The winter months do tend to emphasise the varied weather we enjoy in this part of the Northern Hemisphere. Our summers have generally been a mix of extremely hot days for a week at a time and then middling scrawly showers for 3 weeks and force 8 gales on the other weeks. Until about 3 years ago, this was quite a predictable patten and old wives would weave their folk tales to scare and intimidate the dimmer locals into believing that winter times had special powers for them etc. The connection with witches for bonfire night comes to mind. Sitting inside a kitchen, looking out into the very dark garden or across the rambling hills, it is easy to see how these old fashioned ways and means have come about. In my own house, the back 3rd of the kitchen wall is one big set of wide patio doors with glazed panels either side. This leaves a wonderful airiness and sense of space for anyone utilising the l-shaped seating area. I have a two seater leather recliner sofa strategically placed so that I make the absolute most out of the view fro the sofa, over the entire back garden. My patio doors are superb and I feel sure that they have contributed to the continued feeling of wellbeing for many of the years I have lived here and sat looking out of their vast spaciousness – for rather more hours than is possibly a good idea.
The windows are so much better than those in the house I moved away from some 25 years ago. There I had aluminium framed singled glazed patio doors. In fact the house owner had installed them himself and despite having to have a full survey in order to get the first mortgage and then again some years later for a remortgage, the fact they were illegal in design and fit, didn’t seem to be noticed by either surveyor. The whole back wall of that house was formed by these single glazed massively heavy panels. They could have been dislodged at any time,but thankfully were not. At least not during my tenure. All the windows in that house were of the same design. they ran with condensation as soon as anyone breathed – during the winter time this was a major problem. The fact they were only single pane meant there was no protection against cold weather. As always in those situations, cold weather meeting war internal temperatures caused mould, rot and streams of water running down the inside. We got through loads of towels to mop up.
The patio doors and the smooth uncluttered look of the remaining house windows sold this place to me. It was wonderful to feel the effects of the seriously good triple glazing units which came as standard in this new build. They have condensation gaps to allow air to flow through to the outside and visa versa. Windows are so underated as far as I am concerned!
