In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
... and when closed, they can be almost considered as a kind of furniture in their own right - like panelled cupboard doors - lending warmth and ambience to the room ... does anybody know if, in fact, the use of internal shutters predates the use of external ones? They appear to in our area.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Like this subject Angie and Robert...we have no curtains but internal shutters to all our double glazed windows. The idea was to replicate what the house was like originally. Then we learnt yet another lesson....we face south and when it pours with rain and the wind blows, water pours through the bottom of the window frames (chestnut wood windows opening inwards) and there aren't enough towels to mop up the water. About 4,000 euros later we now have chestnut, solid external shutters as well, to all upstairs windows!!!
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Hi
We also had trouble with water coming through the windows in our old farmhouse which already had internal shutters. We solved it by clearing the original drainholes to the outside with a piece of wire. You should be able to see daylight through them. The windows were cleverly designed to let water in but it should immediately drain out the hole in the window cill but obviously they get blocked with debris and insects over time so need to be cleared regularly. Painting the cills with a gloss paint also helped as it stops the water entering the plaster below the window.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Yes they do predate external shutters.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
You can also replace the glass if you need to by sliding it out and then sliding a new piece in. Fairly tricky but possible. As the glass is so thin it breaks easily if the windows slam. We have fitted brass rings to the bottom of the windows and brass hooks attached to the walls so that when the windows are open they can be secured against sudden gusts of wind. Important as we are at the top of a valley.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
If you look at internal window sills in a trad Italian house, they slope towards the window - carrying any condensation or rain penetration into the wall. Now that is mega scary for a Brit - 'masonry must not get wet' is what you believe.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
EEk, I am not painting my marble ex/int cills with gloss paint, if I have understood this correctly. But as to replacing the glass which slides out in these old windows, we slide out the whole window , go down to the feramenta in Servigliano and they very kindly replace the new glass for us 10euros....!.
A
Replacement double glazing
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 02/26/2009 - 01:45In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
We were told that the only alternative to some single glazed windows was to replace the whole units. However, we shopped around and found Pesci in Tolentino (near La Rancia) who came to collect the single glazed windows in the morning and returned them double glazed after a day. The cost per double window was €35 (about 1.3m X .8m) Their number is 0733 972549.
We noticed an immediate improvement in retained heat.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
That sounds good to me. I will have to find my local feramente. unfortunately my window cills both inside and out are not marble yet, just plaster as they were originally. My dream is marble - one day!
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Confess I am not an expert but I did read that the best way to cut down heat loss is to have pull-down blinds and heavy curtains on the windows and maybe even doors. Costs far less than double glazing and no traditional window frame problems either. Thick insulation in the roof space (if you have one) is the next!
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Like Damiano, I am having a few of my thin window panes replaced as an experiment to see just how much there is of a difference. I am having anti-rumore glass (sometime quite busy road) fitted which will be 'doubled' with thermal glass to help with the heat saving. Cost about €40 a pane.
Anything has to be better than 3mm old rattley windows. :bigergrin:
They are a very good idea, and even if you have to get them made by a joiner, (at about €100 a window, in painted softwood), they could well work out more economical than curtains. The other thing which is good about them, apart from keeping some heat in, and adding to the security of the house, is that curtains - even when open - usually cut out some of the light by partially obscuring the window. Opening the internal shutters fully doesn't cut off any of the light which is often in short supply in Italian houses.