I asked a builder why this was, and he said that the lateral forces created by a slightly tilted window has just enough force to rip the entire side of a house clean off due to houses having the structural integrity of wet newspaper, which is the preferred construction method in the States
I mean it exists for sure, but not something people expect when moving in places. usually correlates to the cost and age. decibels wise, it's not too different than Europe imo. I lived in France and mother fuckers be yelling from their windows all day. I also lived in Germany and the walls are thick as shit, but mother fuckers have their windows open all day and yodelling. if you live near people, you'll hear them some way or another. renting in the US is also much simpler. fuck Germany's renting culture shit.
Hitting a wall and having any chance of the wall breaking isn't really a thing outside the US. Everyone elsewhere notices that a lot in movies and videos. It's not uncommon for children outside America to ask adults why Americans have paper walls.
People being mad and punching a wall and putting a fist-sized hole in it, falling and breaking the wall or throwing anything and the thing getting stuck in the wall. In most of the world it's you or the thing hitting the wall that'll break, not the wall itself.
To clarify, the paper (and rock underneath it) are not the structural part of the house, they just cover the actual structural parts (the studs) and provide a pocket to fill with insulation.
The wall isn't the structural integrity part of the house. And that's for interior walls. You're getting your opinions from the questions that children ask in other countries?
They're built differently depending on where you live in the states and your environment. I know y'all love staying ignorant to feel superior but this one is still pretty dumb. People in Japan practically have paper walls and I don't see you guys all up your snobby butts about that. Xenophobic turds. It would take people 10 seconds to learn why some of our houses are built the way they are but they won't bother if they haven't by now because they prefer the ignorance.
You know that tool called stud finder that you use in America if you ever think about hanging a picture on the wall, or a TV, otherwise you risk your wall falling down with anything attached to it?
Nobody wants to pay a stone mason to put brick on the exterior of their homes. They used timber for a long time, but now all the new houses I've seen use the metal studs, which sounds great on paper until you realize it's basically sheet metal stamped into a U kind of shape that's the same size as a 2x4. It's enough to hold up the drywall and maybe some pictures/paintings on the wall plus the occasional wall-mounted TV, but give it a couple hundred pounds of weight and it's going to crumple into itself like aluminum foil.
Honestly, most of the strength in the wall is now because of the drywall. The "studs" just keep them from falling over.
Not saying timber was all that much better, but it could at least support someone standing on the top plate of a wall without folding in on itself.
Can I get my house built from concrete board instead?
I wish I could have a stone masonry building. My friend's family used to own a hotel built by a stone mason. He invited us out to watch the company who bought it try to demolish it. Apparently they weren't expecting proper brick and mortar to be so strong.
Yep, and a lot of modern brickwork isn't designed to be structural, so many of the components used are basically poor substitutes for the "real deal" so to speak.
Stonework can be the strongest part of the building, or just little more than a facade.
In a nearby town, the second story brickwork of a building came off of the structure and fell into the sidewalk and road. I don't believe anyone was hurt, but the point is, sometimes, the brickwork is little more than just a wall. Other times, it's basically keeping the building upright. In that case, the building didn't go anywhere after losing the brickwork.
I'm sure in your example, the brickwork was providing the primary support structure for the building, and it was built far better than what fell off of the building in my example.
I believe the basic structure is called a "bait and switch", a fairly common writing trick
I asked a builder why this was, and he said that the lateral forces created by a slightly tilted window
This is the "bait" bit. It sounds like a real comment so far
has just enough force to rip the entire side of a house clean off
This is the part where, if you didn't have the reading comprehension of a six month old duck, you'd start to realise that, perhaps this wasn't a serious comment. There's no way a slightly tilted window is ripping the entire side of a house off, surely? That's the "switch"
due to houses having the structural integrity of wet newspaper,
This line is pretty much only there as a setup to the next line. Houses, I'm sorry to inform you, do not have the structural integrity of wet newspaper. That would be as dangerous as it is impractical
which is the preferred construction method in the States
This bit, unsurprisingly, isn't exactly true either
I hope, now that I've broken the comment into its constituant parts, that you're rolling on the floor, clutching your aching ribs and laughing tears of joy.
In this case it's true, I am laughing more at this than the actual joke (which I also laughed at). This back and forth was the setup and the explanation is the punchline.
How dare you. Just for one second think of someone other than yourself. How do you think the pharmaceutical companies are gonna feel about that? Or their poor shareholders? Pfizer's CEO only made $33 million last year. How the hell do you expect him to feed his kids when he's not making that much because your precious healthcare system ate into his meager earnings. The medical corporations are barely scraping by!!
I have these windows in Moscow, Russia since recently (had old windows with separate wooden frames with thick glass made somewhere about 70s, they looked nice though) and like that I can use the sill as a table with laptop and tea and some stuff now, and tilt it instead of moving the laptop aside.
Ah yes, the good old Russian defenestration windows. I assume you have the FSB-mandated variant that is capable of both tilting and swinging, for.. ease of access?
I honestly don't think of Europe as a small town, I promise- I'm just saying I've been in many brilliant countries across Europe and I swear to you that I've never seen a screen. Where is the spider protection, I ask you?!
This should be particularly important, I think, in the Scottish Highlands, land of midges, who want nothing more than to feast on your flesh. Still, not a screen in sight, although I must admit you certifiably need a very fine screen to prohibit those pesky wee bastards. There seems to be a sort of gentlemen's alliance though because it seems that the midge rarely enters a human dwelling, maybe out of fear of pure Scottish fury, but mark my words .. they sit and wait.
I will digress also that in our defense, Scots do use midge nets when camping unless we're on our 10th Tennant's, in which case it's really no bother
I think it’s a joke that American houses (in the eyes of Europeans) are made out of sticks (stud framing in the house) and paper (drywall is made from gypsum and has a paper backing)
In European countries, their houses are made of tougher materials like stone, concrete, or some other material I’m forgetting about
It’s a known thing in America that stray bullets end up in people’s houses (and sometimes their residents) when it’s an American holiday like 4th of July or Memorial Day
America tends to build with the cheapest materials. So wood framed houses are clad in wood or plastic
Australia copied a lot from America. Our houses also are wood framed, but we use brick cladding and concrete tile roofs
New tech is more available now. If I were to build today it would be out of foamed plastic and reinforced concrete (as insulated concrete forms). And I'd use tilt/swing windows
yeah in some states like the Tornado Alley or California (earthquakes) ig that might actually make more sense since sometimes such materials might withstand more force than brick
Those metal shutters, that black out the whole room? They have those in Portugal, Spain, most of the mid-southwest Mediterranean. France also. But they're basically ubiquitous in Portugal. Pretty nifty actually.
Edit: This was driving me nuts, sorry, but I couldn't find a single good image of what I mean. Here's the best I could make the robot monkey do (YMMV):
It sounds like you're describing "Persianas" – a term used in Portugal (and other Spanish or Portuguese-speaking countries) for a specific type of heavy-duty indoor blinds or shutters. These are not the thin metal or fabric blinds but rather thick, often horizontal slats that can be rolled down to cover windows or doors completely, providing excellent light blockage and insulation.
Funnily enough we call the small thin ones in the picture I posted "Persienner".
They don't provide any significant insulation but they can also cover the whole window and block light pretty well. Not perfectly, but good enough for most applications.
