Whats your experiences of a roof lantern vs flat skylight on an extension?

[rcx132]

The roof lantern on the flat roof of my extension is so rotted I'm embarrassed to even post a photo. There's what called an "upstand" on the flat roof which keeps the water away from where the lantern joins the roof felt. The lantern sits on top of the felt covered upstand.

I'm thinking of taking the easier and slightly cheaper way out of this problem by replacing the lantern with a flat skylight pane like this one. I'm wondering what people's experiences are of flat skylights. Are they noisier than a lantern? Need more cleaning ?

These are available on eBay, bit dearer than a flat pane, and could be more prone to leaking:

This is what the upstand being made is in case you don't know what I'm talking about:

The house is semi detached 1930s with 1970s extension. The external dimension of my upstand is approx 2200 x 950mm so it's a fair old size.

 

[Bullet2012]

Roof lanterns are extremely annoying, if you are a neighbour

 

[addjunkie]

Roof lanterns are extremely annoying, if you are a neighbour

Why?

 

[gaz1]

Roof lanterns are extremely annoying, if you are a neighbour

erm since when ?

theres nothing wrong with a roof lantern style of window hatch to let light into a flat roof extension

whillst it is something which is better to seal too on a roof its not the neighbours roof and they dont have to put up leaks or other issues that a flat skylight or a flat plane window fitted into a roof

my advice stick with what you have it is alot easier to seal even if its a part stuck above the roof

the issue stands at the felt or grp the materials that is used to seal the roof from water getting in

 

[truckdoctor]

We have a flat plate style skylight. We apply "rain x" to it but the water beads and does not run off , when it dries it leaves a mark, then the green moss begins to grow. Once every two years it gets a wipe over with a wiper blade.

 

[daleyd]

We have a roof light like your second picture, but quite large - it’s been great, had it 6 years or so and it’s never leaked - apart from when one of the end caps blew off in some really bad winds, we ended up with a few tiny drops on the floor until I managed to get out and pop it back on.

I’ll get some pics tomorrow for you

 

[skotl]

We have a flat plate style skylight. We apply "rain x" to it but the water beads and does not run off , when it dries it leaves a mark, then the green moss begins to grow. Once every two years it gets a wipe over with a wiper blade.

Ditto - ours looks like this:

It's not particularly noisy under heavy rain. Can't say that I've ever regretted having it

 

[Bullet2012]

Why?

When the internal lamps are on light scatters everywhere, causes lots of issues for night flying insects and birds etc, never mind us people that enjoy dark skies. Keep the lights at night inside.
Rant over.

 

[addjunkie]

light scatters everywhere, causes lots of issues for night flying insects and birds etc, never mind us people that enjoy dark skies. Keep the lights at night inside.
Rant over.

Fair point!

 

[JOEPRO]

When the internal lamps are on light scatters everywhere, causes lots of issues for night flying insects and birds etc, never mind us people that enjoy dark skies. Keep the lights at night inside.
Rant over.

You sir have too much time on your hands

The roof lanterns are better. In recent years Velux etc offer off the shelf solutions which are more cost effective than it used to be. Look for one with PVC frames also and it won't rot.

 

[gaz1]

When the internal lamps are on light scatters everywhere, causes lots of issues for night flying insects and birds etc, never mind us people that enjoy dark skies. Keep the lights at night inside.
Rant over.

to be honest what a load of tosh

theres not many birds at night that fly theres more bats

and to be honest might as well shut off your street lights as they cause more light polution than anything else

never mind your security spot/flood lights to protect your property

your rant has no moral grounds if you want dark skies move to the field areas

 

[JOEPRO]

Bats are highly protected of course. But they are everywhere!!

For planning applications people are forced to pay thousands for specialists to come stand in a field at night and draw doodles of where they saw a flight paths. (Give me a break!)

There are so many of them on aparantly ALL sites nowadays not sure how they are still endangered to be honest.

Have nothing against them mind, but the red tape and money/ time wasted to satisfy authorities is breathtaking.

 

[Gragson]

For planning applications people are forced to pay thousands for specialists to come stand in a field at night and draw doodles of where they saw a flight paths.

Only if you tell them, otherwise yummy



Grey squirrels are being promoted for cull and eat in the southwest - jeez what next

On the OP - just my experience, 4 x 500 x 300 velux double glazed, it has to hammer big hail stones before we hear anything, but needs a decent fit depth

 

[Blue Chips]

If you don't mind a bit of extra expense, there are many kinds of shades/blinds for skylights/roof lanterns, ranging from total blackout to light diffusing, with manual/motorised/remote control, etc. They can provide some extra insulation as well.

 

[addjunkie]

to be honest what a load of tosh

theres not many birds at night that fly theres more bats

and to be honest might as well shut off your street lights as they cause more light polution than anything else

never mind your security spot/flood lights to protect your property

your rant has no moral grounds if you want dark skies move to the field areas

Its actually not. I live in a dark sky park or what ever its called, so as well as having my bottom reemed for bat surveys we have to have a certain type of outside lights, you know the ones that dint give off much light and it only shines down. very few street lights again a low disturbance type.

So if everyone had flat roof sky lights it wouldnt be dark sky, but I do live in the middle of a field Area.

And your security flood lights are frowned upon unless on a pir.

 

[jatpat]

I recently have had a flat sky roof installed.. but the water is not running off.. the installers say they put a 5mm gradient.. but I still see puddles of water on the glass.. does anyone know a fix

 

[skotl]

I recently have had a flat sky roof installed.. but the water is not running off.. the installers say they put a 5mm gradient.. but I still see puddles of water on the glass.. does anyone know a fix

Welcome to the forum

Sooo.... 5mm isn't a gradient as 5mm over 10cm is pretty steep, but 5mm over a mile isn't It might be that they meant 5 degrees, which would be pretty standard, but the evidence belies any maths.

Are you able to get up and put a spirit level over it? Again, that's just proving the maths as if the reality is that you have puddles, then that's what you're faced with.

As to fixing, depends how much it bugs you. We have a "sunroof" in the sunroom, which is around 2m x 1m and it definitely has puddles forming - it only bothers me when I look up...
If you really want to fix it then, unsurprisingly, that means removing it, reinstalling the frame at an angle, refitting the glass and then fixing the roofing around it.
Ours has a circa 5mm lip in the frame, too, so it would have to be a helluva slope to get any rain over that.

Pictures would help, but I doubt there's a fix without removal and reinstalling.

 

[gaz1]

theres only that car windscreen additive that flushes rainwater off it sort of sheens the water/rain off your windows

 

[voipio]

Ours has a circa 5mm lip in the frame, too, so it would have to be a helluva slope to get any rain over that.

A wick going over the edge would sort that. Something like a thin strip of scotchbrite.

 

[Mick Annick]

We had a flat one on our last house in the UK, no leaks, though rain water did pool on it as there was no fall on the glass. It did get mucky but only needed a good clean annually. Given the choice I’d have a lantern, though hadn’t considered the potential light nuisance - that could have been a problem where we were, though we were the other side of the Berkshire downs from @Bullet2012 so at least he wouldn’t have seen it!