What are roof windows? – Roof windows, also known as skylights or roof lights, are windows that are incorporated into the design of a roof with the purpose of allowing natural light into the building. They are mostly outward opening, however, some roof windows are designed not to open, as the only purpose is to allow natural light to shine through the roof rather than natural air.

What are windows in a dome called?

A small window that is circular or oval in shape, such as an oeil-de-boeuf window (q.v.), is an oculus. The round opening at the top of some domes, or cupolas, is also an oculus; one example of this kind is found in the Pantheon, in Rome.

What are the small windows on the roof?

Roof windows, known as skylights, have become increasingly popular as homeowners and designers seek to better utilize space in smaller houses by creating more habitable rooms under sloping roofs. They are glazed with glass rather than plastic and are available with most of the glazing and solar control options of standard windows.

• Operable skylights can be opened manually or by a motorized system.
• In addition, some manufacturers offer unique venting mechanisms that allow some ventilation airflow without actually opening the window.
• Operable skylights or vents allow hot air that rises to the ceiling level to be effectively exhausted from the space.

Skylights have rotating sashes to allow cleaning of the exterior pane. Most skylights can be equipped with operable interior shading systems to diffuse or reject intense sunlight.

Flush Mount : A flush mount skylight is placed on the roof deck with no curb. It is overlapped by and sealed to the roofing material. Curb Mount : A curb-mounted skylight is placed on a curb raised above the roof plane. This type of curb is not supplied with the skylight. The skylight may be fixed or operable. Integral Curb : In this case, the curb is supplied with the skylight as a complete unit. The skylight may also be fixed or operable.

Is a roof window the same as a skylight?

The Difference Between Skylights and Roof Windows – The main difference between skylights and roof windows is that skylights are slightly more versatile. Skylights can be mounted to a curb, which offers more installation options. Roof windows, on the other hand, must be installed in the same orientation and plane as the surrounding roof at a minimum 15˚ pitch.

Why is it called a coffin window?

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1. You might have seen this architectural oddity on an old Vermont farmhouse, even if you didn’t know what to call it.
2. It’s one of those upstairs windows that’s set on a diagonal.
3. Or, as State Architectural Historian Devin Colman explains it, “It’s the crooked window tucked up under the eaves in the gable end — and it’s just tucked in there at a crazy angle.”

A lot of Vermonters call them “witch windows.” But why? Where does that name come from, and why are these windows installed in the first place? This is what Aaron Troncoso, of Burlington, was wondering when he posed a question to, VPR’s people-powered journalism podcast. “What is the history of Vermont’s witch windows? And why do they only exist in Vermont?” — Aaron Troncoso, Burlington

• It’s just one of the questions that Brave Little State took on in its recent episode:,
• Devin Colman, who works for Vermont’s Division for Historic Preservation, says there’s superstitious lore behind the name, “witch window.”
• “The story is that a witch on a broomstick can’t fly through a crooked window opening, which I guess physically is true,” says Colman.

“But, it’s the only crooked window in the whole house. And if I were a witch, I would just use one of the other vertical windows,” he adds with a laugh. And Colman says there’s another theory that doesn’t quite add up. “You’ll also hear them referred to as coffin windows,” he says. “The idea being that it’s difficult to maneuver a coffin with a body from the second floor down to the first floor in these narrow staircases, so slide it out through the window and down the roof — which does not seem any easier.

And, if you think about it, you wouldn’t carry a coffin upstairs to put a body in it. You would bring the body downstairs and put it in the coffin on the first floor. So, I don’t think that holds a lot of truth there.” Britta Tonn is an architectural historian in the Burlington area, and she’s skeptical about that origin story, too.

But she’s willing to concede it might be “another convenient use of the window once it was developed.”

1. “I think they’re just a really great piece of vernacular Vermont architecture that really kind of points to how unique Vermont is and how resourceful farmers were,” says Tonn.
2. Colman says the real origin of the witch window is probably much less interesting: “My interpretation as an architectural historian is that it’s simply a really practical New England response to the need to get daylight and fresh air into a second-story room.”
3. Subscribe to Brave Little State:
4. You’ll often see a witch window above a one-story addition to an old farmhouse.

“And typically, if you’re adding on a wing to a house, you’re covering up windows,” Colman explains. “So you’ll have an extra window sitting around, and why not just angle it and tuck it in that little section of wall space?” In a word, Colman says: “Frugality.” As to why the windows are only found in Vermont — well, they aren’t.

