New Skylight Installations
For Orange County
Installing a new skylight in your home requires experience and expertise.
New Skylight Installations
It takes a combination of several trades, like framing, roofing, drywall, and sometimes electrical, to take a project from start to finish. But when it’s professionally done, a new skylight installation can transform your home, turning a dark room into a bright and inviting space. The climate of Southern California is perfect for skylights, with very little rain, no ice or snow, and abundant sunshine, making Orange County the perfect place to enjoy the benefits of a skylight. Click HERE to learn more about the benefits of adding a skylight to your home.
5 Things to Consider For New Skylight Installations
1. The Location – Determining the location of the skylight is dependent upon the framing of your home’s roof. Some structural roof beams are critical to the support of your home and cannot be cut to fit a skylight. Sometimes this can affect the placement of a skylight in a room. During our in-home consultation, our technicians inspect the attic and framing of your roof to determine the ideal location for your new skylight.
2. The Roof – The type of roof you have can effect the installation of a skylight from design, lead times, and even the price. The pitch is the first thing to consider; is my roof flat or pitched? Flat roofs need skylights that are designed with a pitch to help water runoff, and steep roofs bring additional costs associated with safety precautions like scaffolding and increased man-power. Your roof type can also effect the price of a project. Cutting and notching decorative Spanish tile is more labor intensive than asphalt shingles.
3. The Ceiling – What kind of ceiling do you have? Drywall or Plaster? Is it flat or a cathedral ceiling? Is there attic space above the room? These are all important factors to consider when installing a skylight. A cathedral ceiling with a tongue and groove roof deck and exposed beams is a lot simpler to install a skylight in than a room with drywall or plaster walls and with attic space above, where a skylight chute must be constructed and finished.
4. The Size – What size skylight is right for my home? This depends on several factors like the size of your room and how much light you need to let in to brighten it up. A rule of thumb is the larger the skylight, the more light it lets in. Small rooms like a walk-in closet or pantry can be sufficiently lit with a solar tube, while larger/darker rooms need a traditional skylight. Other factors like the space between the ceiling and roof rafters can help us determine the right size skylight to custom fit your home.
5. The Skylight – What kind of skylight do you want? The size and the pitch of your roof can narrow down construction parameters, but there are still important design options to choose from. Do you want a glass skylight where you can look out and see the sky? Or a dome with an translucent finish that diffuses the light? If energy efficiency is a concern then you can select high-end glass with a tint that blocks UV light or a venting skylight to help circulate hot air trapped in your ceiling. We can offer you a full line of blinds and skylight accessories, including premium Velux options!
Ceiling Configurations
If there is attic space above the room where the skylight is being installed, you have options on the reveal of your ceiling. By flaring out sides of the skylight chute, it opens up the ceiling, making the room larger and more inviting, as well as drawing more light into the room.
These images illustrate the various flares and pitches available for skylight shafts. The pictures to the right show an example of a straight skylight shaft and one with the bottom side flared out.
During the consultation, our technicians will inspect your attic space and the ceiling rafters to determine your options. Our skylight experts will determine the suitability of the structure to accommodate a skylight. We must consider if the rafters can be safely cut or if they are load bearing, and if there are any obstacles above the room like an A.C. unit or duct.
Straight Skylight Chute
Flared Skylight Chute
The Benefits of a New Skylight Installation
Natural Light – Consider the health benefits of letting natural daylight into your home!
Increased Focus and Productivity – Scientific research indicates that increased exposure to natural light increases mental alertness.
Reduces Anxiety – Natural light balances the communication between the regions of the brain that control our emotions, like stress levels.
Improved Happiness – Sunlight also increases our serotonin levels. The year-round light shining into your home with a skylight can help prevent S.A.D. or Seasonal Affective Disorder.
Skylight Before and After
Improved Energy Efficiency – Skylights can help improve your home’s energy efficiency in several ways;
The increased natural light reduces your dependence on artificial lighting thus reducing energy costs.
Venting skylights help recycle trapped hot air with oxygen rich air from the outside.
- Today’s modern glass skylights are dual-glazed with trapped argon gas and a LoE3 coating that reduces heat transfer while blocking harmful UV rays.
Improved Aesthetics – Skylights enhance the appearance and design of a room and can even increase the value of your home!
Natural light can help brighten up a dark room making it more inviting and appealing.
A skylight with a flared ceiling increases the living space and makes the room feel much more open.
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