Jalousie Windows

Florida windows, nothing to do with Florida Evans.

They remind me of old delapitated motels.

"delapitated"

Oh, dear...

Invented just so housekeepers could quite understandably say "I don't do windows"

They make me think of Frankie Laine.

In the late 1960s almost every house in Miami, Florida had what they called 'hurricane windows', which were these Jalousie Windows. They could be cranked open or closed from the inside to let in cool night air and closed during the day to keep out the heat. When opened slightly they also let in air while preventing rain from getting in. The idea was that they would protect windows from hurricane force winds but eventually they fell out of style in south Florida because they are a security risk.

We pronounced them as 'ja-lousy-windows' although I always read it as 'jealousy' windows. I thought they were quite functional for the reasons R6 stated. When I lived in the midwest Great Lakes area, I thought they would be a popular choice because of the seasonal wind and sun but nope.

I've spent an eternity trying to remember what this style of windows were called. Thanks, OP.

They give me such a cozy and secure feeling.

Those windows are wonderful for sun porches and sleeping porches.

And yes, they great in a cooling summer rainstorm.

ja-luh-see

We call them 'louvres' in Australia, pronounced 'loovers'. French nonetheless. Good for the heat in the colonies and you can direct the breeze with them. I don't know why we use the French word, not sure if that's what the British call them? They're popular here at the moment, the non glass ones; wood or plastic reproductions we call plantation shutters, evoking the plantations of the south I imagine. I guess they're used anywhere where it's hot.

R8 They're also called louver windows.

I had them in wonderful guest house I once lived (in California). Loved them.

I didn't find them hard to clean at all. You just remove the panes, and wash them in a sink; or if they fit, put them in the dishwasher.

They were a pain to clean, they would get stuck, and they would also break easily.

R1 who did not do windows, Florida or otherwise.

Jalousie, bitches?

According to movies and TV shows they are also great for spying on people.

I learned this term in the final episode of Six Feet Under. After they gays renovate the funeral home they're giving a tour and David mentions, "We replaced all these jalousie windows with double hung."

R16 those are blinds, not windows.

They always belong to somebody who doesn’t maintain them -leaves, cat box whoith turds overflowing, as seen on TV shit.

When I was little, we had them on our porch. Pain in the ass because they would get stuck and you would have to go outside and push them closed.

Don’t forget the matching Terrazzo Floors!

Had those on our house growing up. My uncle salvaged them from another house and my dad enclosed our back porch. Never knew what they were called. Thanks OP.

Jalousie windows are a high security risk. Anybody can take a screwdriver and pry up the metal tabs from the outside and slip off the louvres. But I think people safeguard these by supergluing the glass onto the tabs.

Very popular in Honolulu.

I in turn have to thank R21 for telling me what terrazzo flooring is called. I had it in my own home growing up and never knew there was a name for that groovy stuff.

Had them on our porch too when I was growing up. HUGE pain in the ass to clean. Would take forever.

I appreciate this thread, as I will be replacing the windows on my sun-porch this fall, and I had been considering replacing the current windows with jalousie windows. They're not common here in the Midwest, so I had no real-life experience with them.

They're pronounced JAL uh see, rhymes with fallacy, but sounds very close to jealousy.

I had these windows in an apartment I rented in Florida. They may look charming, but they are horrible in humid climates. The glass slats never fully close air-tight, thus allowing moisture in the room. They’re fine for dry climates.

I think of old houses with 1950's-60's fixtures.

Always thought they were dated and cheap looking - didn't know they were very functional.

R10 gets the pronunciation right. I grew up hating these windows as a kid in Florida and every room in my childhood home had them. They are plagued with so many issues, but you already covered quite a few. Security risk for sure and yes they break easily - that crank mechanism is total nightmare as it rusts, warps, strips, freezes up (hard to lubricate, etc.) and just generally breaks period. The glass panes never line up so these windows are terribly inefficient when it comes to running your AC for most of year (really bad if you live in the sweltering humid Hell that is most of the state of Florida for most of the year). The other nightmare side effect is that all of these inherent gaps allow for your home to be bombarded nonstop by mobs of blood-sucking mosquitoes and giant, flying American cockroaches who love to squeeze past those nightmare wonky glass panes. Oh, if you do try to close them tightly (in a fruitless attempt to actually seal them) - the glass breaks rather easily. Screens get damaged non-stop with this window design as well - which just amplifies what I mentioned above. Everything about them is a nightmare. When my parents decided to build a new house when I was in 6th grade - they argued about everything. The one and only thing that they seemed to agree upon was that they would rather undergo a mouthful of root canals than to ever be forced to live with another jalousie window. I tend to agree.

