Roof Domes are fantastic to give the stair area natural light down the new stair case and to light up the existing staircase too. In some houses the stairs may come up onto the outside wall anyway and a window can be fitted instead but for all those mid terraces where the stairs come up in the middle of the house and there is no way of having a window… A light dome is the answer. the problem with a dome is that it goes into the flat roof so it is hard to clean unless you put a ladder up from the outside which believe me at that height is a scary thing to be doing…! You can buy self cleaning ones that are chemical based glass and are shaped so the wind and rain help keep it clean but even then you will still need to hand clean it once a year or so. It is really worth the hassle of cleaning though because the difference between a loft without stair light and one with is completely different. One without often feels like a walking into a dark cave.

You can also get internal opening domes which i personally don’t like as they are designed to be built into the flat roof, so just remember to close it at night or when you go out otherwise you might be coming home to a very wet house. You don’t really need ventilation on the stairs anyway, its only purpose is for light so really its just another way of getting a little extra cash out of you if you ask me. Also if you go for an opening dome, in 1-2 years the rubber seal may start to deteriorate due to the weather so try and avoid.

Always ask your Architect/Builder about roof domes, some lofts wont need one due to the design of the house and some lofts will be able to have a velux instead…

Roof domes normally come in three different sizes 600 x 600mm, 900 x 900mm and 1100 x 1100mm. The cost normally relates to the size, 600 x 600 @ £600, 900 x 900 @ £900 and 1100 x 1100 @ £1100. Normally these costs would including fitting but are only rough estimates of my previous experience. Make sure the chosen dome comes with a full 10 year guarantee as once installed it will be part of the flat roof.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 25th, 2007 at 4:27 pm and is filed under Roofs, Windows. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.