Choosing a Skylight:

I recently had to have a contractor come out and fix a small leak in my current skylight. It is 14 years old (came with the house) and the weather up here in Oregon had taken its toll on the flashing and seal on the roof window. The skylight repair was relatively easy and because I love the effect it has in our bathroom I asked the skylight contractor about potentially getting another one installed over our bonus room. The windows in the bonus room face east and so we get little sun past midday and were hoping to lighten up the room with an overhead skylight. You get 30% more natural light from a skylight than you do from vertical windows so it seemed like a no brainer to us. My main concern was how difficult the skylight install would be given that the roof was already in place. The contractor assured me that it could be done without damaging the roof, although skylights are much easier to put in during the original house construction. The next step was choosing what style of skylight and size we would go with.

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You need to start with the various types of skylights - tubular, fixed, or ventilating. A tubular skylight is typically 10 to 14 inches in diameter and they fit well in smaller spaces like bathrooms or hallways. Sometimes referred to as tunnel skylights, a tubular skylight install quite easily and provides plenty of light. We have a fixed skylight in our bathroom and figured another one of those would go great in our bonus room. The rectangular shape is what we like, although dome skylights are still very popular. Sometimes you will find acrylic skylights in places like garages or workshops. The last style are the ventilating skylights which are most commonly found in kitchens and bathrooms. An updraft is created when the ventilated skylight is open. They can be opened with an off/on switch on your wall, via a remote control, and some are still operated with a hand crank system. The good news is that skylights will fit into almost any roof or ceiling style. Look for a skylight with insulated thermal glass - this feature will not only keep warm air inside during the colder months but help in the summer months when you want cooler air from escaping. If you plan on having a larger skylight window in a family room or somewhere you get direct light, consider tinting filters for UV rays. Another good idea is to make sure that you get an insect screen if you buy a ventilating skylight. That way when the unit is open, no bugs or pests can get in. Some people choose to add a blind or shade to the skylight so that they can limit the amount of sun that comes through during the hot summer months. When it comes to skylight size, experts we spoke with say you should go with a general rule of thumb - for every 20 feet of floor space you need 1 square foot of skylight. We found some excellent buying guides on both the Home Depot and Lowes websites. Talk with a few contractors about which type best fits your room or house and get an independent opinion from someone at a store like Home Depot. Also, check with neighbors to see what style they have and if they like them.

Skylight Installation:

When it comes to skylight installation, it's probably best to leave that with professionals. I read a few online posts in DIY forums about installing a skylight yourself and the results were less than stellar. The biggest issue is water leaks that may occur if the installation is done incorrectly. Make sure that whoever installs your skylight that they follow the manufacturers guidelines point by point. The skylight itself needs to be mounted above the roof surface. You may find some that need to be flush mounted to the roof, but we say avoid those in wet climates. Curb mount skylights are the way to go - this raised lip will keep the water away from the skylight and flashing should help as well. Make sure that all joints are thoroughly sealed. Other things to consider are slope of the roof and moisture control. We found several online guides to helping you install skylights. The first is at Popular Mechanics and the second one is for installing a tubular skylight. Lastly, at the Bob Vila website you can watch a video of a skylight installation. Expect a standard skylight to take up to 1 week to install properly. Some of the smaller, tubular skylights can take 3 to 4 hours.

Skylight Cost:

The big question is - How much will a skylight cost? Let's start with the tubular skylights. Expect to spend about $200 for the small variety and up to $600 for the larger versions. Installation of a tubular skylight can add anywhere from $350 to $500 more to that cost. Size and length of tube have a lot to do with price to install. Fixed skylights cost about $200 and the labor to install them runs from $500 to $1200. A manual venting skylight goes for about $350 to $600 and the electric ones with a remote control cost between $600 and $1100. Expect the install cost for a ventilating skylight to be more than the fixed ones. Cost can be $1100 to $4500 depending on how custom the job is. If you are going to add shades or blinds, the cost will rise another $250 (roughly). As you can see the biggest portion of the skylight installation cost goes towards labor. The process of having to put a frame into the attic space is what makes the installation difficult depending on layout and room to do the job.

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