Thinking of putting skylights in my garage shop

[dennis thompson]

As it says,I'm thinking of having two skylights installed in my garage shop to admit more light. Has anyone any experience or suggestions for this project?

[Jim Becker]

I have not done so, but thought about it a few times. The issue for me is that...the upstairs to my shop is storage space, so only the knee wall areas would be available. That said, rather than traditional skylights, consider "light tubes". They are easier to install and are designed specifically for bringing in natural light. They can be pretty amazing.

[John K Jordan]

As it says,I'm thinking of having two skylights installed in my garage shop to admit more light. Has anyone any experience or suggestions for this project?

If you do, be sure to get the best quality you can find! And have them installed correctly.

This timberframe house was built in the '80s with six 2x2' skylights. I LOVE the light! But I had architect friends tell me "skylights always leak." After living here a few years we started seeing some "minor" leaks. (To me, even the smallest hint of a leak is major.) These were skylights that had cranks to open them a little but I don't think that feature was responsible for the leaks.

I had a builder friend replace all of them - he recommended the Velux brand, the only brand he would install. Even though he had installed them before he actually studied the installation instructions from the manufacturer before starting! That was a long time ago and haven't had one leak. Note these are NOT inexpensive! https://www.veluxusa.com/

I installed sliding blinds in each one, nice in a bedroom for a late sleeper!

With the timberframe house there is no attic or even trusses so the light path is not constrained. With conventional construction I might consider another method. Also, our house has shingles. I have no experience with having them in metal roofing.

JKJ

[John C Bush]

I have two 4'x4' skylights in the 24'x 15' shed roof portion of my shop. The main two story portion is 20'x30' and the shed ceiling height is 13'
sloping to 8.5'. I used beams from the old family barn in Ill. 4' on center as main roof beams and the skylights fit in between. (used lots of the old barn beams throughout-both structurally and architecturally-shipping in a deadhead container from the midwest to the PNW was WAY reasonable!!) The skylights provide lots of ambient light to the 960 sq. ft. ground floor space. On rare occasions-on a clear day out here-the direct sunlight shines on my TS and the reflection/glare makes it hard to read the fence rule. Wait 5 min and the sun moves and my cuts are in 1/64th range again!! Can send pics if that would be of interest-and I can remember how to do it-. I built mine in during initial construction
but retro-ing would SOP. JCB.

[Brice Rogers]

I have two 2 x 4' skylights in my workshop and I love them. When I drywalled the ceiling, I walled in a light channel from the roof to the ceiling. That way all of the light still makes it into the shop. In fact, for most of the day the light bounces off the white channel and creates nice diffused light.

Jim Becker's comment about using a solartube is a good one. They are easy to install.

On mine, I installed them when I built the workshop. IIRC, I framed a box with 2 x 6 or 2x8 and then flashed it with aluminum flashing, being careful that the flashing went under the underlayment from above and went over the underlayment (tar paper) below. Plus roofing tar. Tile roof. Twenty five years and no leaks. Initially I had put in cheap plastic bubbles in the workshop and house. Later, I replaced the skylights in the house with more expensive Velux skylights primarily for better fire protection.

[Jamie Buxton]

Skylights are great -- light without taking up valuable wall space. They can be installed without leaks, but you really do have to pay attention to that.

[Jon Snider]

Having gone through two major hail storms in the past 4 years, where many folks had major skylight leaks and damage, I decided not to do it. But I did look a lot at solar tubes which looked like a very nice option. As I recall some had different impact ratings if that’s an issue.

[Jamie Buxton]

The downside with those solartube things is that they don't have a big collecting area, so they don't bring a lot of light into the shop. IIRC, on a sunny day they offer about as much light as a 100W incandescent lightbulb. Cloudy days, not so much.

