Do I install skylights in our two bathrooms?

Mazeroth

My Dad's good buddy renovates bathrooms on the side and hooks friends up big-time. We have two bathrooms that are very small, roughly 5x8, that are 20 years outdated. I'm gutting everything for him. He and his son are going to install new tubs, tile every surface, including the ceiling, vanities, toilets etc. He also said he could put skylights in our ceilings, one per bathroom, since it's a ranch and will be pretty easy. He wants $1600 labor for each room, which is crazy cheap, but said if I don't want the skylights he'll take $300 off each for labor. I would need another $200 for each window, roughly, so each will run me about $500. Neither bathroom has a window so it will be nice to get some natural light inside.

One downside is that we live in a development and our house is about 70 feet from the road. It's a ranch, and each skylight will be on the front of the house so it will be visible from the road. Not that it's that bad, but just throwing that out there.

Just curious what everyone thinks about skylights and if it you feel it will be worth the $1000 investment. Overall, with the skylights, I will have about $6500 invested in both rooms with materials. We only paid $145,000 for the house and I told myself no more than $15,000 in total renovations. I wasn't planning on paying anyone anything for labor as I'm a DiYer, so the $3200 is something I don't want to spend but feel it's a pretty awesome deal. We plan on staying here another ~8 years and then getting a bigger house.

Thanks in advance.

dorokusai

I would do it and if it's an issue, just mirror tint them.

danger boy

i'm a big fan of natural light.. we humans need it.. daylight affects your mood. Even though it's a bathroom and you may not spend a lot of time in there. it's still nice to have that light in the room.. might even save a little bit on your electric bill, maybe not having to use the light as often.

Sherardp

I would definitely do as I like a little light in the house. And besides it should add value to your house when and should you sell. If the privacy becomes an issue go with the mirror tinting idea and enjoy. I personally think they are great, my parents home also has one in the kitchen. Looks very nice.

reeltrouble1

personally I would opt for the stripper pole option with the lights a fairly close second.

RT1

kcoc321

IF his price includes all the framing, roofing, insulation, sheetrock, paint, complete, that $500 is actually not too bad a price.
Natural light is always nice.

jimmydep

I never liked skylights, but it seems like an extremely reasonable price for all that work.

TNRabbit

Since it's not my money, I say GO FOR IT~

Make certain the skylights are good quality & he installs them properly as they are a PRIME location for leaks...

gdb

You could probably do the tube type skylights cheaper. They're much less likely to LEAK !
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http://www.solatube.com/

NotaSuv

We have sky lights in our bath rooms and its great, as stated natural light works wonders for your mood especially in the morning, and its much better to read the news paper by natural light

Fireman32

I say go for it. It will increase the resale valuse of the house as well.

TNRabbit

gdb wrote: »

You could probably do the tube type skylights cheaper. They're much less likely to LEAK !
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http://www.solatube.com/

Those are awesome; I'd love to put them in my house~

gdb

Would it be worth trading some ALIIIs for the labor?? Have saw,will travel:D

brettw22

two things.........

Did you say he was going to tile your ceiling or did you just type that out wrong?

How in the world is a skylight going to inhibit privacy from the street? I think when you say 'front of the house' you mean on the front side of the roof, closest to the street......right? If you're saying you're putting a skylight on the wall facing the street, that's a 'window'......lol.....

Systems

The solatubes are a good cheaper way to go... I've put a couple of them in and they are pretty easy to install...

One other thing, if you do decide to put in a regular window skylight, do not go cheap!! I repeat do not go cheap!! Get yourself an Anderson, and have somebody install it that knows what they are doing.

Its a piece of cake to get them sealed up if your redoing your roof/shingles, not that easy to do on an existing roof. You really need to get it tied into your shingles properly!!

They will leak if you don't get a good one and its not installed correctly!!

tcrossma

Lorthos wrote: »

The solatubes are a good cheaper way to go... I've put a couple of them in and they are pretty easy to install...

One other thing, if you do decide to put in a regular window skylight, do not go cheap!! I repeat do not go cheap!! Get yourself an Anderson, and have somebody install it that knows what they are doing.

Its a piece of cake to get them sealed up if your redoing your roof/shingles, not that easy to do on an existing roof. You really need to get it tied into your shingles properly!!

They will leak if you don't get a good one and its not installed correctly!!

+1 to this, it's very good advice. Anderson isn't a requirement, as there are other very good brands out there (e.g Velux), but $200 for each skylight sounds awful inexpensive depending on what size and type they are.

dee1949

...CRAZY not TO DO IT AT THAT PRICE.....WOULD EASILY UP YOUR RESALE VALUE by 5x that cost.

nooshinjohn

I would do it as well, except you will need to be careful when the Google Earth people to a pass over your house in the future.

Jim Shearer

My only concern would be condensation in a high humidity environment.

We have sky lights in our family room. Each winter I have to put plastic over them to prevent condensation around the edges. (These are quality, thermopane (sp?) type windows.) I would expect things to be much worse in a bathroom.

Cheers, Jim

tcrossma

I have a skylight in my kitchen and bathroom and do not have any issues with condensation.

Willow

My parents have one in their ensuite. I have to say it's nice to have all the natural light and heat.....with that said, we stayed there while we were waiting for our new house (my parents had gone on a sailing trip for 3 months) deoderant left in the direct sunlight turns to almost liquid. So you may want to tint as mentioned or add a blind of some sort.

exalted512

I would do it. We dont have skylights, but we have something similar to this over our tub:


I love it. Lots of natural light. Its nice not having to blind yourself in the morning turning the lights on...and i hardly ever have to turn the lights on.
-Cody

mhardy6647

we put skylights in our upstairs bathrooms when they were remodeled in 1996... they had to build "chimneys" of sorts up through the attic, but the end result was great. We installed skylights that open; we have a long-handled gizmo to crank them open (rather than going with electro-gizmos to do it). We do open them sometimes in the spring and early summer for ventilation.

devani

do it.....8+ years will give nice return...

Huck344

Lorthos wrote: »

One other thing, if you do decide to put in a regular window skylight, do not go cheap!! I repeat do not go cheap!! Get yourself an Anderson, and have somebody install it that knows what they are doing.

+2. . . Leaking skylights are the worst!!!

Retro152

Probably out of your budget: Rain sensor ready with the keypad. Nice when your not home, sudden rainstorm, automatic closure, nice feature but pricey.
Current estimate you got looks real decent. Good luck.




Pat.

madmax

nooshinjohn wrote: »

I would do it as well, except you will need to be careful when the Google Earth people to a pass over your house in the future.

Thats a comforting thought. :eek: