All Need To Know About Roof Lanterns When Building An Extension

Choosing a Roof Lantern For Your Extension

Let there be Light!

If you are dead posh and live in a desirable residence like me, then you probably already have an orangery in which you overwinter your citrus fruits.

Failing that, then you will definitely have a roof lantern in your billiard room. It stands to reason.

Although they were almost exclusively the preserve of the wealthy and respectable, there is now a growing demand for roof lanterns to be installed into poor peoples homes as well.

Apparently they are entitled to just as much light and space as we are.

Roof Lantern Installation

The installation of a roof lantern can transform existing properties, bringing light and adding character to even the darkest areas.

Customers have been coming to us in the last few years wanting ideas to transform their erections from the mundane to the eye-catching.

Roof lanterns, although they can bump up the price of your project, can certainly have that effect.

Hopefully, if your builder has a bit of imagination and you have the extra pounds, your extension can be transformed dramatically.

There is also the construction to consider: a roof lantern sits on a flat roof.

The alternative method of letting light through the ceiling is a pitched roof with a Velux/Roof Window. The construction of a flat roof is cheaper than a pitched roof, but a roof lantern is more expensive than a Velux or two.

So it's kind of a case of swings 'n' roundabouts.

Which Material? How Much of a WOW! Factor Do You Want?

Painted hardwood, painted softwood, stained hardwood, PVCu, aluminium, copper, zinc, even stainless steel!

Why not ask your builder for his opinion! A decent firm will have practical experience of both installation, maintenance and aesthetics.

He will have installed big ones, small ones, ones that looked great and ones that didn't look good. Go on, ask - he might come up with something interesting and relevant to your project that neither you, nor the architect have considered.

Not all builders stare at your chest area while discussing the weekend's match, you know. Just most.

It’s All About Where You Stick It

A well-designed roof lantern could work really well for you so try to convey your thoughts on design to your architect at the earliest opportunity.

Too small a lantern will look like someone has placed a glass kennel onto your flat roof. Too large a lantern will look like you are trying to recreate Kew Gardens in your own backyard.

Your new lantern could be positioned to illuminate or highlight a particular area or feature within your new space like the dining table.

Or if you are particularly upwardly mobile, maybe your new kitchen island?

Old and New

Lanterns work equally well in both modern and period properties and. But what if ‘er indoors doesn’t want to spend the extra money because “we’ll be selling in 5 years anyway”?

Well, maybe you will, but if your builder constructs and installs the lantern sympathetically, then your property will gain the wow factor and further down the line when you do decide to sell, you will be quids in.

So get a Stella (or 6) from the fridge and stand up for yourself, man – you won’t regret it (until Friday night about 10.30 pm when you're in the mood and she's still cross!)

Now I know it’s true that many of the roof lanterns and orangeries of yesteryear didn’t last very well.

They tended to leak and required constant maintenance and painting. A lot of that was due to the lack of materials and sealants available to the builders of the day.

Paint quality wasn't what it is nowadays and PVCu wasn't available.

Things have moved on. Even in the Yorkshire Dales. Nowadays we have the benefit of modern double glazing techniques, sealing compounds, and electric mechanisms.

You could even sit in your favourite armchair with your bottle of Asahi smiling smugly as you open and close the roof lights with just the press of a button.

She will inevitably just huff and pretend not to notice. Self-cleaning, low emissivity glass means you won’t even have to get up there to clean it.

Which is nice!