Glass roof

R

Red30

Registered User
Messages
26
Hi,

We're in the middle of doing our kitchen extension at the moment and we're thinking of fitting a glass roof (approx. 11ft x 5ft) on part of the new kitchen roof to facilitate more light getting into the middle room of the house. Anyone have any experiences of using glass in a roof? Up until recently we'd decided to go with 3 velux windows in this part of the kitchen roof but would much prefer the idea of all glass instead. We were initially put off the idea due to the heat loss in winter and too much heat in the summer. However we've been told that there are new materials available now in windows to prevent this from happening.

All comments welcomed.

Red30
 
It will still have to be cleaned or it will look awful very quickly.

I would stick to velux windows.
 
We have a glass roof in the back porch, it is filthy dirty all the time and we have to climb up to clean it. Everything collects on it, dirt from the roof of the house and is always full of water. I know it wasn't done properly but we could never get the window people to come back to look. Once the money was paid that was that.
 
we have a glass roof on our conservatory. It needs constant cleaning, what with bird droppings etc. I've heard of self cleaning glass but I don't know how effective it is. If I could choose, I'd go for the velux windows etc. Good luck
 
You are better off with the Velux windows, as moss and leaves will make it a nightmare to keep clean, and as for the specially coated glass that is supposed to help block out the sun and the damage it causes forget it faded all our paintins in our sunroom in no time.
 
extopia said:
Self cleaning glass - that's a good one.
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There is such a thing. There is a house on the Canal near Portobello that was modernised and refurbished and in the process they put in a glass roof and wall. You can see it as you drive along the canal towards Leeson Street bridge and Baggot Street bridge direction. The house was featured in some magazine as a thing of wonder!
 
It does exist. Self cleaning glass. Some are doubtful if it really does what it says on the tin!!!

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Dollie said:
It does exist. Self cleaning glass. Some are doubtful if it really does what it says on the tin!!!

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Have also seen this product in the past my father has installed it in a few houses not cheap mind but a good product so he says
 
Hi Red30,
Re you're Q on insulation properties, one value you should examine is the U-Value of the window it measures the windows ability to insulate, lower is better. Large glass areas in a roof/wall will certainly increase energy usage during cold weather, a simple rule of thumb is to raise the temp in a house by 1 degree will increase energy usage by circa 7%.
 
Thanks for the tips which I've talked with the other half and the builder about. DACMAN, in relation to the U-Value the window is 1.5 which I believe is a good rate in terms of keeping the heat in. In terms of the cleaning, we can stand on the side wall and give it a power spray plus the glass will be opaque so we won't be able to notice much of the dirt. Yep, I think the glass roof is the way to go.

Cheers
Red30
 
I had a glass roof installed from Senator Windows with the Pilkington Self Cleaning Glass. It does work - no mould and in a year and hasn't been cleaned yet. I would only consider it on a south facing elevation. Loads of sunshine and welcome solar gain.
 
We're thinking of having white PVC but we've yet to decide for definate so if you've any bad news stories on either option Free Speech let me know. 10to1 our garden is west facing so there'll be plenty of light getting into the rooms. Good to know that the self cleaning glass works but doesn't it cost a fortune? I think the fact that we can give the glass a good power spray when it becomes dirty means we don't have to have the added expense of the Pilkington self clean.
 
A thought which just occurred to me; would you need use the roof to get access to any structure over the top of it? I'm thinking of guttering, dascia boards etc. If you do need this access then clearly a solid roof would be better.
 
Yeah BillK, we've thought about this one before. The new kitchen roof will be hipped so it never was going to be easy to carry out any repairs/maintenance on the main roof anyway, regardless if glass or timber was used. We'll need to come up with an alternative plan for the cleaning of gutters etc.
 
Maybe a high pressure hosepipe from the side to clean gutters which could perhaps blast any dirt from the glass roof at the same time?
 
Are there companies who specialise in supplying and fitting glass roofs (not conservatory companies) or is it part of a roofers brief? Anybody know any?
 
Hi Dollie,

Our builder is using a company called Viking Windows in Rathcoole - 01 4588946. They will supply the windows but the builder is going to fit it.

Good luck with it.
 
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