“It’s not specific to Vermont,” says Colman. “I think it’s more prevalent, but you do find them in rural areas in New Hampshire and Maine and other parts of New England.” In other places, they’re simply referred to as crooked, or angled, windows. That being said, both Devin Colman and Britta Tonn agree that highest concentration of witch windows is in 19th-century farmhouses in north-central Vermont.

And Colman says we might be the only ones to call them “witch windows” — and tell those stories associated with the name. “It seems like the ‘witch window,’ and that explanation, might be unique to Vermont,” he says. “Because none of my colleagues in other states had ever heard that, and thought it was an interesting theory.” Around here they’re also called Vermont windows, and lazy windows.

And of course there’s endless fun to be had with the question of “which witch?” — as in this architectural history joke Tonn shares: “Someone, a tourist, will be driving by and ask the local, ‘Hey, why does that window look so funny in that house?’ And the local will say, ‘Which window?’ And the tourist says, “Ok, great, thanks.’ And they drive off.” Or perhaps the crooked window just doesn’t know which way to go.

Brave Little State has support from the VPR Journalism Fund. Our editor is Lynne McCrea, and our theme music is by, Other music in this segment was used under a Creative Commons license:

: What’s The History Of Vermont’s ‘Witch Windows’?

What is gable window?

A gable window is designed to follow a roof structure to create top floor spaces flooded with natural light. Roof pitches are commonly triangular, filling this space with glazing introduces light into previously dark spaces to increase useable space.

Is a skylight part of a roof?

A skylight (sometimes called a rooflight) is a light-permitting structure or window, usually made of transparent or translucent glass, that forms all or part of the roof space of a building for daylighting and ventilation purposes.

What are the three types of window?

Frequently Asked Questions – What are the most common replacement windows installed? There are around 18 different window types and styles as mentioned on this page that you can have installed or replaced in your home all with different styles, window frame options, energy efficiency ratings, and glass options. However, the most common window types installed in homes are:

Double Hung Windows (two window sashes, opens vertically) Casement Windows (rectangular windows that open outwards with a handle) Picture Windows (large fixed square windows that don’t open, great for views) Bay Windows (multi-window style that protrudes from the home and can include a seating area)

Each window type has a benefit or style that homeowners will want to review to see which one fits within their budget and correlates with their home design. What factors affect the cost of new home windows? New home window costs will vary by quite a few factors.

Window Type (double hung, casement, bay window, garden window, etc.) Window Size (larger windows are more expensive) Window Frame Type (aluminum, wood, vinyl, fiberglass, etc.) Window Glass (energy efficient, sound proof, double pane, argon gas fill, etc.) Local Labor Rates (changes by location, demand in the area, etc.)

Can you negotiate new window prices? Some window replacement costs can be negotiated with bigger projects or discounted with specials being run in your area by window installers. Use our local window cost calculator to break down your exact project estimate by window type and have a guide to make sure you are getting the best price in your area.

What are dormer windows called?

Should You Consider Having Dormers on Your Home? LatitudeStock/Getty Images The dormers shown here, each having a gable roof, are from a pub called The Myddelton Arms. Located in the Medieval town of Ruthin in northern Wales, these notable and popular dormers from the 16th century are known as “the eyes of Ruthin.” For centuries, windows have been known as “the eyes” of a dwelling.

1. Like a chimney, roof dormers are not part of the roof but stick through the roof.
2. Some dormers, called wall dormers, stick through the edge of the roof at the cornice.
3. Essentially, dormers are “glazed structures,” meaning they are windows.
4. In fact, they are sometimes called lucarne, a French word for “skylight.” The gable above the dormer is called the dormer head, and it is often in the shape of a pediment.

To install a dormer in your home, call a window specialist and master carpenter instead of a roofer. : Should You Consider Having Dormers on Your Home?

Why is it called a dormer?

The term derives from the Latin dormitorium, ‘sleeping room.’ Dormers are set either on the face of the wall or high upon the roof, and their roofs may be gabled, hipped, flat, or with one slope.

What do dormer windows look like?

What Is A Dormer Window? – Marcus Gleysteen Architects A dormer window has three sides and sits away from the house. The window is set on a vertical sloping roof. Uniquely shaped and distinct, a dormer has a separate roof, which is either arched, pointed, hipped, or flat. Dormer windows are a highlight feature of Colonial and cottage-style architecture.

