A beautifully decorated balcony can be considered the “face” of a house or apartment. In addition, renovated balconies and loggias have long been used as an addition to residential square meters. For example, here you can organize an extension of the bedroom, a separate dressing room or a small winter garden.
Balconies with panoramic glazing look especially impressive. With their help, you can give a unique look to the facade of any house or distinguish your apartment from the rest. Especially if you resort to some design tricks and interesting design solutions, which we will discuss below.
Pros and cons of a panoramic loggia
Panoramic windows are transparent structures that provide additional advantages for decorating the interiors of ordinary apartments; they are usually installed without railings or bars. Energy-saving glasses are often chosen, which protect against frost in winter and keep cool in summer.
The appearance of such structures decorates both the façade of the building and the internal component of the interior of the apartment.
Let's determine the pros and cons of such a glass wall.
Positive points:
- Useful housing area increases
- Visually the room looks more spacious
- Good lighting
- Saving heat and electricity
- Additional sound insulation
- Panoramic aesthetics
- No additional finishing of the balcony is required
- The design is safe
Panoramic windows are not suitable for people who are afraid of heights
Negative points:
- Regular glass care
- Difficult access to external surfaces
- Summer heat
- Winter cold
- High construction cost
- Open access to personal space; thick curtains are needed to close the windows
Glazing selection
There are several types of glazing:
- mirror;
- darkened with any tonality;
- glass “chameleon” doses the luminous flux using electronic control;
The finishing of the panoramic balcony determines how the glass will be fixed - tightly or partially moved apart on rollers. They must be protected from atmospheric agents. In summer, it is worth hanging blinds or curtains to reduce the solar heat flux.
Legal aspect
Laws should be respected. All kinds of violations may result in prosecution and unnecessary material costs.
In a private house there will be no problems with such windows, but in an apartment you need special permission
There are some conditions, violation of which will lead to trouble. First of all, the project must be approved by the BTI ( Bureau of Technical Inventory ). After its approval, approval of the appearance takes place with the APU ( Architectural and Planning Management ). Finally, the project is approved by the housing redevelopment inspectorate .
At any stage of approval, refusal to carry out work is possible
They may refuse due to the historical significance of the building. In this case, you will have to abandon your plan. Otherwise, if panoramic windows are erected without authorization, a court decision will be made to dismantle and restore the façade of the building to its original form.
Panoramic windows will help increase the space of the room
Glazing and its types
To find out which type of window installation is best for you, you should decide on the selection criteria.
That is, which functions are your priority. This can be heat conservation, expansion of the room, ease of maintenance, glass bottom of the wall for a beautiful view from the window.
Panoramic glazing can be framed or frameless
Frame glazing
The strength of this structure is high, so it is safe for high-rise buildings, as a protective fence.
Since the load-bearing function of plastic and aluminum frames is negligible, the top floor slab must first be securely strengthened.
Mosquito nets are easily attached to the plastic profile. Various mechanisms for opening and closing frames are built into it.
Aluminum profile is suitable for both cold and warm glazing.
The design of this profile is durable. In terms of cost, such an arrangement will be more expensive than a plastic profile.
The frame version is a structure made from a special profile, which can be made of plastic, aluminum or fiberglass
The glass composite profile is a new development. Combines strength and thermal insulation properties. The cost is even more expensive than the materials described above.
Advantages of frame construction:
- Safe Operation
- Robust design
- Thermal insulation
- Noise insulation
- Easy to install blinds, mosquito nets, curtains
Minuses:
- The need to strengthen the floor slab
- Bulky design
The plastic profile is suitable for warm glazing of loggias or balconies
Frameless glazing
The frameless option is considered economical. Externally, this design looks like a solid transparent box. Specialized tempered glass is installed on roller guides and the elements are fastened together along the side line. Such doors open inwards or fold like a book.
Lightness and elegance are inherent in the frameless look
Pros of frameless design:
- Unusual design
- Easy to maintain and use
- Full illumination
- Full review
Minuses:
- Poor thermal insulation
- Inability to install mosquito nets
- Danger of deformation in bad weather
Panoramic windows in the house - honest experience of the owners
Home/Home/
March 29, 2020
The dream of luxury is a floor-to-ceiling window in your own house outside the city. It’s so beautiful when light fills the house, and an entire wall in the living room or bedroom is completely made of glass. What are the feelings of those who have tried it, what can ordinary people expect from panoramic glazing?
