Canadian Windows

[SteamyTea]

Having little to do over here, I have been walking a lot (better weather than a Cornish summer).  I have noticed that nearly all the windows are set to the very front of the wall.

The only ones that seem to be set a little further back are the brick places, and these were probably commissioned by English immigrants (like my family).

So why do we set out windows so far back in England?

 

[MikeSharp01]

Good question Steamy.

[billt]

I'd guess it's because we used timber frames universally until very recently.

 

A timber frame installed like that will rot very quickly as you'll have water resting on the top of the frame and penetrating the sides.

 

It's much easier to minimise water penetration with traditional build methods if the window is recessed.

[SteamyTea]

I am sure it has been discussed before on other places, but I can't remember if anyone came up with a reason.

I can't see any engineering issues, and thermally it is probably better.

 

Many of the houses have timber windows here, I would say the majority in the older parts of town.

 

The weather here is severe, it is Atlantic coast and gets hit by tropical storms and hurricanes (46°N), temperature swings are greater, but humidity levels are similar.

 

I suspect that it is just tradition, and that very British way of making an easy job difficult.

[Jeremy Harris]

25 minutes ago, SteamyTea said:

The weather here is severe, it is Atlantic coast and gets hit by tropical storms and hurricanes (46°N), temperature swings are greater, but humidity levels are similar.

 

My recollection is that the weather swings in winter can be far more severe over there than here.  I can remember driving to work in Dartmouth, across the Macdonald bridge, in sub-zero temperatures,  with ice on all the bridge decks, having heavy snow by lunchtime, then driving back home to Halifax in pouring rain with the temperature up around 10 deg C.  It seemed that 15 to 20 deg C swings in temperature in a day were not that uncommon in winter, which seemed to play hell with the surfaces of the roads.

 

My guess is that the windows may well be fitted out flush to make it easier to keep the weather out of the siding as much as anything else.  As most of the houses are made of timber, the style and design has probably evolved to deal with all-timber construction, with conventional timber siding or shingles as the rain barrier.

Edited October 28, 2017 by JSHarris

[Lesgrandepotato]

I have no idea why it’s necessary but it was an attraction to the velfac system for us as they only sit about 30mm back from the front of the reveal 

[AliG]

The walls are so thin that the windows have to be flush with the outside, my in laws house outer walls are probably less than 150mm thick. Basically the walls are going in the timber frame that would be the inner layer of most houses here. If the windows were set back there would be too much risk of water getting inside the frame I would guess.

 

I found a couple of pics from when their house was being built showing the inside and outside of a window.

 

This is in California not Canada, it was an on site built timber frame.

 

 

Edited October 28, 2017 by AliG

[ProDave]

4 hours ago, JSHarris said:

 

My recollection is that the weather swings in winter can be far more severe over there than here.  I can remember driving to work in Dartmouth, across the Macdonald bridge, in sub-zero temperatures,  with ice on all the bridge decks, having heavy snow by lunchtime, then driving back home to Halifax in pouring rain with the temperature up around 10 deg C.  It seemed that 15 to 20 deg C swings in temperature in a day were not that uncommon in winter, which seemed to play hell with the surfaces of the roads.

 

We can get the same here.

 

I recall one Christmas a few years ago driving from the Highlands to mid Wales for Christmas with the in laws. It was - 10 all the way down and the only time I have driven over 500 miles and had snow alongside the road all the way. 

 

A few days later we went to bed with the temperature at -10, and woke up to +10.  I mused at the time at the phenominal amount of energy needed to heat the whole of the land mass of Wales (and beyond) from -10 to +10 overnight.