What are the two types of skylights?

There are three main types of skylights, ventilating (sometimes called ‘roof windows’), fixed and tubular. They come in a range of different shapes, including flat, arched, domed and pyramid.

What is the difference between a rooflight and a skylight?

There is no technical difference between a rooflight and a skylight, just a preference in terminology. They are the same product.

What is a funeral window?

Victorian Funeral Symbolism – Friends of Oak Grove Cemetery Our mailbox today has an interesting comment from Jackie: “Can you tell me what they call the window/door that was used to move the dead body from the home? I have heard it called “death’s door” hence the expression of one being at death’s door.

There is some superstition about moving the dead through the front door.” REPLY I am aware of some superstitions surrounding the removal of a body from the home. The deceased was always taken out feet first in the coffin so that the dead could not look back at its home and the spirit remain inside the house.

Many houses of the mid-to-late Victorian period have a special niche called a “coffin corner” cut into the stairwell so that the coffin could make the turn in the flight of stairs by fitting the head of the coffin into this little niche shelf. Some old homes also have a showcase window in the front of the house, a sort of bay window where the deceased could lie in state for people to pass by on the street and pay their respects.

• The expression “at death’s door” is applied to someone so ill as to be at the very brink of death.
• In funeral statuary in cemeteries, a door is often used as the symbol for passing through the portal from Life to another state.
• Arches, windows, and portals carry the same meaning.
• Sometimes in remote rural homes, a door was used to lay the body upon when carrying it downstairs (as most died in upstairs bedrooms).

Boards made of wide planks of wood or caned surfaces were used as “cooling boards” to lay out the body during autopsy or embalming before placing the deceased in a casket or coffin. Please write and tell us if you have more information on this expression! Need more excitement in your life? Nothing good on T.V.? Tune in tonight,( September 15th) at 10 p.m.

1. For the first ever (but not the last) So you think you know Oak Grove Cemetery? Jeopardy-style online quiz.
2. Questions and photo identifications will be posted in rapid fire, each going up after the previous one has been correctly answered.
3. There will be one winner, with difficult brainbusters in case of a tie.

Join us at Friends of Oak Grove Fall River tonight. A prize will be awarded to the winner- and the competition will be fierce! How well do YOU know Oak Grove? This particularly beautiful tall arch is to be found in the central west end of Oak Grove and is a familiar symbol of passing through from one state to another- from earthly to celestial, from life to the hereafter. There are smaller arches, gateways and doors to be found in Oak Grove, some found carved onto tabular monuments and others carved completely as the symbol itself.

• A popular epitaph
• As you are now, so once was I.
• As I am now, so you must be.
• Prepare for death and follow me.”
• The Young Widow 1877, exchanging the wedding gown for mourning

The Victorian preoccupation with death is reflected in the art of the period. Photographs, paintings, death portraits, steel engravings, lithographs, etchings, and other art forms embraced the most sentimental and heartrending portrayals of loss and bereavement.

1. These works by both amateurs and the great artists such as Landseer and the Pre-Raphaelites were displayed in the parlor or sometimes in the bedchamber as a perpetual reminder that death is always with us.
2. 
3. The Old Shepherd’s Chief Mourner by Landseer
4. Animals and children were especially popular as subjects to portray pathos and grieving.

The 1894 sketch above is called For Such is the Kingdom by Frank Bramley and illustrates the custom of little children dressed in white walking in procession in front of a small white coffin containing a young person. Often four young maidens, also dressed in white attire served as pall bearers for the departed child.

(Do Not Stand At My Grave and Weep sung by Ben Crawley, with Boys Choir Libera, text below)

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Do not stand at my grave and weep. I am not there, I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow, I am the diamond glints in snow, I am the sunlight and ripened grain. I am the gentle Autumn rain.Do not stand at my grave and weep. I am not there, I do not sleep. When you awake in the morning hush, I am the swift uplifting rush Of quiet birds in circling flight. I am the soft stars that shine at night. Do not stand at my grave and weep. I am not there, I do not sleep.

One type of monument especially popular from the Civil War through 1900 is the white bronze or zinc monument. White bronze is a misnomer, for the monument is not made of bronze, but rather zinc or more rarely, iron. The final patina is whitish to pale blue to darker blue, and the great benefit of this type of monument is that the embossed metal panels and ornaments hold epitaphs and images in sharp relief for a very long time.