Thinking theoretically or watching foreign films is one thing; real reviews from experienced residents often do not coincide with hopes. What awaits those who dare?
1. Calls to the cleaning service, a window cleaning brush on a long handle and a stepladder. This huge glass surface must be kept spotlessly clean; the slightest dirt becomes noticeable from the inside and outside. Cleaning it is much more difficult than a standard window, especially one divided into frames. Professional help is needed like the proverbial air. According to the owners' reviews, she spends her entire vacation outside the city enthusiastically washing them, and there is no end to the process. You can, of course, invite professional cleaning; there are many willing. But the cost of this service is considerable, and besides, you don’t always want to communicate with strangers during your vacation.
2. Installation costs will be too high. Saving may result in the window not closing. You will have to choose high-quality models with sliding or folding ones. By the way, the snow outside will also have to be cleared constantly, otherwise the runners will become clogged with crystals and freeze. They can only be moved if damaged.
3. There is a need for heated floors throughout the house. Convectors will also be needed so that the air does not stagnate. The larger the windows, the higher the heat loss; panoramic glazing essentially heats the area around the house. In addition, it would be strange to place a simple radiator next to such an effective design solution: household appliances negate the entire effect.
Therefore, you will have to think about two options: Either a convector built under the floor. It will cut off the flow of cold air from the glass wall, and forced circulation will distribute it in the areas of the room necessary for the owner. Or warm floor. Cold air flows along the bottom of the windows cool the floor, even if the convector is turned on. It is better to heat strategic zones additionally by installing heated floors.
Another need is a huge washing machine. After all, giant windows require giant curtains, otherwise there will be no escape from the sun in summer. Curtains require washing, no matter how you look at them, because windows take up at least four-fifths of the wall. Tens of square meters of fabric will not fit in a regular washing machine, but taking them to the dry cleaner from the dacha even sounds strange. You will have to wash each curtain yourself, or separately, or the entire set in a new washing machine.
Beauty, of course, costs a lot, and living in a beautiful, cozy home is worth it. The house becomes brighter, warm floors create coziness. The main thing is that all this pleases you and is constantly maintained in good condition.
According to user reviews, panoramic windows are not at all intimidating, this is what is most often written in the comments:
- If you don’t put the housework on one person, two people can clean all the windows in less than an hour. Everything is for sale, convenient tools are available, the main thing is to find a break between the sofa and the kitchen!
- very beautiful windows, but heating bills are rising significantly, a good incentive to find additional income;
- The floor along the window can be lined with flower pots so that there is no temptation to walk in the cold. And plants without radiators winter well and bloom early in the spring.
So, European beauty and modern solutions are almost on the doorstep; the main thing is to come up with the home of your dreams and allow yourself to live in it.
Comments (12)
Gulnara 05/26/2020 at 21:40
Panoramic window on the 8th floor. Beauty, you can see half the city. But! We live in Crimea. The window faces southeast. Sun in summer from 5 am to 1 pm. There is a natural greenhouse in the room. In winter it’s warm, the same greenhouse. Often in winter it is not clear what the temperature is outside. It seems warm, sunny, but when you go out it’s cold, at least come back and change clothes. I had to hang the thermometer on the north side. I don’t know how it is in the middle zone, but in the south it is better to make panoramic windows facing northwest.
Pavel 05/18/2020 at 15:57
In the Moscow region we have a house made of timber with full-wall windows facing the south side - in winter, it’s -20-30 outside and the sun is shining - we turn off all the heating in the house and wear T-shirts - because the sun heats up the whole house for a long time.
Peter 05/08/2020 at 22:13
It seems that the author himself has no real experience in using panoramic settlement and does not know how the problems he describes are solved. Another one in the series, what I see is what I sing!
Igor 04/27/2020 at 11:58
We wash such windows with a car wash (Herscher) in 10 minutes - all windows, the pressure reaches the second floor, there are extension nozzles,
Alexander 04/26/2020 at 18:12
A set of layman's misconceptions. Modern double-glazed windows sometimes have a thermal conductivity lower than a half-meter brick wall. What kind of in-floor convectors are we talking about? And to prevent the air from stagnating, ventilation solutions are installed during construction, be they natural or forced. In terms of cost, again, a square meter of warm glazing is almost comparable to the price of a square meter of a wall with insulation, vapor barrier, and decorative finishing inside and out.