[Jim Becker]

My parents had the solar tubes in their single home prior to moving to a life-care community and the amount of light they brought in was pretty impressive, Jamie...even on cloudy days. They had them in both the kitchen and the baths. I was in my father's cousin's place last time I was in Florida and she has them in the bathrooms. I kept trying to turn off the lights...but they were not on. Size matters, however... ;)

[Jamie Buxton]

My parents had the solar tubes in their single home prior to moving to a life-care community and the amount of light they brought in was pretty impressive, Jamie...even on cloudy days. They had them in both the kitchen and the baths. I was in my father's cousin's place last time I was in Florida and she has them in the bathrooms. I kept trying to turn off the lights...but they were not on. Size matters, however... ;)

Yeah, they're great to bring some light into an interior bathroom, or a dark back hall. But most shops are bigger than that, and I want more light in the shop too.

[Pete Staehling]

The downside with those solartube things is that they don't have a big collecting area, so they don't bring a lot of light into the shop. IIRC, on a sunny day they offer about as much light as a 100W incandescent lightbulb. Cloudy days, not so much.
It probably depends on the size, the latitude, and your expectations, but I was pretty impressed with how bright the ones that were in the house where we stayed in Hawaii. I too kept trying to turn off the lights and then realized that they were light tubes.

There would have to be a lot of large ones to replace my shop lighting, but to go out to the shop to get a tool, to go to the shop to work at the desk, or for a lot of tasks, i would not turn on the shop lights if there were a light few tubes. So yeah I don't see them as a replacement for shop lighting even on a sunny day, but, I'd still like to have a few.

I also like the ability to be in touch with the outside world and the time of day in a manner that the clock doesn't quite give. A window does a much better job of that if one is an option. I love having a window in my shop.

[Jim Becker]

Whether skylights or light tubes, they are not going to "replace" interior lighting in a space like a shop for the most part because we tend to want a high level of lighting to support the work we are doing. But they do potentially add to the lighting comfort and spectrum if well designed. They can also make things feel more spacious. Skylights definitely have the edge here because, well...you can see the sky...while light tubes don't generally provide that view.

[Steve Mountcastle]

I am in the process of building a shop and I also wanted to include skylights, want as much natural light as possible. As someone said earlier this is one area that you don’t want to try and save some money. Velux is the brand to go with. They also sell a flashing kit that makes for a trouble free installation. I have a couple in my house and have had zero leaks in 15 years.

[John Goodin]

As a home inspector I would recommend tubes or round skylights over rectangle or square fixtures. It makes more sense for the ability to shed water, leaf debris, etc from the roof. I have seen composted leaf litter so thick against the top edge of skylight flashing small tree whips we’re growing in it.

[John K Jordan]

As a home inspector I would recommend tubes or round skylights over rectangle or square fixtures. It makes more sense for the ability to shed water, leaf debris, etc from the roof. I have seen composted leaf litter so thick against the top edge of skylight flashing small tree whips we’re growing in it.

That shouldn't happen if properly installed.

The Veux instructions call for a included water deflector installed above each square sky light. We live in an area with a lot of leaves and wind-blown debris. In years of use debris has never collected on the top of the skylights. Any debris appears to be deflected to both sides of the skylight. I don't know if cheaper skylights require the same deflectors.

Our roof is a steep 12-in-12 pitch so perhaps that makes a difference.

JKJ

[Jim Andrew]

I have put in a couple skylights, not the Velux, and even if they did not leak, they would condensate. Looking back, should just have refused to install them, but some women really insist on having their skylights! My sister has one, and it did not leak until they had the roof replaced. So blame the roofer.

[Bill Dufour]

They make power openers with wall or remote switches. They make them solar powered as well. They make vent fans for tube lights and lighting kits so they brighten up the floor after the sun goes down.
I did not like the price or the design of the Velux flashing so I made my own. I bent an L shape that was about 12" deep across the top and a little less down the sides. It went up and over the curb all around. The top piece was U shaped and overlapped the bottom by 12" or more. I made the top piece by cutting one long angle in two places to fold around the curb and along the sides. Then I soldered a piece at each corner so it is really one piece. Water would have to pool over two inches deep, on a sloped roof, before it could go under the top of the flashing.
On the ceiling I drywalled in the short light tunnel. I used bullnose trim for the transition to the ceiling plane. I think that rounded look adds a nice look and helps to hide any slight imperfections.
Bil lD
Some sklights are big enough they can be listed as fire escape windows for attic bedrooms.