1. They seem to take the weather, moss and lichen growth and acid rain exceptionally well.
2. The only drawback is that attached elements, such as a top urn, can be easily snapped off, and seams, especially at the base, can separate.
3. With the proper method of repair, however, this is not much of a problem, but trouble results when concrete is used as a filler.

The zinc monument offers a good crisp image for monument rubbing using rice paper and soft heelball wax. For more information on zinc monuments, visit these two links below. Oak Grove has many beautiful examples of this monument type. : Victorian Funeral Symbolism – Friends of Oak Grove Cemetery

What are arch windows called?

Also referred to as radius windows, this window style is both elegant and striking in appearance, adding a unique design element to historical, traditional and modern homes alike. Arched windows can add architectural interest above a window or door, or function as stand-alone windows.

Why is it called a piano window?

For seven years I lived in an old house built by a distant relative, a Norwegian named Ole who erected the place during the first years of the 20th century. The house was quirky, to say the least, with floors that slanted, acute corners and, until quite recently, walls lacking any insulation other than newspapers placed under the plaster.

1. Like many houses in St.
2. Paul’s working-class North End, it started small and grew as time and pocketbooks permitted.
3. Eventually a kitchen was added onto the back and a raised porch extended over the backyard (since removed due to impending gravity).
4. One noteworthy detail: a charred rooftop beam in the back pantry, scavenged from a downtown hotel fire and re-used by the industrious ancestor.

Back then, people got workable lumber any way they could, and you couldn’t beat a “fire sale” where beams were free for the taking. The most unusual part of the house for me was the stained-glass window. It floated in the front room — originally, the parlor — resting atop a large piece of plate glass.

1. The small window wasn’t elaborate, a clear pane surrounded by smaller rectangles of colorful glass dyed in basic shades of red, yellow, blue, and green.
2. Each morning, the window transformed sunlight into rainbows, patches of color that drifted around the room, bringing the patchwork floor to life.
3. I always found the window to be an odd detail in an otherwise spartan house.

At the time, it must surely have been an extravagance — why did Ole bother? — and I sometimes pondered what this window might have meant to early immigrants. I’ve since moved, but have begun seeing these windows all over town in houses of a certain age.

They’re called “piano windows” or “transom windows” and were a hallmark of upward-mobility sensibilities, an aspirational gesture for people enjoying the fruits of boomtown St. Paul. You’ll see them in even the most threadbare walls of turn-of-the-century homes, an overlooked fragment of the past. “Ah, yes, the piano window,” said Christine Bouleware, who works as a preservation policy expert for the City of St.

Paul. “It may have a clear pane of glass or divided lights of leaded glass or stained glass. The piano window is everywhere; I’ve seen it in homes from the 1890s to the 1930s. Some are fixed and cannot be opened while others come grouped with inswing-casement windows on the ends.” In fact, I’ve seen exact copies of my old North End window all over the city, along with similar varieties with minute differences. MinnPost photo by Bill Lindeke I’ve seen exact copies of my old North End window all over the city, along with similar varieties with barely perceptible differences. The link to the past goes deeper than the early days of St. Paul. Far back in European culture, stories seen through glass offered a medium that transcended the traditional trappings of education.

“Stained glass has been called ‘the Bible in stone,’ ” said Bob Roscoe, an architect and preservationist in Minneapolis, “The genesis of stained glass began in the Middle Ages, almost exclusively used for liturgical purposes in Christian churches and synagogues. Transom windows constitute the major form of pictorial art in lesson form to have survived from that era.” In some ways, the connection between those famous religious panes and hardscrabble colored windows seems largely symbolic.

But perhaps these small bits of color, a call-out to the churches farther up the street, were part of the allure for the religious immigrants of early St. Paul. The technical details, according to Roscoe: The glass was typically colored by adding metallic salts into its molten substance during manufacturing, though there is also a less intensive method where glass is colorfully painted and then fired in a kiln.

• Compared to many later examples of piano windows, my old window was almost clownishly simple.
• According to Roscoe, the basic pattern — a central clear pane surrounded by colored squares — was common in working-class homes.
• Transom windows borrow the term from horizontally oriented windows above entry doors off hallways in 19th Century apartment buildings,” Roscoe told me.

