Do I really need a wire mesh on a new skylight in NYC
I want to install an aprox 4×8 skylight in the roof of my building and my architect says the code requires an internal wire mesh so the fire dept can break the glass and not have it fall to the floor. It sounds really ugly (and my Velux salesperson has never heard of this). And, to be honest, I can’t think of any skylights I’ve seen in NYC with a wire mesh on the inside. Is this really required? Can I buy one off the shelf or do I need it fabricated? Any guess about costs? Also, if I want to remove the wire mesh later on, is that hard to do.?

mzmisdacutljvesg
in Roofing 8 years and 10 months ago
14
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Augustiner | 8 years and 9 months ago
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I did the Velux and no one complained about it.
Code required not only chicken wire but also venting in case of smoke buildup.
I understand fire code is strict for a reason, but sorry – I’m not heating out the window in winter

chinyere.ezie | 8 years and 9 months ago
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The mesh has to be installed on the outside of the skylight to prevent someone falling in. This code was predominately put in place for firefighters who would be wandering around on the roofs of buildings at night possibly fighting a fire on a adjoining building. One and two family homes have a slight leeway in skylight installation by using tempered over laminated glass which is certified by some manufactures for load capacity. On larger skylights 4 x 8 you would have to have center mullions / dividers to minimize the size of the glass due to deflection. The other option which is used in multi family buildings is to raise the skylight to 42 inches above the roof and then you are code complaint.

eileengray | 8 years and 9 months ago
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I believe that this code applies to skylights in multiple dwellings over the public/common stair. I don’t think it applies to skylights otherwise. The 1968 code has a fairly specific description of the wire mesh – gauge, etc.

daveinbedstuy | 8 years and 10 months ago
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So it is not mesh between glass (like chicken wire that I have seen) but something below to catch the falling glass? Does that mean that the skylight itself can be all glass? Put whatever mesh that is required in. get inspection. remove it. I have never, in the 20 + years I lived in NYC seen anything like it. Maybe one of the architects here saying it is code can post a photo of what meets it

lgwlcvqt | 8 years and 10 months ago
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Fire code requires it now. But I was told by firefighters inspecting multiple dwellings that mesh inside glass doesn’t count, it needs a netting underneath to catch smashed glass from falling if they make entry that way

joearchitect | 8 years and 10 months ago
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If the skylight is within an individual unit, and the glass is fully tempered or laminated and certain other conditions are met, you may not need the screening.
http://www1.nyc.gov/assets/buildings/apps/pdf_viewer/viewer.html?file=2014CC_BC_Chapter_24_Glass_and_Glazing.pdf§ion=conscode_2014

nycengineer | 8 years and 10 months ago
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I don’t think laminated (car windshield glass) can be used- I think you may be thinking of tempered glass

Arkady | 8 years and 10 months ago
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Maybe by ‘inside mesh’ he means chicken wire embedded between 2 pieces of glass? Perhaps you can use non-shatter automobile-type glass.

mzmisdacutljvesg | 8 years and 10 months ago
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Yeah, my architect is not budging on this one. I can’t believe that there is no way to have normal looking skylights in a NYC apt. Is there anything I can buy off the shelf or have fabricated in terms of a mesh that is removable?

CarmenR | 8 years and 10 months ago
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I have lived in two apartments with new skylights and neither has mesh. Our new skylight does not either. Our gc says he installs this style skylight on all his jobs. I saw it used in the 3 we toured, all of which have since passed final inspection.

eman134 | 8 years and 10 months ago
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looks like standard got out of the skylight business

eman134 | 8 years and 10 months ago
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I am pretty sure that velux skylights do not meet code in multiple family dwellings in nyc
Any job that i have worked on that required a skylight had it fabricated by somene like Superior Tinsmith http://www.superiortinsmith.com/ or standard tinsmith http://www.tinsmith.com/

mzmisdacutljvesg | 8 years and 10 months ago
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Still seems weird to me. I just don’t see many skylights (even in new multiple dwelling buildings) in NYC with wire mesh on the inside of skylights.

eman134 | 8 years and 10 months ago
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http://codes.findlaw.com/ny/multiple-dwel1. In every multiple dwelling erected after April eighteenth, nineteen hundred twenty-nine, one at least of the required windows provided to light each public hall or part thereof shall be at least two feet six inches wide and five feet high. Every required window in such a hall shall open upon a street, court, yard or space above a setback. On the top story of such a dwelling a ventilating skylight of the same dimensions shall be accepted in lieu of a window for that story.
2. In every multiple dwelling erected after April eighteenth, nineteen hundred twenty-nine, there shall be in the roof, directly over each required stair, fire-stair and fire-tower, a ventilating skylight provided with ventilators having a minimum opening of forty square inches or with fixed or movable louvres. The roof of every such skylight shall be glazed with plain glass and equipped with suitable wire screens above and below. The glazed area of every such skylight shall be at least twenty square feet, except that in a class A dwelling or section there of two stories or less in height and occupied by not more than two families on each story and in dwellings three stories in height erected pursuant to plans filed with the department on or after May first, nineteen hundred fifty-nine and occupied by not more than one family on each story, the glazed area of such a skylight need be only nine square feet. In lieu of a skylight a window of the same area as prescribed in subdivision one may be provided. If such a window is used in lieu of a skylight, fixed louvres having a minimum opening of forty square inches shall also be installed in or directly adjacent to such window.
3. When any stair, fire-stair or fire-tower in such a dwelling terminates at the level of a setback of an outer wall and such setback consists of a terrace at least four feet in width, measured between the inside of the parapet wall and the wall of the building, and at least ten feet in length, measured parallel to the wall of the building, there may be provided in lieu of such a skylight a fireproof door and assembly with the door self-closing giving access from such stair, fire-stair or fire-tower to such terrace. Such door shall have a panel at least five square feet in area glazed with wire glass and shall be equipped with fixed or movable louvres with an opening of at least forty square inches.
– See more at: http://codes.findlaw.com/ny/multiple-dwelling-law/mdw-sect-36.html#sthash.quXwUTWQ.dpufling-law/mdw-sect-36.html