a sliding screen.

I'm 5' 1" and can reach the bottom of the window to close it or slide the screen but I have to stand on a step stool to reach the latch mechanism because it is at middle height on the center of the window.

We are in a mild winter hot summer area (near Sacramento, CA). Since our back wall is mostly glass with 4 full size sliding doors plus additional fixed glass panels, the sliding pass through doesn't make much difference.

teedup, for hot summers even with the occasional 115 temp, there is at most a 40 degree temp difference from an internal house temp of approx 75. On the other hand if a house is in a cold winter area where the outside temp drops to say 5 below zero, the temp difference is 80 degrees - twice as big a thermal differential - a very well insulated pass through and other windows is probably a bigger issue for cold winter people. And with our semi-arid climate the temperature drops to comfortable or even cool during the night time so we can cool the house back down with a whole house fan.

The issue with our very hot summers is more preventing heat gain from the sun shining in these windows rather than the conducted heat through the windows. We deal with that by trees that give our house lots of shade plus putting up some shade umbrellas on the back deck. Our house is old enough that it was built without double pane windows, but with shade, attic fans (which keep the attic from super-heating) and cooling off with whole house fans when the evening temperature drops, we rarely need our air conditioner in the summer.

So, how much barbequeing is done when temps outside are below zero degrees? We have double insulated windows throughout the house and that kitchen window (on our north side) is a pass through...not a continually open one in either cold or A/C'd hot weather. It's a convenience item...I would think the same for those living in cold or hot climates. Maybe I missed something?

Does anyone have a slider recommendation for approximately 4x6 foot window over sink?

Any window company will make a sliding window.

I love this "pass through" window

idea and just yesterday Ordered an Anderson folding door (window) for our kitchen rennovation. 68" wide x 48 tall. it's a 3 panel folding window - all panels will swing out. I paid $8.5K including hardware and tax. It is a custom item. The center panel will be centered over our (new, TBD) sink. Inside Counter top will "flow" to an outside bar area/paver patio/firepit/ outdoor kitchen area. I'm researcing retractable insect screens now. The Anderson Screen is crazy expensive and I hear, poor quality.

I also ordered an Andersen multi-glide window for this purpose — three sliding panels that will pocket into the wall, and it will be installed in the next month so I can’t speak to the use yet.

Does anyone have a good recommendation for a material that is suitable for the exterior counter ledge? I’m in NJ and get all four seasons, so it has to be able to withstand frost and sun. My countertops are a white solid surface from Corian, but I understand that that material may not be ideal. Grateful for any suggestions that would be white to fit with the overall aesthetic.

Ours is an Anderson multi-glide also. Very happy with the quality. Were in NJ also. For the exterior bartop, we used Taj Mahal quartzite. This is the same material as our kitchen counters-we wanted to kitchen tops to look continuious with the outside bar. It's holding up great so far (about a year now). Quartz won't work due to UV - I understand there are some newer UV resistant quartz now but we didn't want to try something new.