If they aren't enough for you, you can have specific black out curtains that either roll down or slide in front of the window. I suspect black out curtains exist literally everywhere. I am just mentioning it for completeness sake.
I suspect black out curtains are especially common where they get sun 24/7 during the summer.
The worse part is now they’re built cheaply so the screen is only the bottom half. You can still open the top, or from both top and bottom for convection, but now you get bugs
Windows are the kind of thing that are generally built locally for multiple reasons. So your experience will vary greatly based on what the window factory in your area is doing.
Where I live, single hung windows (only one sash) are most common, so only one screen is needed. Double hung windows are less common because people don't want to pay for the expense of the additional sash (a lot of springs and mechanisms needed for a sash). A screen is an expense too, but nowhere near the expense of an additional shaft. Possibly the intent was to allow for opening the top to making cleaning easier, but that's usually accomplished by having the top "fixed" portion of the single hung window be able to tilt out because putting all the springs and mechanisms for an additional sash for a feature to make it easier to clean isn't necessary.
Yeah... I worked at a window factory before. The calculations needed to figure out the tension needed on the springs so that it will counter the weight of the sash was fun.
That window design looks like it would never seal properly.
Here in Germany any window from the last 30 years or more will not let any air in when its fully closed.
And how is it sealed on the sides and the top?
European casement windows actually get pulled into the frame (and seals) all around the frame by rollers which move sideways along sloped ridges when you move the hinge to the closed position.
But will there still be air coming through when there is wind pushing on that side of the house?
I guess they are kind of complicated, but energy efficient windows make it possible to increase the window area and size without losing too much heat.
Energy is also more expensive over here, which probably helps in that decision, as the cost of these windows can be easily recouped in a few years just by needing less energy to heat the house.
It seals. There's a small recess underneath the window lined with weather stripping that when pressure is applied from closing the window and even locking it, it becomes air tight.
Double hung windows don't seal quite as well as casement windows, but honestly, unless you're going to the absolute best energy efficiency possible, like a net-zero house, then it's really not a big difference. Any halfway decent quality, properly installed window won't have any noticeable drafts. Plus, as others have mentioned, double hung windows are far cheaper than casement.
While I agree that our windows are generally superior from a functional perspective, the Americans have us beat in the fact that you can't install a window AC unit in our windows.
Hence we get to just die in the increasingly common heat waves. Not great - we've got to figure this one out.
Before portable ACs are mentioned - I'll point out that they have terrible efficiency, and connecting the tube to blow out the hot air is still terrible with European windows.
There are the freestanding air conditioners. They have a hose you put in the window. There are plastic seals you can buy that fit in the windows to seal off the exhaust. They aren't perfect but they are better than nothing.
This is likely going to be the answer, yeah, but I believe we need to see some improvements in installability for the average person - a window AC unit does afaik not require a specialist to install, while a mini split, while possible to tackle for a handy person, is a lot harder, leaving the average person to have to pay for someone to install the unit.
Window ACs are not the best from an efficiency perspective, but they do beat portable units by a large margin.
EDIT: looks like it might actually not even be legal in the EU to install a mini split yourself - you need to be certified to handle the refrigerants.
Installation is also more than 50% of the total cost of acquisition, so we're hitting upon an affordability issue here as well.
Yeah that's a good point about affordability. I guess I'd hope for government subsidies or at least supply & demand market forces to address that before it becomes an essential thing, especially if they replace gas boilers too as a move to reduce carbon emissions.
In the world of theoretical wild policies, there's a really good argument for subsidizing heat pump installation for places heating with fossil fuels or direct electricity at more than 100% of the cost of installation. I'd love to see that kind of project. One can mostly just dream, though.
Window mounted units are still terrible for comfort. External AC unit is like 300 euro + 300 euro for installation. It's not a big investment and you get totally silent unit. In Europe people will use portable units if it's short term and install external one if it's permanent.
The quoted prices I saw for installation were a lot higher, more like 700 euro, but that probably depends on the cost of labour where you are.
There are also non-monetary aspects to this issue - I'm not allowed to make any modifications to my facade on account of it being made out of asbestos, for example. I'd have to get a specialist to cut the hole to make that work. It's also a bit tricky to fit in an outside unit - or inside unit for that matter - on my walls.
I'm in complete agreement that mini splits are superior, but the downsides do exist and need to be acknowledged.
Yep, I'm just saying that 90% of people in Europe will simply go with external AC. Where I live most new apartments simply come with central AC installed and roof top units. But that's in southern Spain, AC is a must.
Absolutely. I'm speaking mostly from a Swedish apartment-perspective, where ACs have been optional basically forever, but the climate crisis is quickly making them more and more mandatory each year.
I admit I'm an American and my windows don't open that way, but I'm not sure why whoever made that meme thinks that means a light breeze can't come through them. Because... a light breeze can come through them.
Yeah while the European windows are interesting I don't really get why having a window open 50 different ways is useful. It seems like an over-engineered solution to just cracking the window. I also can't imagine it's more reliable than the good ole vertical/horizontal sliding windows which are just a window in a track.
Many houses in the northeast have the old school vertical sliding windows with an extra glass pane that can be dropped in front of the screen. This creates an air insulated barrier between the internal and external glass panes and even on the 100+ year old windows I've seen they insulate very well.
The main purpose in my opinion is that when the window is tilted open, it's still almost as safe as when it's closed, while still giving you a breeze inside the house.
Keep in mind that this windows are sturdy and quite heavy with often triple glass so is not something you easily brake or force.
It still seems incredibly over engineered. Every window I've used in the US has a latch you flip out that prevents the window from opening more than a couple inches so that it's still effectively locked. Newer windows here are also all double or triple panes with inert glass in between the panels for insulation.
Keep in mind, they usually don't have central HVAC, so opening the window 50 ways is their temperature control. They're not necessary in the US, but I still think euro windows are neat.
It's like you died halfway through that sentence because of the lack of light breeze and we will never know what word you were trying to type that begins "ac..."
Or you live in Minnesota, where half the year it used to be unbearably cold so you needed central heat. Then half the year it was so goddamn humid and hot we needed central AC, or at least a window unit.
We do get the benefit of having homes with a basement implied to protect both the pipes from freezing and our necks from tornadoes in December now
I live in Minnesota. It's not quite as bad as you say. Opening windows overnight and closing them in the morning works pretty well to keep the house comfortable for most of the summer...well, except when we're inundated with smoke from the wildfires.
I've never seen actual stone houses in north America, only those fake panels on the outside. Bricks are different and require additional insulation, usually you get 2 layers with insulation in between.
Looked it up, didn't find much but did find this, these look like made of stone indeed but maybe it's because they're thinner? When I think of stone houses I think of things like this with very thick walls, we have these in all the really hot countries like Italy, Spain, southern France etc and I can confirm they stay cool inside even when it's 40°c outside.
Yep. Source: am in Colorado and have triple pane tilt turn windows, and know several others with them. They are super nice and slowly growing in popularity.
Anyone who has worked in high-end construction can tell you that they're very common in rich people's houses. The reason you don't see them more often is that most people don't want to pay for them. Americans tend to value the size of their houses more than anything else, and since McMansion developers know this, windows are one very easy way to cut costs.
