Loft conversion: sliding door/balcony or large window?

[Quodlibet]

Hiya

Anyone with experience of planning a loft room able to give me any thoughts?

We are starting our build and have provision for a large 8ft wide floor to ceiling window/balcony in our loft room, which will overlook the park. I am planning to upgrade from UPVC to aluminium, but can't decide between just large plate glass picture window, subdivided so one or two sections open, or to go for a sliding door with Juliet balcony rail.

It would be nice to be able to fully open the window/door but can't decide if it's something we'd only use a few times a year. And does the metal balustrade cause a visual obstruction that would be lessened with just a picture window?

Pros? Cons? Experiences? Help!

Anyone??

Could you post pictures?

We opted for opening doors and Juliet balcony is in our conversion

So I think it depends on what ventilation you want and if there are other windows.Dh & I sleep with a window open 365 days per year, even in winter I want some fresh air.I assume you also have veluxs though.

Juliet balconies look good and on a warm day having both open (can you secure them open on windy days?) would be good, especially if you have room for a chair so you can sit and enjoy the view.

We went for a window however as a child's room and that just felt way safer.Also for floor space it worker better.

Would a glass Juliet balcony work? It's a very modern look so it would depend on the style of the house.

We have a 'standard' window but we do not have a great view (just other houses) and it does mean more wall space for furniture - we have fitted drawers along the wall with the window. I have noticed that many of the new loft conversions going up around here have glass Juliet balconies and they look great from the outside but I do wonder about the practicality of reducing where you can put furniture. We had a dickhead very particular buildings inspector when we did ours and he insisted on us having smaller windows than we wanted for "environmental reasons".

We also have a large velux for extra ventilation.

What I'm thinking of is sliding doors plus an iron balustrade (like the balustrade in errorofjudgement's pic above). The sliding doors instead of french doors mean they don't take up floor space when open. Ours would be about 8ft in total wide.

I thought about a glass balustrade but they are more expensive and I can't quite see the point of opening one layer of glass to encounter another layer of glass directly behind!

Sliding doors like this: www.slideandfold.co.uk/aluminium-patio-doors-images.html

Hi Quodilbet,

I know this is an old thread but just wondered what you went for in the end? I'm at the planning stage of my loft conversion and have been trying to think what to do. My BiL told me to avoid a french door and get a sliding door so you can just slide it open a bit if needs be (for ventilation/stop cat trying to jump out).

Thanks!

Catmad

Hi, we went for french doors on ours but with a glass juliet balcony. Glass is more expensive than the metal type but they are not that expensive anyway and it is nicer to have an unobstructed view.

We don't have our doors open very often - we have side windows so we can open those for ventliation. But it is nice to have the large window, especially when you have a lovely view.