Andrew 04/25/2020 at 22:30
No problem. 56 meters of panoramic windows in the house - one wall is completely transparent. We can handle it ourselves, heated floors. The view is like in the picture - forest and lake.
Maxim 04/25/2020 at 17:01
For cold and humid climates, there has long been a solution; these are heating windows, which will allow you to eliminate the mandatory installation of complex heating systems in your home and reduce heat loss. If interested write
Julia 04/22/2020 at 18:06
Terem has very cool cottages with panoramic windows. Project Emperor is my dream! If the heating in the house is properly organized, there should be no problems due to such windows
Gsajh 04/22/2020 at 09:36
The glass is thermally protective, and there are robots for washing, since the monsieur did not have enough money to pay for the services of service personnel.
Olga 04/05/2020 at 12:26
Very beautiful, I would like it, but... All of the above played a role. My friend in Sochi has windows like this in her house. But this is Sochi. Curtains (8 meters) cannot be washed. It's easier to throw it away and hang new ones.
Gennady 04/02/2020 at 18:28
Exactly the same with a heat pump for underfloor heating!!! Yes, forget when everything will pay off!!! It's important to get it NOW! And no one will ever save money to keep his house warm!!!
Gennady 04/02/2020 at 18:24
Only an idiot can compare instant savings - they will never buy in 100 years! It's about instant savings when the sun starts to warm the house!
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Types of glass
Glass for panoramic glazing must meet certain requirements. They must be shockproof, with a thickness of at least eight millimeters.
According to their properties, glass is divided into:
- Mirror
- Tinted
- Electrochromic
- Low emission
Tinting is provided by sticking protective films.
The mirror surface of the glass is achieved by applying special coatings. Electrochromic glasses can change the transmission of light, and are controlled by a remote control. Low-emissivity glass, also energy-saving, blocks infrared radiation.
Panoramic excellence
The design of a balcony with panoramic glazing has the following advantages:
- Improving the level of natural light during the day, providing greater visibility. There are even options for dismantling the wall to which the balcony adjoins and turning it into glass. A dubious option, because it is necessary to destroy the load-bearing wall. And the sun doesn’t shine at night, there will still be electricity costs.
- There is no need to maintain standard parts of the balcony finishing.
- Gives the room style and a certain charm.
How to insulate a balcony
Everyone has a desire to make their balcony warm. Not surprisingly, increasing the usable space of an apartment is expensive.
It should be remembered that a warm balcony is built only using frames.
Heat preservation is possible through the use of double-glazed windows. Double-glazed windows can be single-chamber or multi-chamber. The more chambers a glass unit has, the better it retains heat. If it is impossible to install such frames due to their heavy weight (the lower and upper ceilings are weakened), energy-saving film for single-chamber double-glazed windows is used, which is glued to the surface of the glass.
Frameless glazing will not allow for airtightness
Heat loss comes from concrete floors. Apply insulation to the floor and ceiling. Make a heated floor: electric or water.
Tips from the designer
Panoramic glazing will decorate not only the balcony or loggia outside. A big plus is the beautiful landscape outside the window, and not the view of a factory chimney or a garbage dump.
The design of panoramic glazing uses a wide or narrow profile, the color range of which is quite diverse. All that remains is to choose.
The main thing will be the view from the inside of the room
Stained glass glazing is composed of modules of different sizes, using different types of glass.
If there is a need to protect personal space, then the lower part of the structure is decorated with tinted or colored glass.
Frameless glazing looks as if it is hanging in the air: impressive and light. But in this case the balcony will not be warm.
The design of the structure itself may tend towards the classic version, when modules of the same size are arranged in elongated rectangles
To choose the type of panoramic glazing, you need to fix your priorities. The balcony will remain a separate area, or it will be combined with an adjacent room. Will it be a winter garden, an office, a relaxation space or a gym. Having put together ideas about what should be the result, we set about drawing up a project for panoramic glazing of the balcony.