They're also a lot more common in older homes (like mine) because if you're going to replace all your windows (which you should do for energy reasons), you might as well get the good ones.
Lite breezes were great maybe 30 yrs ago. With modern heat waves and obesity you gonna sweat like a mofo 'les you figure out how to put an AC up in that tilt.
Yeah I'm a little confused too. The thing with windows is that you get what you pay for. It's ridiculous to think that there's some kind of window design that's magically available in Europe but not in the US. There are probably designs that are more common in different parts of the world, but it's absolutely not the case that if a homeowner wants to pay for it they can't get whatever they want in the US.
I have to think this post was made by someone who knows nothing about construction.
The idea is protection from crime. You can have the window tilted and thieves theoretically cannot climb in through that window, where a swinging or sliding window while open allows someone to climb in through it
Of course in practice they're less safe where they're popular as there is a tool, a hook, which allows someone breaking in to hook the handle, pull the tilted window shut, and open it again in swinging mode, allowing them in
My understanding is sliding windows are the easiest to secure as you can bolt lock them at any point of openness. My sliding windows have bolt points at closed and at 5cm open
Ah, but that classic wood-on-wood sliding window, where all that stands between a destructive crash is an irreplaceable rope installed inside walls when the house was built.
They aren't that difficult to repair if you have basic carpentry skills. All you have to do is take the sash out and open the side of the frame and you'll have access to the weight and pulley. They're designed to be pretty easy to do. YouTube probably has hundreds of videos on it. You just want to be careful about lead paint if it's an old house and you're producing dust or disturbing old paint.
Imagine not having screens on the windows and letting every single bug in the nearby area take up residence inside and being okay with it cuz "it's only a few months out of the year".
You need to go through a window company and have them custom-made. They'll come over to your house and take measurements then build them at their factory and then install them. It will take a few weeks and will be expensive, but for my money it's worth it.
Where I live Andersen is probably the best as they come with a forever warranty on everything including the glass itself, but they may or may not be in your area. There are plenty of other reputable companies as well. Again, this is not a cheap option.
The cool thing about Andersen is that even if the glass on your window gets accidentally broken for whatever reason, it's still covered by their forever warranty and they will come and repair it for free. The downside is that they are, again, very expensive.
I personally think it's worth it and have Andersen windows on my house.
Tilting you windows is a nice option that i rarely use. Most if the time its STOẞLÜFTEN as we germans like to say (opening the windows wide up to really let in all the fresh air).
Or, know, we could just crack open the bottom (in the case of the popular double hung, the top) of the window a little bit. But it is-3c (yes, we Americans understand metric) where I am now, so I have no interest in doing that. No Gulf Stream keeping us relatively mild in winter over here.
Listen, you want to brag about health care, public transit, intercity high speed rail, or historic buildings, fine, you got us there. But stop with the air if superiority about everything else.
They would have to break through the screen first. Us Americans prefer not to let bugs in. And if it’s really a worry, there are stops or locks that can be put in. But honestly, it’s nice sometimes. Saved me a locksmith call more than once.
Of course, both windows could just be smashed. You want to tell me European homes are some kind of fortress that thieves can’t get in?
they have a lock that stop them from sliding to far up. un do the lock and they slide all way up. most of one i have seen the lock locks when you pull the window down so you don't have worry about for getting it.
That isn't even a concern in a place like Compton (I lived in South Gate which borders Compton and Watts). Because even in places with a lot of violence, you don't often get someone just coming through a window in the middle of the day if they see it open a crack because it's pretty easy to defend yourself against someone trying to come through your window.
Now sure, if you leave them open like that at night, it's a bigger risk. But even then, home invasions mostly happen when no one is at home. Which makes sense.
Honestly, I think the verti slide windows make for a better breeze infrastructure than the tilt windows , because the tilt windows can be force shut by sudden strong winds.
And in the summer when I need a strong breeze at night and have to fully open the windows, I have to hold them open with a chair or something because they will slam-shut in the middle of the night.
I complain a lot about silly american building stuff but in the case of breezes, I think the verti slide is superior.
Also, they're more adjustable. Euro windows can do tilt or open, but the vertical slide windows have a range.
Over here in the USA, we “tilt” our windows on a vertical access, minimizing the effort involved to friction. We call it “opening” the window, because ergonomically it’s identical to opening a door.
My windows can tilt. Not in the same way, but you can either slide them up or tilt them in. And besides, is being able to tilt your windows really that great?
Unfortunately windows in the UK generally cant tilt, likely since opening them wasn't really meant to be common anyways (unfortunately climate change is making that more important)
I used to work for AT&t and it was all to common get someone cancelling while crying because their life is over and their credit is ruined because of the cost of a surgery that could never afford to pay. Sometimes we'd give them a couple months or something but a system like that shouldn't exist
Not really. What you see on the picture can be had for as little as like 200-300 EUR depending on the glazing, moreover it's not something you buy every day - usually only when you renovate every 10-15 years or whatever.
They do? Practically all US showers I've come across, have this stupid shower single handle bullshit.
Leave the shower on your preferred temperature between showers?
Adjust the pressure of the water?
Nah, that sounds stupid; why would anyone want that...
I usually only see those in hotels. Every place I've lived in allowed the adjustment of pressure and temperature. If you live in a place that doesn't, you can also buy shower heads that can adjust the pressure btw.
There are plenty of options in the US for adjustable pressure. Mine has pressure on the big lever, and temperature on a smaller level. It even has pressure compensation when somebody flushes a toilet, so there's no temperature change. But the type you show there does seem to be the default selection for new construction.
That's not true at all. The ignorance in this thread is absolutely astonishing. It's like you went to the US once, spent a week in Florida and now somehow think you're an expert in American homebuilding techniques and practices. WTF?
It absolutely is true. I have a PHD in early XXI century north American showering practices and I know for a fact that 65% of showers in the North East and 66% of showers in the rest of the US look like this, thus, making it a typical American shower. I will admit that there is a debate within my field of research as to how public and hotel showers should be counted but most experts agree with my position that what should be taken into consideration are the shower units, not the number of uses they get per year.
European Window frames are heavy and sturdy, many times with thick wood or metal. The window is double paned, sometimes tripple Most window frames I've seen throughout Canada, USA and Mexico, are mostly flimsy aluminium frames that can warp super easily, most of the time with a single window pane in it
I can't help but notice Phoenix in your username, you from the south? Because up north, you'd freeze with those kind of windows. Most here are wood or steel framed, and double paned.
As someone with nearly 30 years experience in various types of construction, I can say for a fact that this is objectively incorrect. There's a trope about any kind of social media content that touches on a subject about which one has real expertise, don't remember exactly how it goes, but anyhow, let's just say that the ignorance in this thread is absolutely astonishing.
Go down to your local big box hardware store and try to find a single-pane window, for example. You can't because nobody makes them. If you want a single-pane window you have to buy a sheet of glass and know how to install and glaze it yourself.
Aluminium frames are actually the most long-lived, also, in case you didn't notice aluminium is a metal.
Cheap European windows tend to be plastic, expensive ones wood or aluminium though the latter aren't generally used in domestic settings. The plastic ones often have wood in them for structural reasons but it's so ugly noone would ever expose it.
