Skylights
What color do your skylight frames come in?
What are the outside curb dimensions?
Skylight Care and Maintenance
Proper Cleaning of Glass:
Glass should be cleaned with a soft, clean, grit-free cloth and a mild, non-abrasive, non-alkaline cleaning solution. The glass should be rinsed immediately with clean rinse water, excess rinse water should be removed promptly with a squeegee.
Proper Cleaning of Acrylic or Polycarbonate materials:
All materials should be cleaned with mild soap or detergent and lukewarm water using only a clean sponge or soft cloth, then rinsed with clean water. For the removal of fresh paint, grease or glazing compounds consult the instructions of the plastic manufacturer.
Proper Cleaning of Painted Frame:
Royalite aluminum frame is painted with Highs Solids Aliphatic two component polyurethane coating. In a manner similar to glass the painted surface should be cleaned with a soft, clean, grit-free cloth and a mild, non-abrasive, non-alkaline cleaning solution and be rinsed with clean rinse water.
Do not use any acid-based cleaners, solvant based or harsh abrasives on any glass, arcylic or painted surfaces because they will permanently damage the surface.
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Installing your skylight
Step 1: Getting Started
Rain or shine, you can easily create a skylight in one day using the following instructions. Since nature could prove to be uncooperative, it’s best to prepare for rain as a precaution. Purchase a tarpaulin large enough to cover the roof opening with plenty of leeway. The tarp should be big enough to skirt the ridge to the other side of the rooftop, providing a runoff for water. Should it rain, you can make a “sandwich” over the roof opening with 2X4s, tarpaulin, and additional 2X4s.
Step 2: Making the Frame
According to the Uniform Building Code the skylight is, at minimum, 4 inches above the roofing material with the aid of the curb. If you are working in a very snowy climate, it’s best to use wide boards such as 2X10s. Otherwise, you should select 2X6 lumber.
Check the manufacturer’s instructions for dimensions for the roof opening and match these to the inside dimensions of the curb. Note where the lumber is to be cut, working with a tape measure and a combination or carpenter’s square. Avoid knots at the ends. Cut your wood and protect against split ends by drilling pilot holes for the nails. Then nail the pieces together. You’ll want to test for squareness by measuring diagonals of the curb from corner to corner, or by using a carpenter’s square.
Until you are ready to nail it in place you’ll want to keep the curb square by bracing two opposite corners together. Lightly drive 2″ nails into wood or triangles cut from plywood about 1/2″ thick.
Items needed: Tape measure, combo square, circular saw or crosscut saw, electric drill and claw hammer.
Step 3: Preparing the Roof
For a curb-mounted model, use a rope to dolly the curb to the roof. Align the curb with the four protruding nails so that each corner houses a nail. (For a heavy shake roof, chalk your lines about 1/2″ away from the edges of the curb, permitting space for the eventual step-flashing. For asphalt shingle or wood roofs, make your chalk lines directly in line with the outside edges of the curb.) The curb can be put aside for now.
Items needed: Chalk line or utility knife, or tape measure and straight edge.
Step 4: Cutting the Roof
Select a saw and blade appropriate to the roof you are working with. Circular saws perform well for wood shingles and shakes (use a combination blade) and for asphalt shingles (use a carbide-tipped blade). Disposable blades are essential for built-up roofs since the blade will later be useless. When cutting the rough opening, take care that the saw’s blade pierces the roofing material and sheathing, but not the rafters. Line up the saw blade with the chalk line. Now turn on the saw and lower it so that its base plate is on the roof. Follow your marked line until you hit a corner. When you have sawed the entire square, remove the roofing section.
Items needed: Circular saw, chalk line, claw hammer, pry bar and an appropriate saw blade.
Step 5: Removal of Section
Different skylights will require varying amounts of roofing material to be removed. If step-flashing is necessary (those mounted on a site-built curb are included), use a pry bar to remove the nails and then make a 10″ clearance, removing shingles on all sides of the opening. These shingles will be needed later to flash the unit.
Step 6: Completing the Framing
You’ll have to install jack rafters between the headers parallel to the rafters if your skylight does not fit between the rafters. You’ll need pieces of lumber the same size as the rafters to fit between the two headers. Nail these pieces in joist hangers nailed to the headers.
Step 7: All About Joist Hangers
To create a secure butt joint between a header and a rafter or a joist and a beam, you need a framing connector called a joist hanger. Typically U-shaped, these are secured with special framing anchor nails available when you purchase your joist hangers.
Step 8: Placing the Curb
Use a rope to elevate the curb to the roof and place the curb over the roof opening, ensuring that the two are correctly aligned. With a carpenter’s square or by measuring the diagonals, be certain that the curb is square. With 2 1/2″ nails, toenail the curb through the sheathing to the frame rafters and headers. Corner braces can now be eliminated. Fasten the curb to the roof opening using 2 #10 galvanized nails or 2 #8X1.5 deck screw per side.
Roofing felt should be attached around all sides, under the edges of the existing shingles, and allowed to curl up the sides of the curb. Once the felt is cut to align perfectly with the top of the curb, it can be stapled to the curb itself. Cut the felt, curl it around and staple it to the adjacent side of the curb when working on a corner. Felt on the top piece should overlay edges of the felt at the side piece and these should overlay the felt on the bottom piece.
Items needed: Hand stapler, utility knife, claw hammer and a carpenter’s square or tape measures.
Step 9: Placing the Skylight
The skylight is ready to be positioned once you have successfully framed the roof opening. The following instructions are suitable for most models but check the manufacturer’s specific recommendations. Be sure to install flashing correctly to prevent rain from leaking in through the roof. (Various flashing kits are available for low-profile and high-profile roofing materials.) As a general rule, when you have overlapping roofing felt, flashing or shingles, the piece that is higher on the roof should be topmost.
For curb-mounted skylights, install the curb as directed, follow with the flashing, and finish by fastening the skylight to the curb as described below. For a step-flashed unit, attach the skylight to the sheathing with the mounting brackets provided and install the flashing.
A. Bottom Saddle Placement
Replace shingles up to the bottom of the curb or to the step-flashed skylight’s frame, then line up the saddle flashing with the bottom of the curb. Don’t prick the roofing felt since this will cause leakage when it rains. Using 1″ nails, nail the saddle flashing to the curb. Avoid the sheathing.
B. Step-flashing Placement
Place shingles and step-flashing at every side of the curb, weaving each new piece of step flashing with each course of shingles. Avoid cutting the roofing felt or nailing the shingles through the flashing. Lower pieces of step flashing and shingles should be under higher pieces. Holding each piece of flashing flat against the roof using your hand or foot, nail it into the curb. It may be necessary to cut the flashing to fit the top of the curb. Cut the flashing with tin snips and then curve it around the corner and nail it to the top of the curb.
Items needed: Tin snips, claw hammer
C. Positioning the Top Saddle
Secure the top saddle flashing along the top of the curb, holding the saddle in place while you nail it in. (If you have a very thick roof, the saddle may not fit snugly against the curb and you will need to employ the filler piece in your flashing kit. The filler should be sandwiched between the saddle and the curb and then the whole bundle can be nailed together.) You may now replace shingles over the saddle flashing, but do not use nails. Unless the manufacturer advises it, cement or sealant is unnecessary.
Step 10: Attaching the Skylight
Attaching the Frame to the Curb (Curb-mounted skylights)
You will need to run a line of silicone rubber sealant across the top of the curb once it is flashed. Before gluing firmly, be sure the skylight is positioned directly over the curb. Use the pre-drilled holes in the frame to attach the skylight’s frame to the side of the curb.
Items needed: Claw hammer, caulking gun
Attaching the Frame to the Roof (Step-flashed skylights)
If the manufacturer instructs you, remove the sash from the frame once you have framed the rough opening. Attach the mounting brackets to the frame and align the frame over the opening. Screw the brackets to the sheathing. Use a carpenter’s square or measure the diagonals to be certain that the frame is square.
Place roofing felt around the frame, positioning the material under existing felt at the top and sides, and over existing felt at the bottom. Once you have wrapped the roofing felt around the frame’s edges, staple it in place. Cut the material, curl it around and staple it to the adjacent side of the curb when you reach a corner. If you have done this properly, roofing felt at the top of the skylight will be on top of the side pieces and these will be on top of the bottom piece. Before installing the step-flashing, replace shingles up to the bottom of the frame.
Items needed: Utility knife, hand stapler, tape measure or carpenter’s square, electric drill or screwdriver.
What is Condensation and how can it be reduced?
Skylight condensation occurs most frequently when warm, moist air rises to the ceiling and comes into contact with the colder glass surface that’s influenced by outside temperatures and weather conditions.The condensation can be identified by the mist-like conditions that can appear and cloud the interior glass of your roof window. Rooms such as kitchens, bathrooms, laundry rooms and areas immediately adjacent can also be prone to condensation.
