skylight

[ericlp]

When I built my home, I wanted to put a skylight in, but, after running short on cash for materials, decided against it.

Big fan of watching the night time sky. I think Puna is probably the best place, since hardly any street lights and down on the ocean side lot's of clear night viewing. Plus maybe good night ventilation as well.

Anyway, anyone do it yet? I was thinking of trying to cheap out and make my own flashing and using a glass door but, after rethinking this, I really think I need a professional sky light that has a nice curb and enclosure to hopefully keep out the rain better.

So, hoping that others have done it, and can tell me where to go to get one on the island? I went to HomeDepot they are pretty much a joke. Haven't checked out Lowes yet. But, I'm thinking those tinted bubble type are not for me, I would think trying to view stars through bubble plexiglass would distort the image too much.

So, off to amazon and was looking at something like this.

http://www.amazon.com/68814-Manual-Venting-Skylight-2-Inch/dp/B00BC6VD2A/ref=lh_ni_t?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

This would fit perfectly between my rafters 16" on center just cut one out and box it in. Plus I have single asphalt roofing. That's normally not the norm around here, but I'm on private water so...

Thanks all for your suggestions and help!


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[Tink]

I think you are on the right track, as have had both in wet, rainy areas and the pre-manufactured with flashing set the right way on the outside of your mounting curb is by far the most waterproof. I had a custom size that only O'Keefes had them and being a commercial grade, they also had a commercial price. Sitting between the rafters helps as well, as no additional structural support is needed.
In all, go for the view!

Community begins with Aloha

[ElysianWort]

Can't see the sky with this one but I'm a fan of sun tunnels.

[Seeb]

This is one of the few places that you can see the sky almost horizon to horizon. Why would you want to look thru a porthole. Walk outside lay on your back and float

[VancouverIslander]

I'm with Seeb. Easier to install a nice hammock in the yard that put a hole in your roof. I've installed skylights before and the only reason they didn't leak is that I have some very good friends who really know roofing well who planned out the flashing for me.

Just call me Mike

[Cagary]

With the amount of rain that falls on the east side, you might want to think twice about purposely putting a hole in your roof.

-Veritas odium parit”(Terence 195–159 BC))-"Truth begets hatred".

[EightFingers]

I think the idea of a skylight is to bring more light into the house, not to "look at the sky".

[MarkP]

OP repeatedly stated that the goal was to look at the sky.

[LastTangoInPuna]

CMR, Custom Metal Roofing in Keaau sells clear polycarbonate panels that match several of their metal roof profiles.

Frame your shaft between your rafters or trusses and drywall up to the level of the tin. Cut a hole slightly larger than your finished drywall (to hide the edges) and put the polycarbonate over the top. Put a bit of silicon on the sides and bottom and screw down like normal.

Couple options: 1. Place the skylight near the ridge and run the polycarbonate up under your ridge flashing. Flash band and ridge cap like normal. 2. Place lower and just use a "chunk" of the PC a bit longer than the skylight, and cut the roofing to lap over the top of the PC.

Cheap and aesthetically pleasing and very effective. But not the same as looking through a flat plate of glass. Ymmv.

[kalakoa]

clear polycarbonate panels

It has been suggested that this approach will not pass inspection, but I have not verified this. Where I have seen this done on an apparently permitted installation, the panels appear to be fiberglass, not PVC or polycarbonate.