I mentioned that I’d highlight the windows that Craig spec’d for the project. The rear windows went through several iterations. First, we were looking at full structural bays – the kind of bump-out in a house that you can stand in. As it happens, those things require all kinds of additional structural support to hold them up. We looked at posts below the bays supporting them from the outside, which was cost effective but not very attractive. Then we looked at options where the bump-out was supported by cantilevered joists tied in to the main joists of the house. This was the original design of the old rear bays, and they looked great. However, this added way too much carpentry and, as a result, way too much cost for very little benefit. Ultimately we decided on Marvin Integrity’s 30-degree bay windows. The windows themselves fit into an opening that’s nearly 6′ high and 9′ wide. The central “fixed” window is quite wide and will offer a great view of the new yard and lots of southern exposure light. The side windows are casement style (crank-out). These windows will be on the 2nd and 3rd floor. The website doesn’t seem to do them justice, but until I have a real photo this will have to do.
A bay window similar to the one we ordered for the back.
As for the rear door, this is a really cool unit. Also by Marvin’s Integrity line, we opted for a French style sliding door, but with two modifications. The first is quite significant. It’s a three-panel door instead of the normal two panel. Only the center panel moves, and the two side panels are fixed in place- but they’re all equally sized for a door unit that’s, like the windows, about nine feet wide. The other cool element is the transom window. Across the entire top of the door unit is a fixed pane of glass that makes it a little more visually interesting.
This is a picture of the Pella version of the same door, but without the transom at the top. Again, the picture doesn’t do the door justice, but we’ll have to wait until I have actual photos to post.
One other note on windows. At first, I put up quite a fuss over Craig’s brand selection. I had not heard of the Marvin Integrity line and didn’t perceive them as a quality product. They also seemed quite pricey. We’d used all Pella windows for our Clarion Street house and have been generally happy. What we found, however, was that the Pella windows were far more expensive for similar quality and they did a lot of that whole sales-guy thing where they talk down the other product in order to make their own look good. Andersen’s dealers were either unresponsive – I called Window Wizards and got no response – or disinterested, as in the case of the people at Home Depot, who had some 18 year old high school dropout showing us windows while concurrently texting his girlfriend.
The Marvin folks, like Pella, sell from dedicated showrooms. We were able to pick up and examine cross-sections of the windows to feel the construction quality. They had most of the styles and color selections for the handles and exterior cladding on display so we could see them in person. They even gave us little samples of the metal exterior cladding to take home and think about before we made our selection. The sales folks spent lots of time with us to get the order just right, and ultimately turned out to be least expensive too. The lesson here: Obey your architect (sometimes).
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