balcony

[Bitpipe]

Back to balconies - we have two at the back of our house on master and guest bedroom - obviously added for aesthetic rather than function and I admit they do look good externally and break up what would otherwise be a flat expanse of wall but I seriously doubt that they'll ever get much use.

 

Also added significant cost (some of this was my fault for not putting in provision for supporting glass so we needed to go for a suspended deck system) and eat up floorspace that could have been used in the bedroom itself.

[Jeremy Harris]

If it were me, then I' not have the balcony, but compromise by moving the large door out and making it a Juliet balcony instead.  You gain room in the bedroom, avoid the structural issues, reduce the cost and still have the ability to sit in what amounts to an almost open air area at that end of the room if you wish (and the weather allows).

[ProDave]

We are having an external balcony. A timber structure supported on 2 legs and fixed to the wall. It gives the outside space for the few days you can use it without any compromises to the room.

 

We did consider extending the roof out above it but decided the extra complication and expense was not worth it. After all if the weather is right to use it, you won't need a roof over it.

[Moira Niedzwiecka]

We too were originally going to recess the landing area & have a covered balcony.

We decided in the end to pull out the landing wall & have a juliet balcony.

It means we can take advantage of the great views all the time instead of the relatively few days when the weather is favourable.

We now have a lovely first floor sitting room & study area where there would have just been a smallish landing with an under used balcony.

Also saved money.

[TerryE]

Sorry, just come to the thread late.  I can understand your builder's concerns.  I was thinking about options for taking the step-back all the way up to the roof line and having a deep overhang on one side, but this just increases the support challenges on the ground floor because you are going to need even more steel work in the ceiling space.  With all of the consequential bridging issues.  This is a hard one, isn't it?

[HerbJ]

+1 to juliet balcony.

We incorporated them in all of our bedrooms. We used 12mm toughened glass and they balconies are nearly invisible, inside and outside. 

[AliG]

I have mixed feelings on balconies myself. We have ended up with one because I wanted a covered area at the ground floor level and the architect didn't want to do it with my suggested glass roof to allow the sun in. He said it would look grotty over time so designed a balcony.

 

It all depends on how much you think you will actually use it, I can't say we have used them much when we have had them but it all depends on the view etc.

 

Certainly if you lost the balcony there would be quite a substantial saving. You would lose 2 steels in the floor and one holding up the roof, and also the costs of cladding and waterproofing the balcony and the large glass balustrade as well as some brickwork. I wouldn't be surprised if the savings ran to £7-8000.

 

You would gain a bigger bedroom, and as suggested you could simply is inside with the windows open. There would probably be room to have a sitting area within the bedroom.

 

On the other hand it adds a bit of interest to the outside of the house and maybe you'd like to sit out on a balcony so there is personal preference involved.

[Moira Niedzwiecka]

@HerbJ Your glass Juliet balconies look great.

Where did you get them from?

[Ian]

@Moira Niedzwiecka

Just a few thoughts if you are considering using glass as a Juliette balcony:

 

Your two main choices for the glass are governed by British Standards and are (A) toughened glass, or (B) laminated and toughened glass.

 

On the commercial projects that I get involved with as an architect I always specify laminated and toughened glass for use in critical safety locations such as balconies. The reason for this is that when toughened glass fails (and it occasionally does) it breaks into lots of sugar cube sized pieces and falls away from its supports so in a situation where you've used it in a balcony you are left with no protection from falling. If however you have 2 panes of toughened glass laminated together then the broken pane sticks to the unbroken one because of the plastic laminate layer and you still have effective protection to the balcony edge.

 

For those who only have the budget to buy toughened glass then it's always a good idea to specify that the glass should be 'heat soaked'. The heat soaking reduces the incidence of spontaneous failure due to nickel sulphide inclusions in the glass. Heat soaking does not eliminate the risk entirely but it would typically reduce the risk of spontaneous failure from 1 in 500 for normal toughened glass to one where the risk is only about 1 in 50,000. 

 

Ian

[Moira Niedzwiecka]

Thanks Ian,

That is really useful information.

I have not looked at costs yet or fully decided on a glass balcony, but I will certainly take this into account if I do decide on glass.

