Browse Forums Windows & Doors 1 Feb 24, 2009 7:20 am Hi guys,
I am building a double storey home with PD in Hawkstowe South Morang. We had our tender appointment on Friday, which was largely positive. One issue that came out of it was that apparently the upper floor windows within 3.5m of the side boundary must be of 'obscure glass' to prevent 'unreasonable overlooking' into adjoining lots (apparently a government/council regulation??) I understand the reason for this, but driving around the estate, I haven't noticed any other obscure windows. Has anyone encountered this issue before, and how did they approach it? Obviously we would prefer not to have obscure windows (it costs more, and occasionally it would be nice to actually look out the window). The side of our house (not garage side) is 1.8m from the side boundary, upstairs on that side we have two 700 high x 2410 windows and one 1200 x 1810 window on the rear wall (within 1.8m from the side wall) which also needs to be obscure. I am interested in your feedback. Built in now city 2009, now moving to the country to embark on another build. Check out our previous blog http://ourpalazzo.blogspot.com/ Re: Double storey windows (privacy screen or no habitable wi 2Feb 24, 2009 7:28 am I think council regulations require either obscure glass or normal windows that start 1.5m or so off the ground.
Obviously that's going to change from council to council but just to give you an idea so you can question it. Stevep79 & Principessa Finished building Wisdom Homes Impression 33mkII in The Ponds, Sydney http://lilypadintheponds.blogspot.com Re: Double storey windows (privacy screen or no habitable window 3Feb 24, 2009 7:35 am This is part of the standard ResCode requirements.
The reason as to why you havent noticed other houses with similar windows is most likely due to: i) the house being built prior to the neighbours building theirs; or ii) it just happens that their windows dont over look into the neighbours living areas. I have a double storey and we were required to put up windows that had the bottom 3/4 of the window with frosted glass. It did not look very pretty when they were first installed but when we put planation shutters over the top of them, it did blend in and softenend up quite considerably. As an alternative, you may want to explore the path of putting up screen extensions on your fence that would at least block the view as you look down on your neighbours while at the same time keeping the view clear if you look out straight ahead. Good luck Re: Double storey windows (privacy screen or no habitable window 4Feb 24, 2009 7:42 am We are also building a double story with PD and encountered this, pretty much all our bedrooms upstairs had to have obscure glass which I didn't want. I found out that if the windows were up higher - I can't remember the exact size then I could get around it, so this is what I did...I raised the minor bedroom windows up so they were long and skinny and I was allowed to have clear glass My karma ran over your dogma Re: Double storey windows (privacy screen or no habitable window 5Feb 24, 2009 8:24 am haywgl We are also building a double story with PD and encountered this, pretty much all our bedrooms upstairs had to have obscure glass which I didn't want. I found out that if the windows were up higher - I can't remember the exact size then I could get around it, so this is what I did...I raised the minor bedroom windows up so they were long and skinny and I was allowed to have clear glass I'm pretty sure it's 1700mm but EcoClassic could tell you as he told me that on a previous thread. Try checking out the Windows section it might be there. Re: Double storey windows (privacy screen or no habitable window 6Feb 24, 2009 8:26 am Thanks for your advice, I think the bottom of the windows must be 1700 from the floor level to avoid being glazed, if the head height is 2100m this means we could get around it by changing the windows to 400mm high windows. Unfortunately our tender presenter said this was not possible due to ventilation requirements Built in now city 2009, now moving to the country to embark on another build. Check out our previous blog http://ourpalazzo.blogspot.com/ Re: Double storey windows (privacy screen or no habitable window 7Feb 24, 2009 8:29 am We have this problem as well. It's pretty common when building in an established area, as I am. We have to have it on one minor bedroom whose window looks into the neighbours...also a double storey. We also have it in the TV area which faces north, and looks directly into our other side neighbours back garden. Like louie772, the bottom half of both windows are frosted, while the top setion is still clear. I could have opted for all long skinny windows like Haywgl has, but I wanted to maximise light, particually with the minor bedroom which faces south.
Once the windows are dressed, I'm sure it won't look too bad. Infact, I went through a Henley home that was up for sale in a neighbouring suburb. It had frosted glass, and I hardly noticed it. Also as part of Rescode, we have to install fence extension along one of our side fences. It is due to the fact that the house sits higher on that side due to fill, and we can see over the fence into the neighbours back garden. Henley - Wilshire Mk 3 ... I love my house!! Site start: 4th Feb 09 Handover: 10th Sep 09 Blog: http://stormygirlscastle.blogspot.com/ Build Thread: viewtopic.php?t=7166 Re: Double storey windows (privacy screen or no habitable window 9Feb 24, 2009 9:46 am This is crazy. One of the main benefits of windows is that you can LOOK OUT OF THEM!
