Here is what I would do if you can't find a prefab solution that meet's your
needs.
Talk to your builder and ask him to give you a set of spec's that he would
feel comfortable in installing in your roof.
Now talk to a local metal fabricator and show him the spec's and ask him for
a solution.
Seems to me a skylight is just a window frame that is horizontal, so the
design needs to have provisions to: attach it to the roof,
stay water tight
have provisions to remove and replace the glazing material
resist corrosion.
I suspect a sheet metal shop could cut, fold and weld some stainless steel
up that would do the trick.
What would be really slick is if a "cricket" was included into the design to
deflect the water on the up side of the skylight frame.
The cheapest way to get the plastic sheet would be in regular flat sheets,
but some provision should be made to support the center so the plastic does
not sag over time. On pre fab units they seem to form a bubble shape to
prevent the sag, but if the athletics permit, a support mullion or two that
would allow any ordinary flat piece of plastic or glass to be used as
replacement glazing.
Plastic is great stuff, but over time the UV will kill it, so provisions for
replacement should allow an easy and cheap DIY solution when the need
arises.
Fabing it out of stainless will be more costly than building it out of wood,
but you will never have to paint it or worry about it rotting away.
--
Roger Shoaf
If you are not part of the solution, you are not dissolved in the solvent.
"Edward Reid" wrote in message
...
OK, the subject is going to make everyone say "no way". But wait ...
We are having part of our roof reframed because it's a mess, repairing the
rest and putting metal on the whole thing. It's all 3/12 slope. The metal
will be Berridge Zee-lock, which is 24-gauge with a 1" standing seam, 16"
wide panels which will be formed and cut to the specified lengths by a
local company.
The newly framed part is going to cover a small screened porch which
previously had a mostly fiberglass roof (which was part of the problem).
There's heavy shade around it, so there's going to be a lot less light
with
the metal roof. So we want to add skylights. Since it's a porch, I don't
need energy saving features like double glass and it doesn't need to open.
I would however prefer polycarbonate glazing -- statistically it may be
rare for a glass skylight to break, but such an event is in my experience,
and there's a large oak tree overhead. This is in north Florida, so no
worry about snow, and although wind is an issue, it's far enough inland
that thunderstorms are a greater concern than hurricanes.
Velux has a choice of sizes, but only glass, and double glass at that.
Others I've found online are glass or acrylic or "fiberglass" of
unspecified plastic composition. Won't be able to check the local
non-big-box stores until next week. The prices for the Velux aren't awful,
but I'm sure I'd be paying a good bit for the double glazing that I don't
need and I wouldn't get polycarb. They do at least offer tempered glass
which is like windshield glass in that it breaks into non-dangerous
pieces.
(And I haven't figured out whether I'll need their flashing kit with a
metal roof, or how much that will cost.)
So do I have any options for making it myself? (I refer to myself but it
would actually be a master carpenter working for me doing the
construction,
and I could find a local sheet metal shop if needed.) I can of course get
polycarbonate cut locally, so the frame is the biggie. And of course it
has
to pass inspection.
And obviously it mustn't leak. Even though some drops on the porch
wouldn't
matter, a leak would destroy the integrity of the decking just as quickly
on a porch as elsewhere.
Or should I give up on polycarb and eat the cost of features I don't need?
Edward
--
Art Works by Melynda Reid: http://paleo.org