Insulated glass skylights are hermetically sealed, which prevents the formation of condensation between the panes. However, condensation can form on the bottom interior surface of the glass. If the skylight is installed without any pitch and condensation occurs, droplets can form in the center of the pane
To reduce condensation, control the humidity inside your home. Opening a window briefly is a quick temporary solution. The dryer cold air will enter the room while the moist air is allowed to escape. The only effective remedy is to reduce humidity in your environment.
- Opening drapes and blinds, allowing air to circulate throughout the room
- Installing and using a dehumidifier
When should you be concerned?
If you find condensation between the two layers of glass in an insulated window, the airtight seal has probably been broken and the glass will need to be replaced. If there is too much moisture inside the home, you will find moisture spots on the ceiling walls, peeling paint, rotting wood, mold or mildew growth as signs of serious problems. If you experience these symptoms, contact an expert heating & cooling contractor in order to solve the problem.
Green Skylight Performance Options
A wide range of energy performance options are available for all standard and custom glass skylights. Our low profile, curb mount single lite glass skylight also provides the maximum of allowable clear vision area.
Skylights are available in three standard color frames, bronze, white and silver as well as a factory mill finish. A full range of custom colors is also available to match your sample.
All product performance specifications and test results are those of the original manufacturer of each individual product and are incorporated into the skylight as the components used for some of the best performance characteristics available in the industry.
Energy Performance Characteristics
The “Royalite Skylight” can provide the best available complete energy package along with the maximum possible light opening to re-vitalize the dark areas of any home by introducing natural light while keeping all of the elements at bay.
Highest light transmission energy performer
Only 79% of visible light is transmitted through standard clear insulated windows. Low-e glazing transmits nearly 70% of all visible light because it utilizes a color neutral low emisivity coating to provide optimum energy performance with what appears to be clear glass.
Best insulation value to keep out the cold
Heat loss is minimized by the use of one-inch thick insulated, coated, dehydrated air spaced glass that provides a 3.45 R value. The “low e” coating reflects heat back into the house to retain the warm interior air. Royalite low-e glazing insulated performance is comparable to the highest rated windows available in the residential or commercial window market at a Winter Nighttime “U” value of 0.29.
Minimizes unwanted heat gain from summer sun
Heat gain can be reduced to as low as one third of the heat normally transmitted through standard window glass by the use of the latest glass technology as produced by PPG and Cardinal, just two of the several major glass producers providing low-e options. Royalite uses these high performance, wave length selective, coated glass products engineered to reflect unwanted heat gain without the use of dark tints or highly reflective coatings.
Less glare than clear glass
A 15% reduction in light transmission is in effect also a 15% reduction of unwanted glare from the sun, from water or any other nearby annoying exterior reflective surface. This is done without the use of a tinted or reflective surfaced glass. Clear window glass has a 15% outdoor reflectance. Low-e glass is less reflective than standard window glass with an outdoor reflectance of only 12%.
Lets in less sound than the walls
The sound reduction capabilities for the Royalite skylight at the center of glass, as tested by the original vinyl manufacturer, is designated in the industry as an STC 40. This Sound Transmission Classification simply translated means that the glass is a better sound barrier than a standard residential interior wall.
Blocks 99% of the ultra violet rays of the sun
The primary cause of fading in all furniture and furnishings, at about 60%, is the invisible, ultra violet rays of the sun. The Royalite glass skylight contains components developed to eliminate 99% of Ultra Violet Rays below 380 nanometers that have 50 times greater damage potential than visible light at 500 nanometers.
Tempered and laminated safety glazing
All Royalite skylights are glazed with tempered safety glass and laminated safety glass, both are tested to meet impact requirements for doors and sidelights and are permanently labeled by the manufacturer to meet all Safety Glazing Code Requirements. Because of the polyvinyl interlayer of the laminated glass, broken glass will not fall out of the skylight weather broken by man or storm or earthquake or other act of god.
Can provides security protection
Glass is available for Royalite skylights capable of providing protection against burglary and forced entry with the use of a combination of tempered safety glass in conjunction with tempered two-ply laminated architectural glass with an .060 polyvinyl interlayer. Its resistance to forced entry will meet Underwriters Laboratory Test UL972.
