Should there be a window sill??

[SpidersAreShitheads]

I’ve just had an extension built and the windows have been installed.

Looking around it yesterday to check for snags I realised there are no window sills.

And then I realised that I didn’t know if there should be one or not?!!

If I add a photo can anyone with a bit more common sense than me explain if there’s supposed to be a window sill here 😂🤦🏻‍♀️

This window will be in the kitchen in case that makes a difference.

Thank you!

Is that a sill below the window?

You don't need a window sill at all.
But I suspect the intention is to fit them later.
If you want them, do ask in case they have no intention to fit them.
But the house won't collapse without them!

The window sill in a kitchen can be made from tiles/granite or whatever is on your walls/splash back. I suppose it depends if your window is on a plain blank wall or whether there’s going to be units/sink fitted.

There is no window sill because the wall is thin. It does look a bit like a caravan wall lol.

Actually, Softoprider is right. You do have a sill.
What you are missing is the 'shelf' that traditionally gets attached to it.

Our kitchen and bathroom window sills are tiled. Presume there is a proper sill outside to manage rainwater runoff?

I think the sill can be attached to that shelf

It would go over/on the ledge. I have opted not to have sills on some of my windows. The blinds sit more flush and they can be easily painted with emulsion if they need to be. I don't like having a lot of stuff on sills, so this may not suit everyone as I don't miss them!

I don't think it looks like a caravan though :-)

is it single brick because it looks the same as the back end of our house where the toilet and storage room is, that is single brick, the windows are just like that with no windowsill. I would get the builder or whoever is doing it to put a windowsill of choice on there as he may not if you don't mention it.

That's what our windows looked like after they had been fitted. Joiners fitted our sills afterwards but it wasn't the same people that did the windows. Just decide what you want there and arrange to get it fitted. We have granite to match our worktop in the kitchen and oak ones everywhere else.

Our builders initially left the kitchen window like that, and we had a sill fitted in the same material as the worktops, by the same people.

There is also a window on the stairs without a sill (or with a small plastered sill as in the OP's photo, if you want to look at it that way!). The builders discussed that one with us and we decided it looked better without - it's at high level over the stairs and we would never want to put anything on there, so a bigger shelf would just be a dust trap and need cleaning while balancing precariously over the staircase!

Just so there's no confusion when talking to builders/chippies generally window cills refer to outside and window ledges refer to inside

Window cills are outside , window boards are the term generally used for inside.

Gosh, really? Forty years I've been speaking English and I've always used cill/sill for both. My parents and grandparents definitely did too.

I've been planning some things to grow for the garden, and everyone from the Royal Horticultural Society down talks about germinating seeds on a window sill - and I really think they mean indoors.

These people are selling internal window sills: https://mdfskirtingworld.co.uk/mdf-window-sills/

I think it's apparent you can't reliably assume a sill is outside, even if some people make this distinction.

Obviously many/most people use cill to mean inside but within the building industry its standard to use cill to refer to the outside and ledge/board inside.

It's not that those using cill to mean inside are wrong but it's good to be aware of possible confusion just like you wouldn't ask someone to fix your hoover because that's who made your washing machine

Hi, sorry for not coming back sooner. Been immersed in other building stuff and painting DS's room.

Thank you all so much! My mind just went completely blank looking at it!! I knew MN would be able to tell me what I needed.

The window will be above the kitchen sink so actually just tiling it will be perfect. Don't know why I didn't think of that myself 🤦🏻‍♀️

Also, for the PP who said it looks like a caravan - it's definitely not haha! It's also not a single skin wall, but it's not a traditional build.

I've got another thread somewhere from a while back which has lots of photos and updates - it's actually a modular build. We're extending the main house and also building DM an annexe. This will be the annexe kitchen.

It's honestly lovely and not caravan-like at all 😅

Oh - also, the debate re inside or outside - personally, I have also called both inside and outside window sills, but if pushed I would say sills were on the inside and maybe ledges on the outside? But hey, I didn't even know what was supposed to be in that space so don't listen to me 😅🤦🏻‍♀️

Thanks again you lovely lot.

There are a few people on your other thread, desperate for an update 🤣

Hey @CellophaneFlower - how have you been? 😊

Oh my goodness, is there?!?! I haven't seen any notifications pop up 🤦🏻‍♀️ I stopped updating it as I didn't see any responses and didn't want to keep boring people to death haha!

I've been up all night, just about to head to bed so I'll do a search for the thread when I wake up and I'll update then.

In a nutshell though, the outside is all up, including both the main house extension and DM's annexe. Pretty much all of the inside is done to first fix ....but it's not "finished" because the lead engineer guy snapped his Achilles and it seems to have ground everything to a halt. He's got someone who's been out on his behalf but he's not as good imo. Example - a bit of the concrete near the door had cracked/moved so this head guy said it needed to be dug out, concreted and then self-levelled. This other guy didn't dig it out - just whacked concrete over the top so now it's bumpy, and it still wobbles 🙄 The engineer guy is now in a boot so he's being driven to our house next week for a proper look round himself. They have promised to finish up all the snags next Thurs/Friday. That includes digging out the concrete and pouring self-levelling on the floor.

The two sets of doors keep catching when they close - one of them to the point it almost feels as if it won't close. The substitute guy has "fixed" the doors twice but they're exactly the same. I've been told today after having a big old whinge that if they can't fix it, they'll remove them and rehang - but engineer guy has promised me that they won't sign it off until we're totally happy with it.

It's only just a few snags that need finishing/correcting - and the rubbish collecting - but it's all ground to a halt which has been bloody annoying. We haven't paid the final instalment so I'm not worried about the money, it's just irritating having to chase. It feels a lot like they've massively overrun on the time, plus are now overstretched because of the engineer being out of action and they've had a big surge in orders. Very definitely there's not been the same level of attention to detail in the last month or so. The substitute guy doesn't have the same quality standards, imo, plus he doesn't ring/turn up when he says he will.......

I should have just written all of this on my other thread 😅 I will also find the most up to date photos and put them on the thread. The new kitchens, flooring etc won't be fitted for another 3-4 months so I'll have to come back and do a final update when it's properly kitted out and furnished. Just to prove it doesn't look like a caravan 😅😅 The second fix electrics are going in soon (we have our own electrician, not OffPOD) so we'll have lighting and plug sockets - hurrah!!!

Our worktop runs right into the window above the sink. Not sure if your window is the right height for that but it looks good! We also have window sills in the rest of the kitchen from matching granite to the worktops.

and they've had a big surge in orders.

You're aware this is down to you, right? 🤣 Perhaps you should have sung their praises after they'd finished!

Sorry you're having all this stress at the end. Good news the main man is hobbling round to sort it out though!