Generally speaking the frames could hold longer if built better, but then you'd pay out of your nose for window panes that don't fail earlier those inert gases aren't easy to seal in for decades on end.
Should've installed linux 🤷
Should've installed velux
Velux just gone through the roof!
I am referring to Linux as ‘tilted Windows’ from now on and you can’t stop me.
No, Mac is tilted Windows, and Linux is open Windows.
I asked a builder why this was, and he said that the lateral forces created by a slightly tilted window has just enough force to rip the entire side of a house clean off due to houses having the structural integrity of wet newspaper, which is the preferred construction method in the States
US people, dry your newspapers before building your houses!
can't tell if this is a troll or not. youre telling me people outside the states think we live in wet newspaper?
Well not wet newspaper exactly but I heard you have walls so thin the neighbours can hear your cell division
That's how we got classics like Shut up, little man!
Depends on where you live. The US is huge and has a wide variety of building codes. I personally never hear my neighbors
I mean it exists for sure, but not something people expect when moving in places. usually correlates to the cost and age. decibels wise, it's not too different than Europe imo. I lived in France and mother fuckers be yelling from their windows all day. I also lived in Germany and the walls are thick as shit, but mother fuckers have their windows open all day and yodelling. if you live near people, you'll hear them some way or another. renting in the US is also much simpler. fuck Germany's renting culture shit.
You've... you've never been out of your state, have you? 😂
People don't...shout at eachother out of windows! What sort of savage would do that?
Oh, the ones in the movies you watched about Yurp. 😂
Hitting a wall and having any chance of the wall breaking isn't really a thing outside the US. Everyone elsewhere notices that a lot in movies and videos. It's not uncommon for children outside America to ask adults why Americans have paper walls. People being mad and punching a wall and putting a fist-sized hole in it, falling and breaking the wall or throwing anything and the thing getting stuck in the wall. In most of the world it's you or the thing hitting the wall that'll break, not the wall itself.
To clarify, the paper (and rock underneath it) are not the structural part of the house, they just cover the actual structural parts (the studs) and provide a pocket to fill with insulation.
The wall isn't the structural integrity part of the house. And that's for interior walls. You're getting your opinions from the questions that children ask in other countries?
It's an intentional exaggeration, but it's true that houses in the US are usually built without a proper foundation and with thin walls.
They're built differently depending on where you live in the states and your environment. I know y'all love staying ignorant to feel superior but this one is still pretty dumb. People in Japan practically have paper walls and I don't see you guys all up your snobby butts about that. Xenophobic turds. It would take people 10 seconds to learn why some of our houses are built the way they are but they won't bother if they haven't by now because they prefer the ignorance.
You're taking this a bit too seriously, man. It's like when we joke about the British having fucked up teeth. Just ribbing each other.
You know that tool called stud finder that you use in America if you ever think about hanging a picture on the wall, or a TV, otherwise you risk your wall falling down with anything attached to it?
Never seen a stud finder in Europe.
It's preferred because it's cheap.
Nobody wants to pay a stone mason to put brick on the exterior of their homes. They used timber for a long time, but now all the new houses I've seen use the metal studs, which sounds great on paper until you realize it's basically sheet metal stamped into a U kind of shape that's the same size as a 2x4. It's enough to hold up the drywall and maybe some pictures/paintings on the wall plus the occasional wall-mounted TV, but give it a couple hundred pounds of weight and it's going to crumple into itself like aluminum foil.
Honestly, most of the strength in the wall is now because of the drywall. The "studs" just keep them from falling over.
Not saying timber was all that much better, but it could at least support someone standing on the top plate of a wall without folding in on itself.
Can I get my house built from concrete board instead?
I wish I could have a stone masonry building. My friend's family used to own a hotel built by a stone mason. He invited us out to watch the company who bought it try to demolish it. Apparently they weren't expecting proper brick and mortar to be so strong.
Yep, and a lot of modern brickwork isn't designed to be structural, so many of the components used are basically poor substitutes for the "real deal" so to speak.
Stonework can be the strongest part of the building, or just little more than a facade.
In a nearby town, the second story brickwork of a building came off of the structure and fell into the sidewalk and road. I don't believe anyone was hurt, but the point is, sometimes, the brickwork is little more than just a wall. Other times, it's basically keeping the building upright. In that case, the building didn't go anywhere after losing the brickwork.
I'm sure in your example, the brickwork was providing the primary support structure for the building, and it was built far better than what fell off of the building in my example.
Lol! Imagine thinking this is true.
Lol imagine reading this as a true statement. Fiction books must fuck you right up 😂
Bro read War of the Worlds and started prepping his bunker
Can you please explain to me exactly why and how it was objectively obvious that OP's comment was meant to be taken as some kind of joke or satire?
Because if you can't, I have to think that you are little more than an arbitrarily condescending piece of shit.
Ok, I'll walk you through it. I am OP btw
I believe the basic structure is called a "bait and switch", a fairly common writing trick
This is the "bait" bit. It sounds like a real comment so far
This is the part where, if you didn't have the reading comprehension of a six month old duck, you'd start to realise that, perhaps this wasn't a serious comment. There's no way a slightly tilted window is ripping the entire side of a house off, surely? That's the "switch"
This line is pretty much only there as a setup to the next line. Houses, I'm sorry to inform you, do not have the structural integrity of wet newspaper. That would be as dangerous as it is impractical
This bit, unsurprisingly, isn't exactly true either
I hope, now that I've broken the comment into its constituant parts, that you're rolling on the floor, clutching your aching ribs and laughing tears of joy.
Explaining jokes always makes them far funnier
In this case it's true, I am laughing more at this than the actual joke (which I also laughed at). This back and forth was the setup and the explanation is the punchline.
It's like when Americans say British people have fucked up teeth. I don't actually believe that, I just say it to make British people mad.
Mocking our construction is a European joke that they love because it makes Americans mad. Simple as
I work in a hotel.
One day, a family comes to the reception to tell me that their window is broken, asking me to change their room. I ask if I can take a look.
It turns out, they didn't know the existence of tilt & turn windows and were scared that the window was going to fall down lol
Jokes on you, my windows make a light breeze when shut!
I'd settle for socialized healthcare
Oh the windows came as part of the deal.
No they didn't. I'm in Canada and we have socialized healthcare and I didn't get any damn tilting Windows.
I've been lied to!
Canada is like Europe with a couple wildcard American features baked in
Damn, that's a tough decision
How dare you. Just for one second think of someone other than yourself. How do you think the pharmaceutical companies are gonna feel about that? Or their poor shareholders? Pfizer's CEO only made $33 million last year. How the hell do you expect him to feed his kids when he's not making that much because your precious healthcare system ate into his meager earnings. The medical corporations are barely scraping by!!
CEOChief Job Creator™FTFY
It's the breeze, isn't it?
Imagine not having screens in your windows.
This post was made by the flying insects gang.
I'm in the US and have these windows. They have screens. They're also not that special. I prefer the regular windows
I was starting to wonder if Europe didn't have insects, because the hotels I've stayed in (in Europe) that had them didn't have screens for them.
We have civilized insects, they respect our privacy and don't enter unless they must.
You're joking but that's basically it, it's just not an issue in most places.
