Brownstone Skylights
We’re considering putting in skylights on the top floor of our brownstone (built in 1851). We already have one in a bathroom upstairs and love it. My only hesitation is the additional amount of heat it might generate, as it already gets very hot on the top floor (we do have air conditioning to blast…
We’re considering putting in skylights on the top floor of our brownstone (built in 1851). We already have one in a bathroom upstairs and love it. My only hesitation is the additional amount of heat it might generate, as it already gets very hot on the top floor (we do have air conditioning to blast if we need to, but we try not to overuse it). Does anyone have experience / advice around this? I believe they have shades and tinted skylights. Would that make a noticeable difference? The skylight in the bathroom is not tinted or shaded and it can get quite hot in there.
I also prefer not to cut through any of the beams in the roof, so we’re going to work around that and we’ll also have an electrician helping to ensure the installers don’t mess up the wiring.
Are there any other issues around doing this work? It seems to me that often these days when people do renos (and in new construction), skylights are added.
Any insight is much appreciated.
Hi,
Having an nice experience with Verona’s bath remodelling I would like to strongly suggest/share their remodeling & Luxury Bath Products.
Verona Showers strives to design and manufacture the finest and most innovative bath remodelling products in the industry.
http://www.veronashowers.com
13912 Park Center Road, Herndon, VA 20171
Phone: (703) 435-5557
Fax: (703) 435-5522
CGar, the roofers will install the skylight on top of the roof, but actually won’t cut the hole through the ceiling. Does that seem normal? So we’re going to have to pay (probably a lot) extra on top of the $2,700.
I’m now thinking we shouldn’t have the roofer do the skylight but just get a skylight installation company to do it all so we don’t have to coordinate two companies coming in and potentially skyrocketing costs.
A friend of mine had a huge skylight put into their top floor ceiling -looks fantastic but really does increase the heat a lot in the summer. They installed a dedicated fan up there and also had to use blinds, which kind of defeats the purpose. Nice in the cooler months though.
Insulated low-E is the way to go and will give you minmal heat gain.
As for cutting joists, sometimes it’s no big deal other times it can lead to disaster. Try to stay inside the existing framing. Many brownstone joists are spaced more than 24″ apart. Whoever cuts your joists make sure they are competent and experienced.
Electrical venting probably adds $200 to $300 each.
Biff, fabrication of the 3 skylights and labor (that’s labour to you) cost me $3,500, but that included the skylight above the stairwell (in your picture above), and it was in 2004. To me, $2,700 doesn’t seem out of line for the 2 skylights you have in mind, but I’m not sure what labor will cost on top of that. Your roofer doesn’t do the installation work also?
Does anyone know approximately how much the skylights plus labour should cost? We were quoted $2,700 total for two skylights around the size of the ones Denton has on his link above.
Then we need to find someone to do the interior work, including figuring out where to cut through. Does anyone have a recommendation for a company that does this?
Don’t know, SM. I just told the guy I wanted one that opened. I think as usual, so much cost in building curb etc that in the overall scheme cost probably negligible.
Denton, how much did it increase the cost to get a mechanically operable skylight, as opposed to a fixed one?
Denton, the electric is already all hooked up as the previous owners put sockets everywhere and a ton of *gasp* recessed lighting on that particular ceiling. HDL, thanks for the further insight. Maybe we will go electric after all. The rain sensors sound great.