Roof window to give light and ventilation to bedroom below

[tukky142]

Hi,

I am building a forth bedroom extension with a pitched roof joining onto the existing roof. The current loft space is boarded and not tall enough to stand up in.

My question is can I install a roof window and make a frame work down into the bedroom below, plaster board the frame work etc so you can view the roof light from the bedroom below? The roof light would have to have electric opening to give ventilation.

Has anyone heard of this or now of any pictures I can view? Most roof windows I have seen normally are in the same room not on floor level above?

Thanks in advance?

 

[Deluks]

Could be done but it will leak heat out of the room, and how will you close the blinds! If I was doing this I'd probably want a secondary windowpane flush with the ceiling.

To install, you'd probably fit roof window as normal, cut out hole in ceiling, (making sure to trim any cut joists) fit studs between ceiling/rafters, plasterboard the frame from inside and then making good/trim.

I take it there are other windows in the room?


Also have you heard of Sun Tunnel / lightpipe?

 

[tukky142]

Thanks for the reply - Would it really leak heat? - dont all roof windows leak heat then?

Yes there are going to be french doors opening onto a juliet balcony and a small window in the ensuite bathroom but the reason why i am looking at a roof window is to give us more ventilation without having to have the doors open.

Yes I have seen the roof light tube arrangement - but these only give light not ventilation.

 

[tedpowell]

light shafts are a tried and trusted method for introducing a lot of light in to a room and have been used extensively used in dwellings since victorian times.you can form a light shaft from 100 x 75mm framing as a minimum size, doubling the size up for trimmers, then board over the interior with 12.5mm plasterboard + skim. the thicker plasterboard will stiffen the framing, the side of the framing that faces into the roof void must be insulated especialy as the light shaft will act as a chimney for warm moisture bearing air which will condensate onto any cold surface. this is a rule of thumb so please be careful about what you cut out and judge the span of the light shaft in case the framing needs beefing up. Try to get the top edge of the framing onto a purlin which will be the bottom edge of the roof light with a bit of boarding out.
Sun pipes are the modern method, they will be easier to install but are intended as a supplementary light source and can not compare to a light shaft desribed above unless you install a lot which will be unsightly and probably equate out in the mess stakes. i dont know if they provide ventilation but if they do the inside of the pipes will need cleaning periodically so they probably dont.

 

[^woody^]

You could do this and form a light-well down into the bathroom. This would need insulated sides and adaptation of the existing ceiling joists.

But you might find that this looks totally crap being too long and narrow above a tiny room

You may be better off with a Sun-Pipe/Solar Tube type arrangement, and the "Sola Vent" from Monodraught does light and ventilation

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Oh dear, people not checking the dates again!

 

[^woody^]

LOL it gets them every time