Arches, angles and awkward openings, dressing the windows nobody else will quote

For a true arch or a raked head we take a physical template of the shape, not three dimensions on a pad. Radii vary along their length in older properties, and a shape cut from stated measurements will show a gap somewhere along the curve.

The template goes to manufacture and the panel comes back matching the opening you actually have.

On an arch, the practical arrangement is often a fixed shaped panel in the head, sometimes with fixed louvres, over operable panels below. It keeps the shape crisp and puts the moving parts where you can reach them.

Fully operable shaped panels are possible but the louvre geometry in a curve limits how they close. We will show you both and explain what each looks like at the top of the window.

Gable and stairwell windows are usually about access, not shape. Motorised blinds solve them properly: nothing to reach, nothing to pole, and a schedule so they work whether you are in or not.

Where a shutter is the right look on a high window, a fixed-louvre panel avoids the problem of an adjustment you cannot get to.

• Stairwell half-landing, motorised roller or fixed-louvre shutter
• Gable triangle, shaped fixed panel
• Circular window, shaped frame with fixed louvres
• Tiny cloakroom pane, single hinged ABS panel

Occasionally the honest answer is that a shape is better left undressed, or dressed with something simple below the shaped head. If a customer would be paying a lot for a panel that never moves and adds little, we say so, we would rather do the rest of the house.

A useful sorting of the shapes we are asked about most, based on what actually reaches the workshop.

• Straightforward: half moon and segmental arches, apex and triangle tops, gable ends, angled staircase windows
• Straightforward with a design decision: full circles and ovals, where you choose between a fixed louvre sunburst and a hinged split panel
• Possible but priced accordingly: true radial tilting arches, gothic points, hexagons and porthole windows under 400mm
• Genuinely difficult: curved glass on a plan curve, and any reveal with less than 45mm of usable depth

This is the decision that drives cost more than anything else. A fixed sunburst arch, where the louvres radiate from a centre point and do not move, is the standard and much the more affordable. A true radial arch, where every louvre tilts on its own curved track, roughly doubles the price of the arch section and needs solid hardwood to hold the geometry.

In most houses the shaped section sits above head height and is never operated anyway, so fixed is the right answer. Where the shaped part is the whole window, such as a circular landing window, a hinged split panel usually beats both. Minimum arch radius is 200mm, and shaped work usually lands at the top of the eight to ten week lead time.