I have these windows in Moscow, Russia since recently (had old windows with separate wooden frames with thick glass made somewhere about 70s, they looked nice though) and like that I can use the sill as a table with laptop and tea and some stuff now, and tilt it instead of moving the laptop aside.
Ah yes, the good old Russian defenestration windows. I assume you have the FSB-mandated variant that is capable of both tilting and swinging, for.. ease of access?
My brain had a segfault reading your comment, because the approved ones would obviously not be "anti-defenestration", but yeah, swinging is nice
Yeah, sorry, my dark sense of humour didn't combine very well with typing it out before my first cup of coffee.
I don't use windows. I prefer linux
Put a screen in that fancy window and then we’ll talk.
Yeah who the hell wants moths and mosquitoes in their house
It is truly bizarre how Europeans never use screens, make it make sense!!
We had them in Italy. But we also didn't have these weird windows. Also stop acting like Europe is a small town on an island.
I honestly don't think of Europe as a small town, I promise- I'm just saying I've been in many brilliant countries across Europe and I swear to you that I've never seen a screen. Where is the spider protection, I ask you?!
This should be particularly important, I think, in the Scottish Highlands, land of midges, who want nothing more than to feast on your flesh. Still, not a screen in sight, although I must admit you certifiably need a very fine screen to prohibit those pesky wee bastards. There seems to be a sort of gentlemen's alliance though because it seems that the midge rarely enters a human dwelling, maybe out of fear of pure Scottish fury, but mark my words .. they sit and wait.
I will digress also that in our defense, Scots do use midge nets when camping unless we're on our 10th Tennant's, in which case it's really no bother
Its not like the few mosquitoes we have would be smart enough to enter my room through the sides of a lightly tilted window.
There are no mosquitoes in the UK. And moths are rare. Would be lucky to see a fly.
There are definitely mosquitos in the UK. They piss me off every summer.
Well, compared to my home country mosquitos in the UK don't really exist...
No wonder your country is a superpower. We have the other windows in the USA because we do get these flying bastards.
There are screens for tilt windows. You put them on the outside instead of the inside.
Yeah, but most places in Europe don't have screens regardless.
True that!
American with these windows. I have screens. I also don't like them very much.
In America we have to keep our windows closed to keep out the fent smoke and bullets.
your walls won't save you from the latter tho
Bullets are not ghosts, they can't go through walls, stupid
They can go through shitty American drywall
post brought to you by brick wall gang
If bullets can go through drywall then why am I allowed to shoot anyone who enters my home? That would clearly be dangerous /s
Rifle rounds will go right through brick too unless they're as wide as cinder blocks and filled. Shit's scary.
another brutalism W :hoxha:
I want all my architecture to look like the Forerunners built it
I think it’s a joke that American houses (in the eyes of Europeans) are made out of sticks (stud framing in the house) and paper (drywall is made from gypsum and has a paper backing)
In European countries, their houses are made of tougher materials like stone, concrete, or some other material I’m forgetting about
It’s a known thing in America that stray bullets end up in people’s houses (and sometimes their residents) when it’s an American holiday like 4th of July or Memorial Day
America tends to build with the cheapest materials. So wood framed houses are clad in wood or plastic
Australia copied a lot from America. Our houses also are wood framed, but we use brick cladding and concrete tile roofs
New tech is more available now. If I were to build today it would be out of foamed plastic and reinforced concrete (as insulated concrete forms). And I'd use tilt/swing windows
yeah in some states like the Tornado Alley or California (earthquakes) ig that might actually make more sense since sometimes such materials might withstand more force than brick
Not an issue in Australia, but I bet brick stops or slows bullets more than wood
Our brick construction doesn't do well in earthquakes. If a roof is going to fall on you, you don't want it made of tiles
One European downvoted you for speaking the truth
I downvoted because I'm French.
I downvoted you because you're French.
Touché.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but that style of window doesn't allow you to open it fully, right?
They open fully. The tilt feature is 10-15 degrees, but they swing open fully like a casement window in the US. At least the ones I used did.
I was talking about the window in the picture in the comment I replied to.
You can have screens. I don't understand why everyone thinks these windows don't have screens
Not if they rotate 90 degrees like others are saying unless it’s some sort of magic screen
The screen just stays in the "hole" of the window. Doesn't matter if the window is tilted or fully swung open. Very simple.
Yeah I mean of course not in a prison. Which cell block is that?
Opening from the bottom is inherently worse
it's inherently superior because you can have the window slam onto the fingers of a person trying to crawl in through the window
In Europe we use roller shutters for that
You can have them on residential buildings‽
I live in Europe and I have only seen them in commercial settings to protect store and stuff.
You can have them where you want. They makes some nice things nowadays.
https://www.maisondustore.ch/uploads/media/Sans%20CFVGGF.png
It's pretty normal to have them on every window, at least in Germany
Here, integrated window blinders are very common. But if you don't have them you will probably use some sort of curtains (either normal or roll down).
Those metal shutters, that black out the whole room? They have those in Portugal, Spain, most of the mid-southwest Mediterranean. France also. But they're basically ubiquitous in Portugal. Pretty nifty actually.
Edit: This was driving me nuts, sorry, but I couldn't find a single good image of what I mean. Here's the best I could make the robot monkey do (YMMV):
Why? Because they're amazing.
Funnily enough we call the small thin ones in the picture I posted "Persienner".
They don't provide any significant insulation but they can also cover the whole window and block light pretty well. Not perfectly, but good enough for most applications.
If they aren't enough for you, you can have specific black out curtains that either roll down or slide in front of the window. I suspect black out curtains exist literally everywhere. I am just mentioning it for completeness sake.
I suspect black out curtains are especially common where they get sun 24/7 during the summer.
They open from the top as well.
At that point why do you even need windows?
The worse part is now they’re built cheaply so the screen is only the bottom half. You can still open the top, or from both top and bottom for convection, but now you get bugs
If you get windows one step above "cheapest available" you get a moveable screen.
Windows are the kind of thing that are generally built locally for multiple reasons. So your experience will vary greatly based on what the window factory in your area is doing.
Where I live, single hung windows (only one sash) are most common, so only one screen is needed. Double hung windows are less common because people don't want to pay for the expense of the additional sash (a lot of springs and mechanisms needed for a sash). A screen is an expense too, but nowhere near the expense of an additional shaft. Possibly the intent was to allow for opening the top to making cleaning easier, but that's usually accomplished by having the top "fixed" portion of the single hung window be able to tilt out because putting all the springs and mechanisms for an additional sash for a feature to make it easier to clean isn't necessary.
Yeah... I worked at a window factory before. The calculations needed to figure out the tension needed on the springs so that it will counter the weight of the sash was fun.
It entirely depends on who installed the windows and what brand. Our windows are amazing and high quality.
At least you get screens. Where I live mosquitoes are common and yet screens are very rare.
Ok, our windows can open from the sides or tops as well :D
That window design looks like it would never seal properly. Here in Germany any window from the last 30 years or more will not let any air in when its fully closed.
Why wouldn't it seal?
Because its not possible to pull the window into the seal when the window also needs to move up and down.
The seal is on the bottom so it just falls into it using gravity
And how is it sealed on the sides and the top? European casement windows actually get pulled into the frame (and seals) all around the frame by rollers which move sideways along sloped ridges when you move the hinge to the closed position.
