Need window size, number and placement help

12 years ago

Hi everyone: We are hoping for some ideas on how many windows, what size windows and where to place the windows in our new home. As you will see in the attached file, There is a window at the top of the house. That window is in a great room. We were thinking of putting 2-double hung windows together (similar to the window at the top of the house), and leave it at that. Those windows would each be 36 inches wide so the 2 of them together would be 6 feet wide. The house is 26 feet wide with a 6 foot wide front porch. So I guess we would be working with about a 20 foot wide wall area between the front door and the left side of the house. We are also thinking about the possibility of installing shutters. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! P.S. We are trying to keep the costs down by avoiding the use of bay or bow windows.

Featured Answer

Architectrunnerguy

12 years ago

last modified: 12 years ago

Your elevation has been pinned up on my wall’s “to do” section for quite a while along with some other Houzz stuff but finally got a chance to look at it this weekend.

You mentioned costs so regarding those: On Houzz, a fair number of posters write “I want my house to look great, but don’t want to spend any/much money”. In this wacky world we live in, generally if there’s no/little money budgeted for an endeavor, the result is c**p.

So, with that said, here, I know the framing for that box bay will be about $300 in labor and the metal roof (better then asphalt shingles in such a small area) will be another $300. Probably an extra $500 in all the other stuff so figure on a grand +/-. We put this level of stuff on very cost sensitive housing all the time in “for profit” housing where budgets are always a major concern. You have the same choice as those builders do, spend a little extra money now or not spend a little extra money and live with the poor result. And the bracket supported door cover I show in all likelyhood costs LESS than the columns and the out of scale portico so that will help.

And interestingly, while the bay window shown not only adds some very much needed relief to the front, it also provides a nice little shelf in the inside, conveniently located next to your eating area. The extra glass area is about 5 SF. The additional glass helps not only the elevation, more importantly, it gives more needed daylight into your interior north facing kitchen.

And as an unrelated aside, normally we like to orient the living spaces to the rear of the house so to connect to potential outdoor private living spaces better. On your lot that would be ideal as the rear faces south. The kitchen and eating area would get more light, it would be away from the wind and it looks towards nature and woods instead of the street, asphalt, concrete, cars and other houses.

Now, don’t get hung up on plan specifics of the plan below (all I could find in my files quickly) as it’s not anything like you want so look past plan details and focus the plan concept of showing how living spaces can be oriented to the rear. And simply organizing the house that way doesn’t ADD A DIME to construction costs.

Hope this helps and the best of luck in your build. Exciting times!!

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (17)

PRO
Hiline Builders Inc.
12 years ago
Please ad the image attachment and we'll take a look.
Tim P
Original Author
12 years ago
I guess I forgot the picture of the house I'm having trouble deciding on the number of windows, window size, and placement and Sorry, this is the first time I've tried posting and I didn't know I needed to use .jpg files. See previous post from loghome13. Thanks
Related Professionals
Decatur Interior Designers & Decorators · Hot Springs Interior Designers & Decorators · Effingham Interior Designers & Decorators · Florence Interior Designers & Decorators · Wilmington Interior Designers & Decorators · Sacramento Interior Designers & Decorators · Fairbanks Interior Designers & Decorators · Fayetteville Architects & Building Designers · Clarksville Architects & Building Designers · Niles Architects & Building Designers · Duluth Architects & Building Designers · Kissimmee Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Jacksonville Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Peoria Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Hobbs Kitchen & Bathroom Designers
PRO
PPF.
12 years ago
A floor plan would be helpful.
PRO
PPF.
12 years ago
I think a gable roof over the garage would look better. Run the eave across the front of the house and tie it into the roof over the front door. Looks like the garage is set back from the face of the house and if not too far this would also provide a bit of shelter to the garage door and help hide it so it's not so noticeable.
PRO
PPF.
12 years ago
idea
Tim P
Original Author
12 years ago
Someone asked me for a floor plan so I have attached one. There are a couple of changes to the plan however. The first one is that we intend to add one additional foot in depth to the great room and take one foot off the back of the house (the bedrooms) so the total depth of the house will remain the same. Secondly, the garage will be setback 6 feet from the front of the house. I know there was a suggestion to have a gable roof on the garage, but we would prefer the "shed" roof as shown in the previous attachment so we don't have to deal with snow falling off the roof right in front of the garage door and also the cost of building this style of garage is less than a gable style roof. Thanks to everyone for their input!
Tim P
Original Author
12 years ago
Hello Everyone from loghome13. The roof designs for the garage are great and we appreciate it. However, our primary purpose for this post was to get suggestions on window placement, size of windows and number of windows in the front of the house. Any and all suggestions regarding the house plan and garage will certainly be taken into consideration. Thanks again!
Architectrunnerguy
12 years ago
Is the space between the window in front and the start of the kitchen counters an eating area?

Placement of windows and doors is an under estimated task, often thought of as nothing more then placing holes in a wall. If we think of a window as a hole it will likely be nothing more. If we think of a window as a connecting between the inside and the street (or outside), light and dark, warm and cold (in winter, opposite in summer) then a window has the potential to become a lot more. Just some things to think about.
Tim P
Original Author
12 years ago
In answer to the architectrunnerguy, yes, we are thinking of putting a very small table in the corner. The island will have a raised, bar type countertop to allow people to sit and/or eat there also.
PRO
PPF.
12 years ago
Which direction will the house face?

You mentioned snow -- where is the house located? Do you know the elevation?
PRO
PPF.
12 years ago
Is there a view?
PRO
PPF.
12 years ago
Windows 1
PRO
PPF.
12 years ago
Inside 1
PRO
PPF.
12 years ago
2nd inside
Tim P
Original Author
12 years ago
I have a couple of answers to recent questions: The house will be located in Northern Wisconsin. The house faces North and the only view to the North is of the houses across the street. The view to the South is of the backyard and beyond that, an old hardwood forest. I do have a question for ppf. Why are the windows at top of the house a different size than the ones on the first floor? We do have some concerns about putting too many windows in a North wall due to the strong North winds in the Winter.
PRO
PPF.
12 years ago
Upper windows larger just as an experiment.

Sounds like you have window placement figured out. Duplicate the upper windows where there is a single shown on the plan.

I understand you did not ask about the plan, but I'll comment anyway.

That plan looks like is is made to face south in your climate. I would want living spaces where they would get sun in the winter.