Sorry, actually R28 is the correct way to say the name.

There are very tall windows in New Orleans as well, but I’ve never heard them referred to by this name.

Here's an old European song about fenestration. You can perform dances in front of your windows.

Is that where the Fenestration of Prague came from?

My father built our family house in the late 1950s in Michigan. We were lower end working class, so the house was built on the cheap. He somehow found a ton of jalousie windows for free in FL and used them for our home. Not a smart move for Midwestern winters. When it got super cold as it frequently did in the early 1970s of my childhood, the living room Window sheets would stick to the glass.

We had to switch out the screen panels for storm windows every Spring and Fall, which also included cleaning the jalousie panels—huge pain in the ass. At some point, we would put up plastic shrink wrap as an additional cold barrier. By the late 1980s, the cost of heating the house with jalousie outweighed the cost of replacing them with double pane sliding windows.

And we said “jall-us-ee”.” But what did we know. Fuck they sucked.

^^ should say “window sheers” not “window sheets” above.

R35, I think you mean the Defenestrations of Prague. I've held onto that word for years, waiting for the opportunity to use it in conversation. No one throws people or other things out windows when I'm around, although I do recall watching a neighbor pee out a 2nd story window.

I may be wrong, perhaps someone else will jump in who remembers old stately homes that had "a jalousie" between rooms at the top of the door. I assume that they were used for air flow. "Open the jalousie, its getting stuffy in here! Chuck, your turn to deal". A ceiling fan was also running.

(R35) There was once a window manufacturer named Fenestra Windows. Anyone else remember this?

R28 is right with jal oh see. jal as in alley

Fenestra is Latin word for opening, window.

[quote] I may be wrong, perhaps someone else will jump in who remembers old stately homes that had "a jalousie" between rooms at the top of the door.

A transom window.

A more modern version of such windows by Glasscon is referred to as a motorized louvre window.

They can also be incorporated in architectural designs.

Breezway has the PowerLouvre. They concentrate on the market for these type of windows in Hawaii.

R28 THANK YOU!

I’m not reading this damn thread, I just came to say every time I see it I think it’s that song from Cats about all that cat types there are and how they are just so excited for the moon and the ball.

The asymmetry caused by the door in OP's pic is giving me agita,

Je les aime.

I once inherited a 1966 Artcraft mobile home which had them, ant it burned down due the aluminum wiring!

Just replace the word “window” for “cat.”

I hated them and for some reason they wouldn't let any air flow

Has anyone seen them in Europe or Britain?

perfect for hot sweat exhausting sex, especially with william hurt in "Body Heat"

Yep, where I come from they're called "Florida windows" and are more often than not installed in "Florida rooms", a room that is semi outdoor/semi indoor.

Combine your jalousies with glass bricks!

R40 — my 1939 bungalow in Atlanta had windows made by that company. I no longer live in Georgia but I remember I was trying to buy some replacement screens for The casement windows in my bedroom only to find out the company was defunctarooney.

R50, I was wondering if anyone besides moi would think or slipping in that allusion.

They would make a great trap for serial killers; they’d think they could sneak in silently, uncut by aluminum or pollution-coated glass.

“Sir, you’re bad at this and should take up ant farming.’

I've always been intrigued by them. You don't see them where I live on the West Coast. I think they'd be nice in more tropical climates but I can't help thinking them of gecko portals. I like geckos though.

They have screen on the inside, Noodle Brain @ r61.

Noodle Brain? LOL

Anyway, apparently not all jalousie windows are screened.

I guess you could use them to display your vast collection of tea cups and depression glass. Pray for looters.

Here's a history of Jalousie windows.

I live in the South. State bird is the mosquito. Never seen jalousie windows without screens.

R54 German companies EuroLam, Hahn Lamellenfenster, Lacker make louvre windows of various shapes and sizes for both commercial and residential installations.

And the photo below is of the Nine Elms apartment building in London built in 2016.

they were popular in FL and the coastal deep south in the '50's before everyone had AC.

Safe from burglars? I don't even think jalousie windows keep you safe from COVID.

This is nice.