The window stays sealed on all other sides. It just slides up and down. Windows in Europe sound needlessly complicated
But will there still be air coming through when there is wind pushing on that side of the house?
I guess they are kind of complicated, but energy efficient windows make it possible to increase the window area and size without losing too much heat. Energy is also more expensive over here, which probably helps in that decision, as the cost of these windows can be easily recouped in a few years just by needing less energy to heat the house.
It seals. There's a small recess underneath the window lined with weather stripping that when pressure is applied from closing the window and even locking it, it becomes air tight.
Double hung windows don't seal quite as well as casement windows, but honestly, unless you're going to the absolute best energy efficiency possible, like a net-zero house, then it's really not a big difference. Any halfway decent quality, properly installed window won't have any noticeable drafts. Plus, as others have mentioned, double hung windows are far cheaper than casement.
We actually have the opposite issue. Windows here seal so well that indoor air quality slowly drops if you don't run the central fan all day.
While I agree that our windows are generally superior from a functional perspective, the Americans have us beat in the fact that you can't install a window AC unit in our windows.
Hence we get to just die in the increasingly common heat waves. Not great - we've got to figure this one out.
Before portable ACs are mentioned - I'll point out that they have terrible efficiency, and connecting the tube to blow out the hot air is still terrible with European windows.
Mini split heat pumps.
All you need is a 3cm hole in the wall to run a refrigerant line from the outside heat pump unit to the wall unit.
Window AC units are pretty poor efficiency too, IIRC
What if I can't make a 3cm hole cuz I'm a rentoid?
Make a temporary 3cm hole
I rent and could install AC because it is a home improvement. You could ask if it is allowed.
I'm sure if you pay the AC unit yourself nobody will oppose lol
Rent a place with air con installed?
There are the freestanding air conditioners. They have a hose you put in the window. There are plastic seals you can buy that fit in the windows to seal off the exhaust. They aren't perfect but they are better than nothing.
And this is a thread about how those won't work with European windows
I live in Europe, have one, and they work just fine thank you. They just don't put the whole unit in the window. See here
That looks like shit
Okay but still beats having useless us style windows everywhere.
This is likely going to be the answer, yeah, but I believe we need to see some improvements in installability for the average person - a window AC unit does afaik not require a specialist to install, while a mini split, while possible to tackle for a handy person, is a lot harder, leaving the average person to have to pay for someone to install the unit.
Window ACs are not the best from an efficiency perspective, but they do beat portable units by a large margin.
EDIT: looks like it might actually not even be legal in the EU to install a mini split yourself - you need to be certified to handle the refrigerants.
Installation is also more than 50% of the total cost of acquisition, so we're hitting upon an affordability issue here as well.
I've just been looking into this in the UK (so Europe, but not EU).
You can now get split units that come pre-filled with a safer refrigerants that a DIYer is allowed to do themselves.
I would still get an electrician to do the electrical side though. 1KW constant load should definitely be on its own circuit.
Yeah that's a good point about affordability. I guess I'd hope for government subsidies or at least supply & demand market forces to address that before it becomes an essential thing, especially if they replace gas boilers too as a move to reduce carbon emissions.
In the world of theoretical wild policies, there's a really good argument for subsidizing heat pump installation for places heating with fossil fuels or direct electricity at more than 100% of the cost of installation. I'd love to see that kind of project. One can mostly just dream, though.
Not true, modern window units are very efficient
Window mounted units are still terrible for comfort. External AC unit is like 300 euro + 300 euro for installation. It's not a big investment and you get totally silent unit. In Europe people will use portable units if it's short term and install external one if it's permanent.
The quoted prices I saw for installation were a lot higher, more like 700 euro, but that probably depends on the cost of labour where you are.
There are also non-monetary aspects to this issue - I'm not allowed to make any modifications to my facade on account of it being made out of asbestos, for example. I'd have to get a specialist to cut the hole to make that work. It's also a bit tricky to fit in an outside unit - or inside unit for that matter - on my walls.
I'm in complete agreement that mini splits are superior, but the downsides do exist and need to be acknowledged.
Yep, I'm just saying that 90% of people in Europe will simply go with external AC. Where I live most new apartments simply come with central AC installed and roof top units. But that's in southern Spain, AC is a must.
Absolutely. I'm speaking mostly from a Swedish apartment-perspective, where ACs have been optional basically forever, but the climate crisis is quickly making them more and more mandatory each year.
Integrated AC ftw bebeh
I admit I'm an American and my windows don't open that way, but I'm not sure why whoever made that meme thinks that means a light breeze can't come through them. Because... a light breeze can come through them.
Yeah while the European windows are interesting I don't really get why having a window open 50 different ways is useful. It seems like an over-engineered solution to just cracking the window. I also can't imagine it's more reliable than the good ole vertical/horizontal sliding windows which are just a window in a track.
Many houses in the northeast have the old school vertical sliding windows with an extra glass pane that can be dropped in front of the screen. This creates an air insulated barrier between the internal and external glass panes and even on the 100+ year old windows I've seen they insulate very well.
The main purpose in my opinion is that when the window is tilted open, it's still almost as safe as when it's closed, while still giving you a breeze inside the house. Keep in mind that this windows are sturdy and quite heavy with often triple glass so is not something you easily brake or force.
Newer model have crazy good insulation.
It still seems incredibly over engineered. Every window I've used in the US has a latch you flip out that prevents the window from opening more than a couple inches so that it's still effectively locked. Newer windows here are also all double or triple panes with inert glass in between the panels for insulation.
Keep in mind, they usually don't have central HVAC, so opening the window 50 ways is their temperature control. They're not necessary in the US, but I still think euro windows are neat.
I can just slide my window up a bit.
What quantifies a bit in this particular case?
Just a tad. Hope that helps, thanks!
Thank you.
I get it's all memes and fun, but I am so tired of this constant 'Europe does this better', 'USA is supreme for that'.
Masses divided are easier to control
Irrelevant, Canada is clearly better than all of you.
Canada is like USA but with French and you worship Britsh monarchs... Like you tried to get worst of both worlds
But at least the Canadians have healthcare and weed.
Okay I wish we had legal weed
They don’t have that problem in Australia.
The only people that tire of it are the ones who lose the most 🙃
Yes, you've clearly won at... uh... tilty windows? Good job 👍
Sounds like something a person lacking in tilty windows would say
Who needs tilty windows when you have ac
It's like you died halfway through that sentence because of the lack of light breeze and we will never know what word you were trying to type that begins "ac..."
Ac is a common shortening of air conditioner/conditioning
"AC" is. "ac" isn't.
We also have affordable medical support but it's getting old bashing USA about that
You know what’s not getting old? Americans as much as Europeans!
10/10 pun.
For the Americans that's 12 out of half a football field
Please keep it up. We can get on y’all if you ever jail somebody for a Tweet again.
Here’s hoping the school shooting & medical debt memes are in the back of our minds come election time!
The sad thing is that this time we can't really have fun on you for voting dumb orange man because he'll probably have negative effects to us too :(
Sorry :(
"Hey guys, constantly bashing each other is getting old"
"That's because we're better than you!"
You're acting way more 'merican than you realize.
Imagine not having AC like much of Europe
Imagine not having enough insulation to need an AC.
Lol have fun cooking with global warming bro
He says, while being the cause of global warming with 24/7 AC.