[Tom M King]

I put 10 skylights in a really complicated standing seam roof, and folded the curbs from the roofing pan metal. There were no upper curves. I built the roof up above the skylights, so there was nothing to catch, and hold leaves, and water.

That house already had the skylights in, and the owner wanted to keep them. I used the existing trim inside, and ordered custom insulated 2x4 foot glass panels. The glass was tempered safety glass, and the outer pieces were bronzed, or there would have been too much heat gain during times when leaves were either coming out, or falling.

It is an ugly house, that had been added onto several times, but the owner was desperate for a roof that wouldn't leak. It hasn't. It is on a great lake lot though. We also put a matching roof on the boathouse. If you look closely at the house picture, you can see the low sides of the 6 skylights on that low slope roof. There are four more up on the highest planes of the Gambrels. It was one of those jobs that I didn't really want to do, but would do it for a premium price. It's 300 yards from our house.

I have pictures of the skylight process, but no one else would hardly repeat it anyway.

I can't find the folder with the pictures of the skylight procedure. They must be in another, older hard drive. Anyway, it involved the use of one of these tools: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kfqmn8hd40

[Jack Frederick]

Prior to making the investment in time and dough, I'd suggest you assess the quality of your interior lighting. I have the 4' twin tube LED's I bought at Costco and the lighting is excellent, at least compared to anything I've had before;) You may find that solves the problem. I hate punching holes in a good roof.

[dennis thompson]

Prior to making the investment in time and dough, I'd suggest you assess the quality of your interior lighting. I have the 4' twin tube LED's I bought at Costco and the lighting is excellent, at least compared to anything I've had before;) You may find that solves the problem. I hate punching holes in a good roof.

More lights it will be. I got two estimates for two Velux skylights, one for $8,500 and one for $4,500, both from what I feel are reliable contractors. I'll never understand how two estimates could be so different?
Just noticed this is my thousandth post, what is it about round numbers that fascinates us?

[John K Jordan]

More lights it will be. I got two estimates for two Velux skylights, one for $8,500 and one for $4,500, both from what I feel are reliable contractors. I'll never understand how two estimates could be so different?
Just noticed this is my thousandth post, what is it about round numbers that fascinates us?

My contractor put them in for about $500 each (plus the cost of the skylights)

The significance of round numbers varies with the number base system in use! :)

JKJ

[jared herbert]

I put a 24x48 pella brand non venting skylight in our kitchen during a major remodel 35 years ago. We have reshuffled twice since then due to hail. Never had a hint of a leak yet. I built a lip where the light shaft goes through the ceiling so in the wintertime I can lay a piece of plexiglass in there. It stops all condensation and dig does cut down on the heat loss. The amount of light it lets in is amazing. Jarrd

[Charlie Barnes]

432848I had 2 skylights on the south side of my first shop. Good news: they never leaked in the 7 years that I had the shop. Bad news: they didn't provide nearly as much light as I had hoped for. I lived in southern Ohio outside of Cincinnati so I would classify the sun condition as somewhere in the middle between a really northern climate and where I live now in Texas. (Sorry the photo is "pixilated" since it was taken through a window screen.)

[Rick Potter]

Late as usual to the party, but will post for future users.

My shop has six 2X8' skylights. Built it 15 years go, and no hint of a leak. Live in SoCal, so sun is the big factor for mine. I installed the lights on the North facing side of the roof, to avoid direct sunlight heat gain.

The inside is drywalled with the lights tunneled into the ceiling. Light output is great, and except for winter time, I can normally work inside the shop without using the lights until about late afternoon.

I also have five solar tubes in the house, and highly recommend them also, but not for workshop. They really brighten a darkish room, but not enough to work by.

[Bill Dufour]

God idea to weld up a grid of rebar inside to stop thieves from slipping in. It will also prevent a fall if you slip on the roof and go through the glass.
Bil lD