Attic windows

We had a close call with the windows upstairs. In February or March, I picked out the ones I wanted. But then I never said anything to Jacques the contractor about them. Or at least I don't think I did.

Sometime in March Jacques ordered the two windows we plan to have installed. They are « fenêtres de toit » in French — roof windows, I guess, or attic windows. They're not exactly skylights, because they are down at eye level and can be opened and closed one way or another.

The glass panes in these windows, which we had installed
six years ago, are about 40" x 30". Each attic window will
be only slightly smaller than one of these big panes.

The opening and closing was the issue. The standard attic windows manufactured by Vélux, which seems to have a monopoly on them, feature glass panes in frames that pivot on a horizontal post located somewhere above the center of the glass. Those are the ones I decided I didn't want.

The standard Vélux windows pivot and rotate to open.

In French, they are called « fenêtres pivotantes » ("center-pivot windows" in English) and they are the ones Jacques ordered. The Vélux web page about them says they use « ouverture par rotation » — they rotate open. Yesterday I realized we had a problem so I talked to Coco, the crew foreman, about it. He told me that the windows had already been ordered and that his boss Jacques was in Paris for three days.

What I want is windows that push out to open rather than rotate. I'm not sure why, actually. I don't like the idea of them spinning on an axis. They use a system called « ouverture par projection » — which doesn't translate literally into English. Anyway, that's what I want. The British Vélux site calls them "top-hung roof windows."

Here's the window style that we are getting.
They are hinged at the top and push open.

And that's what we are getting. Yesterday afternoon, Jacques the boss called Coco on the phone and it all got straightened out. Coco went and ordered the push-out windows. He says it will take three weeks to get them. I said that was fine with me, but would it work for him? He said yes, he has a good three weeks work to do upstairs and the timing should be about right.

Here's what the push-out windows look like from the inside.
See the U.K. Vélux web site for more information and pictures.

Meanwhile, we are waiting for our neighbor the mayor to give us her approval. In theory, when you change the exterior appearance of your house, you have to get planning permission. In our case, we don't foresee any difficulties, because most of the houses in our hamlet already have the Vélux attic windows, including the mayor's.

Yesterday, our neighbors who have the summer house across the street stopped by. I told them what we are having done to the house, and they said they had never asked for permission from anybody when they had their attic windows installed.

Besides, we are putting the windows on the back side of our house, so we are not modifying the look of the house from the street. The three-week time frame should give Mme le Maire time to give us her decision before the actual work of installing the windows begins.