Bay & bow

A bay projects from the wall in angled sections, usually three; a bow curves through more, usually four or five. Both add usable depth to the room and bring light in from more than one direction. They are the only windows we fit that change the shape of the room rather than just the wall.

Photographs

Bay & bow windows we have fitted.

A bay window part-way through installation, seen from inside: three white-framed units with shipping labels and transit clips still attached, set into an opening with exposed studs, sheathing and spray foam above.
Bay window going in, transit clips still attached
The front of a bi-level house between two brick columns, with a five-panel white bow window on the upper floor, a three-panel window at basement level, and house wrap exposed on the wall between them.
Five-panel bow window on a bi-level front

Where it is the right answer

  • Living and dining rooms where the extra depth becomes a seat or a sill
  • North-facing rooms that need light from more than one angle
  • Replacing a flat picture window that never earned its wall

What you give up

  • Needs structural support above, so it costs considerably more than a flat unit of the same width
  • The projecting roof and floor are additional surfaces to insulate, and a badly built one is a cold spot

Every style trades something. A page that lists only strengths is a brochure, not advice.

Specification

How it is built.

Locking system

The lock is not only security — on an operating window it is what pulls the sash tight against the weatherstrip. A loose or badly adjusted lock is the most common cause of a draft that gets blamed on the window itself.

  • Multi-point locking available on casement and awning, engaging the sash at several points along the frame rather than one
  • Single-point cam locks on sliders and hung units
  • Hardware rated for repeated operation at low temperature — the failure mode here is stiffening, not breakage
  • Keyed options where a ground-floor opening needs it

Glass and glazing

We fit both double and triple pane, and you choose. Triple-pane, argon-filled and Low-E is what we recommend in Edmonton, because the outside face sits at −30 °C for weeks — and it is what CEIP financing requires here. Double-pane is a sound choice on a sheltered elevation or a tighter budget, and we will say so rather than talk you out of it.

  • Double or triple pane, argon-filled — triple recommended for this climate
  • Low-E coating to reduce radiant heat loss
  • Warm-edge spacer between panes, which is where cheap units give away their performance
  • Tempered or laminated where code requires it — near doors, in bathrooms, below a certain sill height
  • Obscure and patterned glass available for bathrooms

Frame, jamb and trim

The jamb depth has to match your wall. Getting this wrong is what produces the ugly filler strip you see on cheap replacement jobs, so we measure the actual wall rather than assuming a standard.

  • Jamb depth measured to your wall assembly, not assumed
  • Jamb extensions where the wall is deeper than the standard frame
  • Brickmould exterior trim, which covers the joint between frame and cladding and sheds water away from it
  • Interior casing to match or replace existing trim
  • Nailing fin or brickmould installation depending on whether the cladding is being disturbed

Sizes

Every unit is made to the measured opening. There is no standard size we try to make fit, which matters on Edmonton houses from the 1980s and 90s where openings are rarely exactly what the plans said.

  • Manufactured to the measured opening, not to a stock size
  • Combination units — a fixed picture flanked by operating casements, for example — built as one assembly
  • Egress-compliant sizing where a basement bedroom requires it: minimum 0.35 m² clear opening, no dimension under 380 mm

Screens

Supplied with every operating unit. Fixed units do not get one because there is nothing to screen.

  • Standard fibreglass mesh on all operating units
  • Heavier pet-resistant mesh available
  • Full screens on casement and awning, half screens on sliders and hung units
  • Removable from inside for cleaning

Colours and finish

White is the base. Exterior colours cost more from the manufacturer, and the exterior and interior do not have to match — a black exterior with a white interior is a common and sensible combination.

  • White as standard, inside and out
  • Exterior colours including black and bronze, at additional cost
  • Different interior and exterior finish available on the same unit
  • Grilles and grids available in several patterns where the house calls for them

Not sure yet

Compare against the others.

Tell us what the room does. We will say which style fits.