Opinion on full wall window please.

*sockets not so let’s ?

The cleaning involved would be my first thought. I hate cleaning windows, there always seems to be a smear on the patio windows however careful I am.

Your compromise sounds sensible to me. These full wall windows look lovely in hot sunny weather but may rarely be used in northern climes. Also they're a bit trendy right now and could date the place in years to come when you have to think of selling. Do you have a fabulous view?

harder to keep warm in that room.
also agree they are old hat, from that era of brits aping european/mediterraen styles. not so suitable in colder uk.
also the problem of privacy, what to close in evening.
vast drapery, inconvenient, collects dust, difficult to wash.
or blinds, looks like an office.

I had one in my last house. It made the room feel huge and airy. It was divided into four. The two narrower side panels were fixed and the two central panels slid back into them to make a big central opening. It meant you could have the corners for chairs. I did like it a lot.

The downside was temperature. In spite of double glazing it did leak a lot of heat in the winter, especially around the feet. And, facing southsouthwest it was unbearably hot on sunny days. I had to have heat reflecting blinds and keep them closed, which rather negated the effect of the picture window!

If you have electric points in the floor make sure they’re inset with a cover and a little hole for the flex. A friend had some done and the plug stood proud from the floor. It looked awful ?

No experience but I do love big windows and it sounds rather fabulous Polarbear depending of course on the view and proximity of neighbours.

View is just the garden - which is nice but it’s not the hanging gardens of Babylon (fawlty towers ref there). We have two big patio doors now and yes they get cold in winter. I made curtains with thermal linings which work well. And yes it gets hot in summer. Have to open the roof velux to let the heat out. OH is very into architecture/grand designs which looks lovely but is often impractical. I’m the practical one!

I think your option sounds good - I would love a window seat. I also think you would find it useful to have a small window to open when you don't want the doors open.

shysal

I think your option sounds good - I would love a window seat. I also think you would find it useful to have a small window to open when you don't want the doors open.

Great point!! Thanks. I’ll write that one down ?

Sliding doors are really easy to lift off their tracks if someone wanted to get in, we had ours replaced with French doors and a large glass panel to one side it works well. I had heat reflecting blinds that slide right back if I wish an uninterrupted view of the garden.

I’m sort of thinking the opposite of someone up thread. As you live in the North, would it be better to optimise sunlight by having big windows, especially as you have that S/ SE facing garden? We’re in the South east, and have had some unbearably hot summers, so I would probably avoid big windows here. My daughter’s house faces South, and it just gets so hot! It’s a new build, and is all big windows. I think both your options sound good though. Good luck in choosing ?

My living room has full height windows its total length. When it is cold, provided that the sun is shining, the room gets warm enough to wear t-shirts and no jumpers. If the weather's horrible we light our wood burner. When the temperature is in the 30sC in the summer, it can get hot but we open doors in other rooms and so get a breeze. At the moment we have 4 doors open, one of which is in the bedroom single storey house)

If you can afford them, have a look at the Pilkington range. They have beautiful panels, doors and windows - mind you they are trendy at the moment.

As regards sockets, you have them in the floor, with covers so that no little people poke anything in.

Finally, you could have under floor heating just for that room. You could also have an overhanging roof which would cut down the light in summer so keep the room cooler.

Have a look at some of the Australian and NZ houses - you may find some ideas there.

We have a big window in the kitchen but not floor length. We have a window seat there and it is my favourite place to sit. Last year we debated having it converted to some sort of opening doorway but decided that we actually would use that less than the window seat.

If I had my kitchen extended, I would have large French doors, but also smaller windows at each end, so they could be opened without having a howling gale round my feet.

We installed a whole wall of windows in our kitchen/diner. It is fabulous and everyone comments on it. We were advised not to have bifolds as they can be heavy so we went for glass sliding doors. Have never regretted it especially as we have a pretty garden and a lovely view. Our room faces north-west by the way so never gets too hot. However we also did the same in our bedroom which faces the same way as the kitchen (it's a bungalow) and have regretted it somewhat in that room as there is no small window to open for ventilation. I'd say go for it and, even if you don't do the whole wall, definitely put in a floor-to-ceiling window somewhere as it does create the wow factor. We put a small full-length window in our last house and, again, everyone commented on how good it looked.

A sliding full length window opening into a conservatory was our choice on one property we bought. Ideal all year round especially when having visitors .

If the room is big enough you don't need a window seat you could have a couple of armchairs facing out so you can watch the wildlife in your garden.

As I have posted before, we built our own house and for various reasons have almost an entire 'wall' of bi-fold windows (they are 6m of the 8m width). We have a fantastic, ever-changing view.
We don't have sockets in the floor, but find the sockets at the side fine for what we want. You may not be allowed floor sockets under building regs (depends on technicalities)
Insulation is fine - they are Pilkington, and were the best 'u' value available at the time. However, we are north facing. I would worry that south facing large windows would allow the room to get too hot. There are technical ways around that, which you would need to take advice on.
Will you be seen by others? I imagine not, or you wouldn't be planning this.
You may not worry about curtains or blinds as it is an extension, but if you want them, you need to plan carefully for such an expanse. I love the curtains I made, but it took me ages to design them!

It's fine if you have the view to go with it, otherwise I don't see the point.

We’re not overlooked unless you try hard. But when I moved in here with my OH he had no curtains or blinds at the back windows. I always felt a bit vulnerable when I was dark outside that a prowler could look in. Unlikely but there you go. I made huge curtains and they’ve worked well. They stack right back when not needed. We already have an extension right across the back with two patio doors and a 1m wall area in the middle. We sit near the window in spring/summer in easy chairs. OH wants to make it much bigger though so he can put big sofas in and make it our lounge. Currently our lounge is set back into the house and is nice and cosy. You can tell I’m not over enthusiastic can’t you. Lots of mess for little gain but it’s his dream so I’m being positive and supportive ?
Interesting comment re floor sockets and building regs. Side walls wouldn’t work for us with the plan we have so that might be an influencer. ?

How nice, you can a lovely large room for summer gatherings, leading out onto your garden and a winter snug.

Just need to keep him focussed. He goes off at tangents and doesn’t finish things. I’ll need to be a good project/man manager ?

In my experience you can contact the Building Inspector at your local authority and ask. It is also possible that they put that information on-line, but I know it varies.

I had to get an awning as the heat from our south facing living room is unbearable, today it is hailing , snowing and blowing a Hollie , but the blinks of sun in between has the temperature up to 28 ! So I have the curtains closed .