Extended life silicone sealed insulated glass
The insulated glass components are made with a primary moisture seal of polyisobutelene to seal -in the dehydrated air space. A secondary structural silicone seal is applied to glue the two pieces of glass together. This structural silicone is the strongest and most UV stable glass sealant on the market. This combination provides a dual-seal insulated unit for the most reliable and longest lasting insulated glass available.
Able to provide hurricane protection
Stringent standards have been established for glass products to protect homeowners from flying objects in areas subject to hurricane force winds. Glazing is available that will withstand winds in excess of one hundred miles per hour and will meet SBCCI and SSTD12 test standards to resist Small Missile Impacts from Windborne Debris in Hurricanes.
Can provide snow load capacity
Royalite Single Lite skylights can be designed for true tough climate applications with a snow load capacity of up to 300 pounds per square foot on skylights from virtually flat roofs to steep slopes. Structural curbs and roof design must be prepared to accommodate the skylight that is designed for 2x curbs built perpendicular to the roof slope or plumb to the ground.
Performance Requirements
- Structural Members: Of sufficient sizes to support design loads as prescribed by governing building codes.
- The deflection of the framing member in a direction normal to the plane of glass when subjected to a uniform load deflection test in accordance with ASTM E330, and per the above specified loads, shall not exceed L/175, up to 1-in. maximum, for clear spans under 20-ft., or L/240 for clear spans greater than 20-ft.
- The deflection of the framing member in a direction parallel to the plane of glass, when carrying its full dead load, shall not exceed an amount which will reduce the glass or panel bite below 75% of the design dimension and the member shall have a 1/8-in. min. clearance between itself and the edge of the fixed panel, glass, or component immediately adjacent, nor shall it impair the function of or damage any joint seals.
- Water Penetration: No water penetration shall occur when the system is tested in accordance with ASTM E331 using a differential static pressure of (20% of the inward acting design wind load pressure, but not less than (12psf). Water penetration is defined as the appearance of uncontrolled water other than condensation on the interior surface of any part of the skylight.
- Thermal Movement: Provide for such expansion and contraction of component materials as will be caused by regional surface temperatures without causing buckling, stress on glass, failure of seals, undue stress on structural elements, reductions of performance or other detrimental effects.
- Where permitted by code, a 1/3 increase in allowable stress for wind seismic load shall be acceptable, but not in combination with any reduction applied to combined loads. In no case shall allowable values exceed the yield stress.
- Compression flanges of flexural members may be assumed to receive effective lateral bracing only from anchors to the building structure and horizontal glazing bars or interior trim which are in contact with 50% of the member’s total depth.
- The skylight framing is designed to be self-supporting between the support construction. The skylights will impose reactions to the support construction. All adjacent and support construction must support the transfer of all loads, including horizontal and vertical, exerted by the skylights. Design or structural engineering services for the supporting structure or building components not included in the skylight’s scope are not included under this section.
- Optional limited reaction design: The skylight framing is to be designed to exert no horizontal reactions under vertical gravity type loads, (dead, snow, live). Unbalanced live loads, (wind, seismic, etc.) acting upon the skylight will produce horizontal reactions that cannot be controlled by the skylights but must be resisted by the support structure.
Quality Assurance
- Work of this section, including design, engineering, fabrication, finishing, preparation at the job site, erection and glazing of the skylight manufacturer. The manufacturer shall be regularly engaged in the preceding phases of construction of skylights and able to demonstrate that he has performed successfully on comparably sized projects and of comparable design complexity over at least the previous ten years.
- Royalite Mfg. Inc. has over twelve years of experience in the design, engineering, manufacturing and installation of skylights. Our skylight systems have been subjected to rigorous testing during the course of development and have been applied in thousands of practical applications.
Design Requirments
- Extended Aluminum members with attachment of exterior glass retainers with 1/4-in. x 20 stainless steel screws and snap-on beauty caps.
- Condensation guttering system integral with skylight framing members for positive drainage of condensation.
- Flush glazed exterior horizontal joints with field applied structural silicone.
Ladders
When do you need to have a cage on a commercial ladders?
Can the ladder be painted?
Do your ladders extend?
NFRC and AMMA Certified Labels
NFRC Label
AAMA/FGIA
Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations
What does it mean in reference to skylights?
Manufactured windows, glass doors, and skylights are constructed of materials which are factory-cut or otherwise factory-formed with the specific intention of being used to fabricate a fenestration product. A manufactured fenestration product is typically factory-assembled before delivery to a job site. This is the most common type of fenestration in residential construction.