I am also considering a brushed stainless steel balcony or maybe even an anthracite powder coated one.

Aalco have some interesting products.

Moz

[Hecateh]

44 minutes ago, AliG said:

It all depends on how much you think you will actually use it, I can't say we have used them much when we have had them but it all depends on the view etc.

Think I may go this way.

 

The other solution was to not use brick for the top of the gable end but do a timber frame and lightweight cladding but the more I think about it the more I think I'll just go for a juliet rather than actual balcony

 

Oh and the view is amazing

[HerbJ]

I looked at various sources of supply, including online websites who seem to specialise in juliet balconies and there is a lot of choice of style and specification, including toughened/laminated glass. The ,main problem is that the glass was very heavy and required a tower/lifting equipment to install.  My build was nearing completion and I had limited labour and no lifting equipment at site. So in the end, I went to a local glazing supplier, who we had already used for several other elements, and they supplied and installed the balconies for a reasonable price that was extremely (more) competitive with anything on-line. They checked the dimensions before ordering the glass , have installed dozens of similar  juliet balconies and I didn't have to organise labour and equipment or cooordinate delivery and installation. The invoice was zero rated for VAT

 

As @Ian points out there are various specifications of glass to be considered, depending on the precise purpose of the balcony. I agree that for commercial purposes the correct specification may  be toughened & laminated glass but each and every application should be properly considered and selected on its specific use and location.

 

After careful thought and looking at the alternatives, I decided that our juliet balconies would be rarely used and never in a situation where there was likely to be several people on a large balcony  with a high probability of forces on the balcony that may lead to failure. So, we I selected and specified the toughened glass option  with input from the glazing company, though I did not consider "heat soaking" at that time - it may have been a sensible addition and in fact we have used such glass for another application for colour.  I did seek my BCO's prior approval for the specification of glass and fixing method proposed.

 

 

[Hecateh]

10 hours ago, HerbJ said:

We incorporated them in all of our bedrooms. We used 12mm toughened glass and they balconies are nearly invisible, inside and outside. 

Love how these look

 

[Ferdinand]

Dad used to argue that the space was always more useful inside the house for British weather reasons, and say to fit French doors with a 'fence' aka Juliet balcony. There may be exceptions eg south coast or other coast or views or rivers or town-centres. or perhaps for outdoorsy people or for dog space.

 

I have argued for something more like the two level + canopy boardwalk on a Deep South house which is more useable and really nearly part of the garden not the house; perhaps even to be structurally separate from the house in these times of wall penetrations being bad.

 

Were I to go for a cup-of-tea-and-newspaper balcony, I think I would want a combined one across rooms or more for the kitchen or living room to get wider potential use. Think of the tendency in Eg Grand Designs to have French Doors in Ground Floor bedrooms eg Underhill House in the Cotswolds.

http://www.seymoursmith.co.uk/underhill-psv.php

 

F

 

 

 

 

Edited January 6, 2018 by Ferdinand

[Ferdinand]

17 hours ago, HerbJ said:

+1 to juliet balcony.

We incorporated them in all of our bedrooms. We used 12mm toughened glass and they balconies are nearly invisible, inside and outside. 

 

@HerbJ

 

What is the low walled area on the right, please. A pond? Ventilation for a basement swimming pool? Looks interesting.

Edited January 6, 2018 by Ferdinand

[HerbJ]

It's just low level planter to give a bit if interest to the terrace. These are a few photos I have to hand, one from the Master Bredroom ( shown in the earlier photo) and a couple the Family Room immediately below.

 

We had a fairly large hard landscaping job to complete, which was not obvious from the overgrown garden that we bought - the site rises nearly 4m from the road to the back fence and drops about 0.5m (at the front) to 1m (at the back) right to left as you look up the garden. Topographic survey was invaluable  for planning  and design,  as we had a lot of very nice specimen trees, shrubs and established hedges that we wanted to retain and the garden was planned around them. My wife, Yvonne, is the gardener, and planted the garden mostly with cuttings  and shrubs from our old house and this house ( taken before the plot was cleared for landscaping and groundworks).  The garden was almost completely planted whilst the house was being built and the little bit of lawn was completed after completion.

 

The house and landscaping were  set out with the house, using GPS coordinates.