Roof Hatch and Skylights Oh My!

Once the roof was framed up I started thinking about skylights. This was especially important since the roofers had us penciled in and they will show up any day.

First things first, the skylights openings got cut in through the plywood and 2×4 curbs were built. We have 5 skylights in the roof and they are all being supplied by Velux. Four of them are 2×2 in size and they are lined up in a hallway and there is also a larger 2×4 unit in the master bath. The master bath skylight is the only one that opens and we opted for a power opener so there are no hand cranks to open it. The electrician just needs to give it power and we are good to go. We also framed out the interior of the skylights so the drywall will flare out to provide more light and some visual drama. I’m excited to see how this detail turns out once the drywall goes on.

Another task was to get the roof hatch installed to provide access to the roof deck over the crow’s nest. We chose a sleek glass model made by Fakro. This thing has four panes of glass which makes it very heavy. It weighs in at slightly over 300 pounds! The roof that it sits on was framed flat but a slight slope is required to allow rainwater to drain off, but the hatch needs at least a 2 degree slope to keep water from pooling on the glass. To solve this I built a tapered 2 degree wood curb on the flat roof that the hatch got screwed to. The roofers will build up a foam taper around it to provide the needed slope for the roof.

The roofers came over soon after and they got the tapered foam on the crow’s nest roof and covered it with TPO (a rubber membrane). The roof has a compound taper that causes the water to drain to a scupper which leads to the main roof. At the same time they installed a very sticky product called ice and water shield on the main roof. Eventually a metal standing seam roof will be installed but the ice and water shield is necessary because the roof only has a 1:12 pitch. After the ice and water shield was installed I placed each skylight on its curbs and screwed them in. At this point the roof is “dried in”.

 

One thought on “Roof Hatch and Skylights Oh My!

  1. This has been such good reading! A lot can be learned by a “non-construction type” like myself by just reading along and looking at the photos. The people that you hired all seem to be true experts at their work and that must have made your life a lot easier!

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