Skylight?

Started by Micky, January 18, 2005, 12:00:24 PM

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Micky

I am trying to decide if I want to add a couple of skylights to the 20 1-1/2 story cabin I am building.  I will be doing a 12/12 pitch metal roof.

I am in an area that gets 3'-5' of snow in the winter and gets really cold (-23 deg F last week).

It is mostly going to be a weekend summer cabin with some limited use in the winter.  I am not really concerned about the heat loss factor.  It is also in the trees so I am not concerned too much about the solar.

I am worried about having to constantly fight leaks with that much snow.  Also, I am thinking that the skylights will keep the snow from sliding which may also cause problems?

Does anyone have any thoughts or experiences to help me decide?


Thanks

Amanda_931

John, our leader here, has instructions that he swears produce skylights that don't leak.

I haven't tried them, and you don't want to know my skylight story--not funny, not cautionary, just mean-spirited, maybe on everybody's part.




Dan

I have a friend that has an A frame cabin with several skylights in an area that routinely has 7-10 feet of snow sitting on the ground most of the winter.  He hasn't had much in way of leak problems, but initially had a problem when the snow slid off the roof trying to take the skylight with it.  He ended up solving it by installing the skylight with the up-roof side flush with the roof sheathing and running the metal roofing over the top of the upper part of the skylight frame.  Now the snow just slides over it like the rest of the roof instead of grabbing it.

John Raabe

#3
It is true that the main problem with skylights and heavy snow is with the curb. When curbed skylights are built into a steep roof, the upper part of the curb can be built on a slope so as to ramp up and over the skylight and not dam up the snow.

The other reason skylights leak is because the flashing isn't done right. A surprising number of roofers don't get it right. I spend a lot of time diagramming the flashing in my skylight plans and the exact way to do it depends somewhat on the roofing material. http://www.jshow.com/y2k/listings/35.html. Make sure you get your roofer (or the factory rep from the roofing supplier) to sit down and review the flashing with you.
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