Skylights

[Coach]

Could someone tell me whether there are skylights that are energy-efficient and without long-term leaking problems?  I'm not a builder, so I'm clueless as to whether these issues are of any significance these days. 

Also, are there Mercedes brands, Fords and Chevrolets in the skylight industry.  What companies are economical AND have a good reputation? 

What are the rough costs for purchasing a skylight -- say 4' X 6'?  (Or, is that dependent upon whether it's a Mercedes or Ford?)

How much expertise does it take to install them?  Is this something any average carpenter and roofer could do well?

Are there an archives on this site dealing with this topic?  If so, could you direct me to it?

Thanks.

Coach

[glenn kangiser]

Welcome to the forum.  The search button on the blue bar above will search the forum.  Note that there are 3 searches on this forum -- that one works best I think.

Some think skylights always leak.  My son didn't like the one in his room as he couldn't turn it off - had to cover it.  If you want to keep one from leaking skill and care is required.

Think like PEG.  I mean - think like rain as PEG  says.  Some say that with skylights even that isn't enough.

[Redoverfarm]

Coach I was a little worried about them too as I needed to add some natural light after an addition to the main house.  They have came a long way since the plastic/ plexiglass ones early on.  I put two "Pella's" 2'X4' on a 5/12 roof and they are fine.  They are very energy efficent considering they are a window. With 6-12" of snow laying on them in the dead of winter.  If they are installed correctly and flashed properly then there should not be a problem.  I have fixed ones myself. The cost vary. 

If you have a metal roof then I would be leary of leaks but with a asphalt single they are ok. Metal roofing is hard to flash because of the steps in the roofing unless you were able to situate them in the valley portion. 

There was a post I think Mt Don had made showing one of the better brands. Might search the last couple months.

I went back and searched for them and this is what had been posted.
http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=2991.msg46166#msg46166

Good Luck

ED: fixed link - MD

[MountainDon]

We've had skylights, curb mount type for about 20 years. Velux. Never had a leak. A couple years ago we replaced the shingle roof with ribbed metal as in the image. So far no leaks.



Like so many things whether or not there are problems down the road depends mainly on 2 things; quality of the product used and quality of the installation. I would not be afraid of skylights.

[glenn kangiser]

We had formed ones on steel buildings and they never leaked unless a screw was messed up or something.  I would guess I put on a thousand or so of them but they matched the ribs of the metal exactly.

[PEG688]

 coach 

I had a long post typed up and hit a wrong key,       (at self ,    so here's the short version .

4x6 sky lights are not normal , they can be had but generally they are 2x2 , or 2x4.

Is your job a remodel ? Truss roof or stick frame ?

Crystal lights the best costeffective S/L , Velux are pretty spendy but good S/L just $$


So basically It depends or a lot of factors you didn't include in your post.

Glenn will now insert a whitty comment about "Depends"     

But we'd need more info to answer your question about your roof , type roofing , and size you really want , well plus a bunch of other factors 

Again 

BTW what do you coach? 

[SHUBUTAKID]

Am just in the day-dreaming stage at this point -- sort of auditing the course, you might say.  Just happened across this site and thought it would be a great way for a nonbuilder to learn some things.

You guys seem to be enthusiastic about your projects.  Love following a thread to see what is recommended.

Back to your questions:  This would be a new build, not a remodel.  2 x 4 would work in my mind, if this is the standard.

The structure I was pondering would have a truss roof.  How does that effect skylights?

Sorry for the ignorance, but what is S/L? 

Thanks for the manufacturer names.  Velux sites look interesting, and another post mentioned Pella.

Coach

What do I coach?   My assistants and I do most of our coaching at the coffee shops on Monday mornings.  Just a nick name.

[MountainDon]

S/L = skylight. PEG uses a lot of initials, acronyms. I think he brought that habit home from the navy. 