“In houses, these flat glazed panels invariably were placed over large fixed windows at the front main room of the house or sometimes on the side in bay windows. MinnPost photos by Bill Lindeke Transom windows, left, versus a piano window, right. There’s a slight distinction to be made between transom windows, which sit atop doorways or larger windows, and piano windows. The latter are typically set off by themselves, and get their name because an upright piano, another marker of bourgeois sensibility, would have sat just beneath it. Courtesy of the National Park Service Structure of leaded stained glass windows Another detailed distinction is the one between muntins and cames. For transom windows in working-class or vernacular homes, the colored panes were often held together by muntins, thin strips of wood, whereas the often more ornate (curved) glasswork in middle-class transoms used leaded cames.

• Thin lead strips called cames held glazing pieces,” Roscoe said.
• The flexibility of a came derives from the relatively soft lead material, which allows curvilinear shapes of glass elements which occasionally provided pictorial compositions within the panel.” Wandering around St.
• Paul, I began seeing these windows everywhere.

They range from the archetypical piano window set high in a wall to small transoms mounted above doorways or complex arrangements of five or more windows. During preservation efforts, these windows receive a great deal of attention, and even today, catalogs are full of potential replacements,

1. I uncovered an example from the Dayton’s Bluff Preservation District on the east side, a “one-and-a-half-story vernacular cottage” with one “piano-style window” that dates to 1884.
2. Here’s how the official city report to the Heritage Preservation Commission describes it: “The existing piano window is on a non-original, but early addition to the residence and is not an original feature of the property.

Details on the interior trim show that the opening may have been divided into multiple fixed-lights or in-swing casements. The installation of a new, three-light window in the existing piano window opening complies with the guideline as they are not proposed on the primary elevation and are of an appropriate style and size.” (The commission approved the changes three years ago, and, as of the Google Maps drive-by, the house appeared to be still undergoing renovation.) So often, preservation efforts focus on high-end architecture: homes of the moneyed classes, singular mansions, or elaborate office buildings. MinnPost photo by Bill Lindeke Transom-windowed homes on Bellows St. Near my current apartment on St. Paul’s west side, some of the north-south side streets still retain clusters of buildings that date back to the time of the original platting of the land, in the 1870s and 1880s.

The other day, two blocks from my apartment building, I discovered a row of these homes, four identical one-and-1½-story houses placed within arms’ reach of each other, each dating back to 1886. Above the parlor window of each of them rested a matching colored-glass transom, the identical pattern to my old house 5 miles to the north.

Today, each of these windows has aged in a different way, gathering dust and personality in a decidedly unfancy neighborhood. Above one sits an honor certificate from the local high school, a suitable homage to a century of St. Paul aspirational dreams.

• After writing most of this column, I went past the old North End house to snap a picture of the window that had entranced me, and I was startled to find the colored window gone.
• My industrious cousin who now lives there has been fixing up the place, replacing slumping porches and refinishing the slapdash surfaces.

In place of the old window was a large piece of modern double-pane glass, a sensible sacrifice to insulation.

What is an oriel style window?

An oriel window is a set of windows, arranged together in a bay, that protrudes from the face of a building on an upper floor and is braced underneath by a bracket or corbel. Most people call them “bay windows” when located on the first floor and “oriel windows” only if they are on an upper floor.

What are eaves and gables?

Gable Roof Parts – A gable roof is a roof that’s shaped like the houses your kids draw. It has two sloping sides that meet at a peak. Gable roofs contain the following parts:

Ridge: The peak of your roof is the ridge. It’s the highest point on a sloped roof. Eaves: The eaves are the lower edges of the roof that overhang the home’s exterior walls. The diagram above also has an eave on the opposite side of the home in the same place. Gable: The A-shaped side wall of the home that forms the peak of the roof is called the Gable. The home above has two gables, one on each end of the home. Rake: The rake of the roof is the part that ends over a gable end.

Now let’s look at the parts of a slightly different roof type.

What is a Queen Anne window?

Essential Style Elements – Queen Anne homes feature textured surfaces, decorative patterns of wood or stone, and various colors of shingles and slate. They feature elaborate decorative trim, stained glass and an array of colors. These homes are typically two, three or more stories, with cantilevered upper stories and include towers, turrets, porches, balconies and bay windows.

What are the arched windows called?

Also referred to as radius windows, this window style is both elegant and striking in appearance, adding a unique design element to historical, traditional and modern homes alike. Arched windows can add architectural interest above a window or door, or function as stand-alone windows.