Maybe isolate your house and turn off the AC and delay global warming for a bit then
opens 2 windows each on seperate sides of the house/apartment
Doesn't work as well when it's 115° outside like much of the US
It would be quite scary to see our lakes boiling
115° in moron units, not Celsius.
Sometimes you just don't need it
Or you live in Minnesota, where half the year it used to be unbearably cold so you needed central heat. Then half the year it was so goddamn humid and hot we needed central AC, or at least a window unit.
We do get the benefit of having homes with a basement implied to protect both the pipes from freezing and our necks from tornadoes in December now
I live in Minnesota. It's not quite as bad as you say. Opening windows overnight and closing them in the morning works pretty well to keep the house comfortable for most of the summer...well, except when we're inundated with smoke from the wildfires.
Especially if the house is old, made with stones!
Yes, temperature difference inside to out is amazing with solid masonry and ceiling insulation. No AC required.
Disagree. I've found stone brick houses to be unbearably hot in the southern US. They turn into an oven.
I've never seen actual stone houses in north America, only those fake panels on the outside. Bricks are different and require additional insulation, usually you get 2 layers with insulation in between.
There are plenty here in the south west
Looked it up, didn't find much but did find this, these look like made of stone indeed but maybe it's because they're thinner? When I think of stone houses I think of things like this with very thick walls, we have these in all the really hot countries like Italy, Spain, southern France etc and I can confirm they stay cool inside even when it's 40°c outside.
The amount of energy wasted in America for all the houses with AC they have, could have propelled an entire society to Mars.
They aren't standard in the US, but I promise you these windows exist here. My parents installed them in their home
Yep. Source: am in Colorado and have triple pane tilt turn windows, and know several others with them. They are super nice and slowly growing in popularity.
Anyone who has worked in high-end construction can tell you that they're very common in rich people's houses. The reason you don't see them more often is that most people don't want to pay for them. Americans tend to value the size of their houses more than anything else, and since McMansion developers know this, windows are one very easy way to cut costs.
They're also a lot more common in older homes (like mine) because if you're going to replace all your windows (which you should do for energy reasons), you might as well get the good ones.
I have a middle income home with these windows. I prefer regular windows that go up and down.
Sorry Europeans, I can't hear you over my HVAC system with abundant domestic methane reserves.
People act like you can't just order these kinds of windows in the US. It's not the default, but you can just ask about them if you know about them.
It's not like our windows don't open, they just don't tilt. I frequently open the windows and get a breeze going when it's nice outside!
Yes, but it's an inferior breeze.
What does that even mean?
It's a joke.
With the weather outside today in my Australian town a nice 24°C temperature I have a window at each end of the house open.
At one end of the house the window tilts (bottom out), the window at the other end other slides.
The sliding window has much more space — half of the viewing area — open to the breeze than the tilting
Bruh many old homes in Europe don't have these fancy windows.
Source: WHERE ARE MY FUCKING TILTING WINDOWS!?
Yeah, tilting and flipping and all all other crazy stuff is a fairly new thing .
I have never seen non-tilting windows. At least in Germany, pretty much every house has these. These windows were invented around 1950 after all...
They are fairly common but not everywhere here.
But my country wasn't destroyed in two world wars so that might be the reason we still have old windows in old buildings.
Lite breezes were great maybe 30 yrs ago. With modern heat waves and obesity you gonna sweat like a mofo 'les you figure out how to put an AC up in that tilt.
Smog does it for me. Can barely ever open my windows to air out, I just get sickly car fumes mixed with rubber and asphalt particulates.
Jokes on you, average heat wave in Europe is 25C (77 Freedom units)
Remember when it started back in the 90's. Now summers in Southern Europe are basically Crematoria
It's not the mean that anyone remembers.
this is how we do out here in the heartland
Ah I can hear that rattle now...
Southamerican living in Spain here.
First time I saw those windows my mind blew to pieces.
I live in south america and have those windows in my house...
Lol wtf? Why can't you get a light breeze without tilting windows?
Yeah I'm a little confused too. The thing with windows is that you get what you pay for. It's ridiculous to think that there's some kind of window design that's magically available in Europe but not in the US. There are probably designs that are more common in different parts of the world, but it's absolutely not the case that if a homeowner wants to pay for it they can't get whatever they want in the US.
I have to think this post was made by someone who knows nothing about construction.
The idea is protection from crime. You can have the window tilted and thieves theoretically cannot climb in through that window, where a swinging or sliding window while open allows someone to climb in through it
Of course in practice they're less safe where they're popular as there is a tool, a hook, which allows someone breaking in to hook the handle, pull the tilted window shut, and open it again in swinging mode, allowing them in
My understanding is sliding windows are the easiest to secure as you can bolt lock them at any point of openness. My sliding windows have bolt points at closed and at 5cm open
Ah, but that classic wood-on-wood sliding window, where all that stands between a destructive crash is an irreplaceable rope installed inside walls when the house was built.
They aren't that difficult to repair if you have basic carpentry skills. All you have to do is take the sash out and open the side of the frame and you'll have access to the weight and pulley. They're designed to be pretty easy to do. YouTube probably has hundreds of videos on it. You just want to be careful about lead paint if it's an old house and you're producing dust or disturbing old paint.
If your windows are 40+ years old, then sure. But that's not a thing anymore for modern windows.
I'm fine. Central HVAC, no need for a breeze
Imagine not having screens on the windows and letting every single bug in the nearby area take up residence inside and being okay with it cuz "it's only a few months out of the year".
🤢 it's the fucking worst.
I tried finding a company who sold those windows in my city here in the USA and failed.
You need to go through a window company and have them custom-made. They'll come over to your house and take measurements then build them at their factory and then install them. It will take a few weeks and will be expensive, but for my money it's worth it.
Where I live Andersen is probably the best as they come with a forever warranty on everything including the glass itself, but they may or may not be in your area. There are plenty of other reputable companies as well. Again, this is not a cheap option.
Thank you. I'll look into that option
The cool thing about Andersen is that even if the glass on your window gets accidentally broken for whatever reason, it's still covered by their forever warranty and they will come and repair it for free. The downside is that they are, again, very expensive.
I personally think it's worth it and have Andersen windows on my house.
Tilting you windows is a nice option that i rarely use. Most if the time its STOẞLÜFTEN as we germans like to say (opening the windows wide up to really let in all the fresh air).
Or, know, we could just crack open the bottom (in the case of the popular double hung, the top) of the window a little bit. But it is-3c (yes, we Americans understand metric) where I am now, so I have no interest in doing that. No Gulf Stream keeping us relatively mild in winter over here.
Listen, you want to brag about health care, public transit, intercity high speed rail, or historic buildings, fine, you got us there. But stop with the air if superiority about everything else.
Correct me if I am wrong because I really don't know. But if you crack the bottom open can't someone just slide the window open?
They would have to break through the screen first. Us Americans prefer not to let bugs in. And if it’s really a worry, there are stops or locks that can be put in. But honestly, it’s nice sometimes. Saved me a locksmith call more than once.
Of course, both windows could just be smashed. You want to tell me European homes are some kind of fortress that thieves can’t get in?
they have a lock that stop them from sliding to far up. un do the lock and they slide all way up. most of one i have seen the lock locks when you pull the window down so you don't have worry about for getting it.