A 2x4 S/L would fit over standard spaced trusses or rafters, that's their main advantage over wider widths. Over a truss it just means building a tunnel down to ceiling level. That's what I've done.

[Redoverfarm]

Don I added a little twist on mine. Since I had mounted mine on the top 1/3 of a 12' addition 5/12 pitch I had two windows (formerly exterior windows of the original house wall) that were now useless as far as letting light into the rooms. I beveled the top end some 25 deg with my chase to direct the light toward the windows. The bottom is 90 deg from the S/L.  You can't believe the difference it makes as far a directing the light to those windows rather than downward to the floor.  Yeah I also put a switched recepticle in each so that X-Mass lights could be installed and shut off easily. Just a little more atmosphere.

[PEG688]

Am just in the day-dreaming stage at this point -- sort of auditing the course, you might say.  Just happened across this site and thought it would be a great way for a nonbuilder to learn some things.

You guys seem to be enthusiastic about your projects.  Love following a thread to see what is recommended.

Back to your questions:  This would be a new build, not a remodel.  2 x 4 would work in my mind, if this is the standard.

The structure I was pondering would have a truss roof.  How does that effect skylights?

Sorry for the ignorance, but what is S/L? 

Thanks for the manufacturer names.  Velux sites look interesting, and another post mentioned Pella.

Coach

What do I coach?   My assistants and I do most of our coaching at the coffee shops on Monday mornings.  Just a nick name.

  So you have two log in , hoy vey this will be hard to keep track of 

  So your a back seat Coach  Postulator?

Mtn.  D's got it S/L = skylight, S/R = Sheet rock some times D/W = Drywall = Sheetrock , comp = composition roofing = asphalt roofing , MTL = More Than Likely , and there's more

As far as S/L effecting truss roof framing it only become a issue IF you go wider than a "normal" truss layout / space which is 24" OC = On Center or 22 1/2" in between. That's why I asked about the 4' x 6'  sky light , it can be done , it just cost more.   

[MountainDon]

I have thought of starting a thesaurus.

[Redoverfarm]

I would be happy just having a dictionary.  I never struggled with spelling when I was working a job that demanded it. But since I retired I find myself slipping away in that catagory.

[glenn kangiser]

http://tinyspell.m6.net/

A good little spell checker -checks everything you type and offers lots of spellings when you get it wrong. 

[glenn kangiser]

Firefox will check words as you spell them and Dictionary Tooltip will popup a complete dictionary in Firefox.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1171

[Coach]

So you have two log in , hoy vey this will be hard to keep track of  duhh

  So your a back seat Coach  Undecided Postulator?

Yep.  Tried to check in from my office under first name, and I ran into problems.  So, now I have one for work and one for the office.     Will make it more interesting, I suppose.
Leads to another question.  Can you use the same online name if you sign on from a remote site???

And, yes, my coaching experience parallels my building experience.  College football is my favorite Monday morning for exercising my hindsight.

Thanks for the explanation of some of the abbreviations used here.

Coach

[MountainDon]

To whoever it may concern..    
About the login problem and having two login ID's....

This will get confusing in a hurry. It is possible to have the system display your name as something other than what you chose as your log in ID. However, the system will not allow the duplication of an already taken user ID as a display name. Maybe you could change the display name under the second ID to something lie SHUBUTAKID2 ? That could help ID you? 

The change is done under the user Profile (tab in upper left of the forum pages). Under the Modify Profile area on the left select Account Related Settings. You will then see the field where you can change the displayed name that people will see. That will change the name displayed for all past postings made under that login ID as well.

However, there should be no reason why you can't use your original login ID and password from anywhere. I don't understand what caused that problem.  The system does remember the IP address used for any login and posts, but it doesn't care what the actual IP address being used to login from is, unless a certain IP address has been banned. Then you would get a message indicating that IP: so-and-so has been banned.

[glenn kangiser]

Possibly your home computer was logged in under the other name and on?  I don't know what the problem is.