If I walk out onto my deck I can see in the neighbours backyards, as can they when they walk out on to their decks. Re: Double storey windows (privacy screen or no habitable window 10Feb 24, 2009 12:59 pm It's not really crazy - and anyway, it's a planning regulation, so there's nothing that can be done about it. Lots are small and houses are big these days and overlooking is a real issue with double stories.
There are a few ways around it, as other people have already said. If you walk around and have a good look, you'll see plenty of upper storeys with obscure glass on the sides of houses. Front and back aren't an issue because of setbacks, so no restrictions apply to windows on those walls. Building envelopes apply to all new subdivisions now. The contract of sale that Stockland provides when you buy land contains a Building Envelope Diagram somewhere. That shows the areas on your block where you can build, and where you may have double storey windows without restrictions. It's usually a strip along each side, within about 3m from the boundary, that's restricted... Re: Double storey windows (privacy screen or no habitable window 11Feb 24, 2009 1:01 pm Jas 'n' Rach .....we could get around it by changing the windows to 400mm high windows. Unfortunately our tender presenter said this was not possible due to ventilation requirements Just thinking: a lot of PD's displays seem to have those windows in bedrooms....how did they get around the ventilation requirements? Re: Double storey windows (privacy screen or no habitable window 12Feb 24, 2009 1:05 pm The issue with the ventillation relates to another part of the building code, which says that the windows have to have at least the same area as x% of the floor area of the room, and the openable windows in the room have to be y% of the floor area (I think x=10% and y=5%, but don't quote me). We also needed to have second floor windows 1700mm off the floor level, which reduced the amount of window area we had, and meant we had to rejig the size of some of the minor bedrooms to meet the code... I guess God didn't use subbies... Re: Double storey windows (privacy screen or no habitable window 13Feb 24, 2009 1:07 pm You can also buy a film which you apply on the top of clear glass which makes it similar to frosted glass. of course a lot of people "don't get around" to putting it up Re: Double storey windows (privacy screen or no habitable wi 14Feb 24, 2009 1:12 pm Jas 'n' Rach One issue that came out of it was that apparently the upper floor windows within 3.5m of the side boundary must be of 'obscure glass' to prevent 'unreasonable overlooking' into adjoining lots (apparently a government/council regulation??) And yet anyone can still open their window and look out of it all day every day! Re: Double storey windows (privacy screen or no habitable window 16Feb 24, 2009 1:36 pm kek It's not really crazy - and anyway, it's a planning regulation, so there's nothing that can be done about it. Lots are small and houses are big these days and overlooking is a real issue with double stories. I guess, we are in a house with a footprint of 120 sq m on a block of over 800 sq m, and it just so happens the side of the house which is closest to any other block only has ensuite/bathroom windows on it anyway! Edit: Oh just hit 50 posts! No longer a junior member! Re: Double storey windows (privacy screen or no habitable window 18Feb 24, 2009 1:58 pm It is 1700mm from the floor...
Re: Double storey windows (privacy screen or no habitable wi 19Feb 24, 2009 3:18 pm buildingadreamhome Jas 'n' Rach One issue that came out of it was that apparently the upper floor windows within 3.5m of the side boundary must be of 'obscure glass' to prevent 'unreasonable overlooking' into adjoining lots (apparently a government/council regulation??) And yet anyone can still open their window and look out of it all day every day! The windows that have obscure glass (in my home2B) are fixed. It's the small window at the top with the clear glass in it that is openable. You can still look out of it if you stand on a chair... I can post a photo of the elevation if you like? In hindsight, what I should have done for the minor bedroom is move the window in question onto the rear wall, then it would have been clear...but that faces west and would be very hot in Summer. Henley - Wilshire Mk 3 ... I love my house!! Site start: 4th Feb 09 Handover: 10th Sep 09 Blog: http://stormygirlscastle.blogspot.com/ Build Thread: viewtopic.php?t=7166 Re: Double storey windows (privacy screen or no habitable window 20Feb 24, 2009 5:02 pm One side of our house had to have obscure glass. We had already changed the ensuite window and ensuite toilet window to Obscure. Council then said our kids playroom and 4th bedroom had to have it as well. We decided to move the 4th bedroom window 1.7m off the floor in order to keep it clear and the playroom got translucent. We had no choice. The playroom was too big to have a long skinny window in and the 4th bedroom only just made it by 0.1%
I can understand the reasoning for it, but I can still open the translucent windows and see into next door You won't get away with putting a removable film over it. Turns out that the only windows our neighbours have on that side is an ensuite one so I'm happy! Happy at Home You have no photo with your post. Best I can say is to remove an A&L flyscreen don't be afraid to distort the frame almost like a trapezium. It doesn't take a lot of… 1 7083 1 4600 |