That isn't even a concern in a place like Compton (I lived in South Gate which borders Compton and Watts). Because even in places with a lot of violence, you don't often get someone just coming through a window in the middle of the day if they see it open a crack because it's pretty easy to defend yourself against someone trying to come through your window.
Now sure, if you leave them open like that at night, it's a bigger risk. But even then, home invasions mostly happen when no one is at home. Which makes sense.
We DO have some fine historic buildings.
They all come with tilting windows btw.
America is huge. We have areas with weather just like Europe and areas with weather nothing like Europe. One country but many weathers.
Never seen a tilting window in Finland
Yeah but our specialty is triple panes. Insulation supremacy
Honestly, I think the verti slide windows make for a better breeze infrastructure than the tilt windows , because the tilt windows can be force shut by sudden strong winds.
And in the summer when I need a strong breeze at night and have to fully open the windows, I have to hold them open with a chair or something because they will slam-shut in the middle of the night.
I complain a lot about silly american building stuff but in the case of breezes, I think the verti slide is superior.
Also, they're more adjustable. Euro windows can do tilt or open, but the vertical slide windows have a range.
I love EU windows, and i looked at them when i redid my windows recently... but i just couldn't justify the increase i price.
Of course, my windows are horizontal sliders
Tilt it baby
Over here in the USA, we “tilt” our windows on a vertical access, minimizing the effort involved to friction. We call it “opening” the window, because ergonomically it’s identical to opening a door.
You realize we have AC in Merica right?
Like, have you been to half of Europe in the summer?
My windows can tilt. Not in the same way, but you can either slide them up or tilt them in. And besides, is being able to tilt your windows really that great?
I’m not sure why this would be an advantage? Does the tilt cause more draft than opening it a different way?
Try any different way during a rain and You'll realize the difference.
It's never warm enough when it's raining to warrant having the window open though. Maybe if you're in Arizona or the south of Spain.
Most Europeans dont have AC units, so windows being open is a necessity.
This post misses the entire reason for the difference and instead makes it a divisive topic.
I don't have AC and I manage the temperature in my house just fine with windows alone. My point stands.
You don't only open the windows to cool down. You should regularly let in some fresh air.
It is a security opening. People cannot climb through a tilted window
There are, of course, tools to defeat those windows since they're popular.
Imagine being a European and having your head so far up your own ass you start to disappear
Am I the only American with tilting windows? We definitely have them
What kind of klien bottle shit is this
Good morning
VietnamEuropeI visited Bosten before, and if i can remember it right. Some of their windows can do that
Today you chose violence
What the fuck? This is witchcraft.
That's funny you lot said the same thing in the 1600's!
Fucking witches stole my garden gnomes!
Unfortunately windows in the UK generally cant tilt, likely since opening them wasn't really meant to be common anyways (unfortunately climate change is making that more important)
How well do these work in strong winds? Wouldn’t they just turn your light breeze into a strong breeze?
Americans:
Until a surgery
I used to work for AT&t and it was all to common get someone cancelling while crying because their life is over and their credit is ruined because of the cost of a surgery that could never afford to pay. Sometimes we'd give them a couple months or something but a system like that shouldn't exist
Ya'll ain't seen the economy lately?
Cool, yes everyone knows the US sucks can someone help us who have to live in it now?
Bomb it and start over
No need for bombs. Give them 20-25 years and they will remove the 'United' part of The United States on their own and have to start over.
This is the correct answer. Definitely don't fucking bomb us unless you want to see what we spent our healthcare money on.
They seem expensive.
Not really. What you see on the picture can be had for as little as like 200-300 EUR depending on the glazing, moreover it's not something you buy every day - usually only when you renovate every 10-15 years or whatever.
That IS expensive.
Wait until you hear about the price of a whole renovation.
Sure is more than the average yearly wage here.
i leave my window open like this every night, even in winter
This is not a flex, these are just worse then sliding windows lol. Something like bidets are clear upgrades, but this ain't it.
lots of non-house buildings in the usa have tilting windows.
If you want to really confuse Americans show them European showers. Imagine a shower with fixed pressure only...
Edit: I see people are confused. I meant that typical shower in US doesn't have adjustable pressure:
TIL all Americans have showers with multiple pressure settings
I've only been an American for a few decades, still kinda new at it
They do? Practically all US showers I've come across, have this stupid shower single handle bullshit. Leave the shower on your preferred temperature between showers? Adjust the pressure of the water? Nah, that sounds stupid; why would anyone want that...
I usually only see those in hotels. Every place I've lived in allowed the adjustment of pressure and temperature. If you live in a place that doesn't, you can also buy shower heads that can adjust the pressure btw.
Wait, what?
There are plenty of options in the US for adjustable pressure. Mine has pressure on the big lever, and temperature on a smaller level. It even has pressure compensation when somebody flushes a toilet, so there's no temperature change. But the type you show there does seem to be the default selection for new construction.
European here, I've had showers with multiple pressure and flow levels since... ever.
That's not true at all. The ignorance in this thread is absolutely astonishing. It's like you went to the US once, spent a week in Florida and now somehow think you're an expert in American homebuilding techniques and practices. WTF?
It absolutely is true. I have a PHD in early XXI century north American showering practices and I know for a fact that 65% of showers in the North East and 66% of showers in the rest of the US look like this, thus, making it a typical American shower. I will admit that there is a debate within my field of research as to how public and hotel showers should be counted but most experts agree with my position that what should be taken into consideration are the shower units, not the number of uses they get per year.
Well played, sir, or madam, as the case may be. Very well played.
European Window frames are heavy and sturdy, many times with thick wood or metal. The window is double paned, sometimes tripple Most window frames I've seen throughout Canada, USA and Mexico, are mostly flimsy aluminium frames that can warp super easily, most of the time with a single window pane in it
I can't help but notice Phoenix in your username, you from the south? Because up north, you'd freeze with those kind of windows. Most here are wood or steel framed, and double paned.
I still get frost on the inside of my double paned windows up here in the great white north. No joke, windows are engineered to hell here
Frost on the inside indicates it's not properly sealed, as far as I seem to recall. But I'm no window expert (I use arch btw).
Normally I'd agree, but the glass just gets real cold when it's -40 outside. Condensation freezes on it.
As someone with nearly 30 years experience in various types of construction, I can say for a fact that this is objectively incorrect. There's a trope about any kind of social media content that touches on a subject about which one has real expertise, don't remember exactly how it goes, but anyhow, let's just say that the ignorance in this thread is absolutely astonishing.
Go down to your local big box hardware store and try to find a single-pane window, for example. You can't because nobody makes them. If you want a single-pane window you have to buy a sheet of glass and know how to install and glaze it yourself.
Aluminium frames are actually the most long-lived, also, in case you didn't notice aluminium is a metal.
Cheap European windows tend to be plastic, expensive ones wood or aluminium though the latter aren't generally used in domestic settings. The plastic ones often have wood in them for structural reasons but it's so ugly noone would ever expose it.
Generally speaking the frames could hold longer if built better, but then you'd pay out of your nose for window panes that don't fail earlier those inert gases aren't easy to seal in for decades on end.
In case of fire, I rather have a window that doesn't include an instruction manual.
It's easier than it looks like really