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darin_cole7

Bathroom Window Question

last month
last modified: last month

We are remodeling our master bath and want to install a narrow horizontal window above the vanity mirrors. This window does not need to open and will primarily just let natural light in. It will be on an east-facing wall. It will be 3 to 4 feet wide and about 14 inches high. Can we use a sidelight (the type that goes next to a front door)? NOTE: Our electrician installed the electrical for the vanity lights too high; they will be lowered by about 3 or 4 inches.


This is the wall. Our house is a mid-century tri-level ranch. The roofline for the main level is about 3 feet below the ceiling line you see in the picture. The bathroom is on the top level and the basement level den is directly beneath this bathroom.,



Comments (11)

  • last month
    last modified: last month

    How high are the ceilings? I would hate to have short mirrors and lights placed too low, in order to try to fit an "awning" window.

    The wall is already patched up, so you need to open it back up and see what is in the way and if you can actually cut a window opening and add a header. Your sink vent pipes will probably be in the way and would need to be rerouted.

    You need to use a real window!

    Show the whole bathroom. You might have a better spot for a "standard" window. Maybe over the toilet?

    Darin Cole thanked chispa
  • PRO
    last month

    Personally, I wouldn't try to get a sidelight to work. Those are made to install with a door, and usually does not have the fitting for a regular window.

    The term you are probably looking for is a piano window. It's of roughly the size you want, and is meant to be installed as a window in the way you want. A secondary term you can look for is a clerestory window. Those are the long horizontal windows you sometimes see in churches.

    Depending on your vibe, windows can be special order and custom made to fit the shape of that sloping ceiling line.

    But if you do want a window. Be aware that will be redoing the inside there... and also needing to consider your siding and trim work on the outside of your house. And the additional construction in the wall to properly mount the window.

    Something you could do right now to test your notion. Get a cheap framed door mirror of roughly the window size. Hang it horozontal on the wall where the window would be. Do you like that, does the framing look good in that space?

  • last month
    last modified: last month

    Chispa. That is the only exterior wall. If you go up between where the vanity lights are supposed to be, that is 9.5 feet. If you go all the way up (look left), that is 10 feet. The ceiling is vaulted. The connections for the vanity lights are too high. The bottom of the connection is 7.5 feet.

  • PRO
    last month
    last modified: last month

    You need a transom window, and to rip off all of that prematurely done drywall so it can be framed correctly for that size opening. You will need a header, so that needs to be designed in conjunction with the vanity lights not being able to occupy the same space as the header for the window. There are a lot of conflicting things wanting to occupy the same physical space, and this should have been designed in from the beginning, not as an afterthought. It's going to cost you a lot mor money now.

  • last month

    Can you show a pic of the outside of your home and where this window will be?

  • last month

    It is hard to get sinks, faucets, mirrors, electrial outlets and lighting lined up nicely and with the proper scale (lots of threads on this forum about vanity/mirror/lighting issues) do you have a sketch or rendering of how this wall will look with and without the window?

  • last month

    I haven't seen a window with sidelights but the idea of adding a window is a good one. We added a 12 x 48 window to a windowless bathroom in our present house and a skylight to one in a previous house and the addition of natural light was a real improvement.


    The sheetrock will have to come of the wall to frame the window in and some repair outside around the window but well worth it IMO. If you want to add extra interest to the window you could do something like rain glass.

  • 23 days ago

    We have decided against doing it. Just going to be a hassle and I want to wrap up the project.

  • 21 days ago

    Even without adding a transom, besides lowering the wall mount lighting fixtures, the receptacles appear to need moved. Assuming you have individual wall hung vanities (because of the low receptacles) so individual mirrors, they look to be in the way (too close to center, or forcing mirror to be too high). If however they are punched within a large mirror, they should be moved to the outside of the sinks (maybe in either case so they are not so prominent).

    Also they should be aligned vertically with the adjacent wall receptacle, but if you have 2 on the counter, then the one on the wall probably isn't needed.

  • 15 days ago

    The outlets are going behind the lighted mirrors. No one will see them.