Dormer Windows - Their Construction and Benefits
16/03/2023
A dormer window might be the ideal method to add more headroom and light to your property’s upper level, whether you’re converting a loft or creating a new one-and-a-half-story house.
Dormers come in a variety of sizes and shapes, but it can be challenging to design them so that they blend in with the rest of the house. Gaining as much inside space as feasible while maintaining visual proportion to the other exterior components is a delicate balance. We’re pleased with the result, using Brazilian slate and clean leadwork and fibreglass gives this dormer window construction project a contemporary look and is easy to maintain and clean.
If you’re in need of a dormer window to create space and light in your loft conversion, get in touch with Bristow & Reeve for your estimate today!
What are the benefits of a dormer window?
In order to provide natural light into sleeping quarters in attics, dormer windows originally emerged in house roofs in Britain in the 16th century. The French term “dormir,” which means “to sleep,” is where the word “dormer” originates.
However, dormers have an even older predecessor: an architectural design element known as a “lucarne,” which first appeared in Europe in the 12th Century. The lofty spires of Gothic cathedrals frequently featured lucarnes, which are tall, thin roofed projections. They were created to encourage fresh airflow into the spires’ tops, which could get rather warm in the summer.
The following are some advantages of our dormer windows in addition to more natural light:
- Dormer windows significantly increase headroom in a pitched roof. In loft conversions, there is a lot more walkable area due to the dormer’s box shape.
- Ventilation: During the summer, especially, roof spaces get significantly hotter than the rest of the building. Dormer windows provide excellent ventilation and are simple to open, without having to reach up to a skylight or install electronic window systems.
Styles of dormer:
- The most typical type of dormer window has a gable, which is a triangle roof with equal-pitch sides, over it.
- A gambrel dormer has two steeper roof slopes on either side of the gable-shaped roof that is present at the apex of the structure.
- A hip dormer has three roof planes, two parallel to the dormer’s front and one on each side. At the roof’s top, where all three planes slope upward, they come together.
- This dormer has a single, shallowly pitched roof plane that slopes in the same general direction as the main roof. Sometimes a shed dormer‘s pitch is so slight that it almost seems horizontal. However, in order for water to drain, there must be some slope.
- An eyebrow dormer has a gently curving wave that rises up and entirely covers the window rather than flat roof surfaces. An eyebrow dormer can give the appearance that an eye is looking out from behind a hooded lid since it lacks any further vertical wall sides.
- A bonnet dormer features a vertical wall on either side of the window and a curving roof. In order to ensure that the top of the window fits the arch of the bonnet, arch-top windows are frequently installed in bonnet dormers.
- Residential lucarne dormers are typically tall and extremely narrow, drawing inspiration from those found in Gothic cathedrals. The majority have gable roofs over the windows.
There are many exceptions to the rule that a dormer roof should match the main roof type of the home. Depending on the architect’s inclination, a home with a gable roof may have a gambrel dormer, a shed dormer, or another type.
