Skylight Conundrum

[Joe Carrick]

I've place a 48" square Skylight in a 6:12 pitch roof. It appears to be correct in 3D views (Perspectives, Sections and Elevations) but in Plan View it is also square but should be shortened so that the ceiling hole can be properly sized and it can be dimensioned as to placement.

It also seems that there's no way to frame the shaft between the ceiling and the roof - other than manually drawing attic walls.

Does anyone have answers to these problems? Right now it's driving me a little bit crazy - and of course really angry.

[Joe Carrick]

Also, I have selected Plumb/Square Sides in the Skylight Hole dbx. IMO this should result in the low side of the skylight hole having a Plumb Cut from the roof surface to the ceiling and the high side having a Square Cut from the roof surface down to the Ceiling. Ideally the shaft would also be framed to those surfaces.

Perhaps the only way to deal with these problems is with CAD Details.

This is a small project - just putting a Skylight in an existing Cabin - but the Bldg Dept requires calculations because it's a heavy snow load area. The calcs are no problem for me but getting a proper set of drawings for the contractor is critical.

BTW, I really think that doing the CAD Detail would probably be easier in AutoCAD.

[dshall]

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It also seems that there's no way to frame the shaft between the ceiling and the roof - other than manually drawing attic walls.

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I hope this is not the only alternative. Of course you might post a plan. I get mixed results with skylights and their shafts............ if depends on several factors that I have not been able to put my finger on.

[perryh]

Yes, it sure would be great for a fix, to the framing and plan views views. its been that way forever, never got fixed. It will create the drywall shaft most of the time. Scott did a lot of videos on this problem.

[Joe Carrick]

I hope this is not the only alternative. Of course you might post a plan. I get mixed results with skylights and their shafts............ if depends on several factors that I have not been able to put my finger on.

Scott,

I cant post the plan because it's over 3.4 MB even zipped. I'll try to create a small sample that you can play with.

[dshall]

Scott,

I cant post the plan because it's over 3.4 MB even zipped. I'll try to create a small sample that you can play with.

Great, strip it down to just the essentials.

[Dave Pitman]

I cant post the plan because it's over 3.4 MB even zipped. I'll try to create a small sample that you can play with.

Joe, I'm surprised you of all people don't take advantage of free cloud based resources, i.e. Dropbox, SugarSync, etc., for file sharing.

Or, maybe you do...just not for something this simple?

[Joe Carrick]

OK Scott,

Here's the simple version.

I made a Skylight Symbol and put it on the roof just to show the differences. The Symbol is for a Velux 48" sq. skylight with self flashing. On the left I modified Chief's Skylight hole to match the actual vertical projection of the roof pitch. On the right, the Skylight hole is 46.5" x 46.5" on the horizontal projection but it's bigger on the roof slope.

Obviously there are problems with the display in Plan View vs 3D. IAE, neither of the shaft walls gets framed.

[billemery]

It's a known issue that the skylights must be adjusted for the pitch of the roof, I think it would be helpful if they made it clear in the documentation. I don't think it's a bug, it's just the way they do it.

As for framing You don't need walls, just a little manual framing. This just took a couple of minutes.

[dshall]

Hey Joe, sorry, I misunderstood your request. I would agree with Bill that if you wanted framing, you need to do it yourself. I am more concerned with getting the DRYWALL shaft correct, and there are times when that does not work very well.

Bill, how did you do the framing.... are those psolids with a FIR FRAMING MATERIAL, or did you somehow do it with a wall?..... (which I doubt)......... I think you would of done it with psolids...... thanks Bill

[billemery]

It's just done with framing members; the raked studs are actually modified roof framing members, and the vertical studs are modified posts.

[Joe Carrick]

It's a known issue that the skylights must be adjusted for the pitch of the roof, I think it would be helpful if they made it clear in the documentation. I don't think it's a bug, it's just the way they do it.

I will disagree with that. The standard in the construction industry is to specify the skylight size just like you would specify the window size. The roof hole should match the interior dimension of the skylight.

As for framing You don't need walls, just a little manual framing. This just took a couple of minutes.

In my actual case the ceiling was built (1x T&G Boards) on top of 4x6 ceiling joists @48" o.c. (exposed beam ceiling) so I do need to build a wall between those and the rafters.

IAE, what was your process for framing the shaft?

[billemery]

It's just done with framing members; the raked studs are actually modified roof framing members, and the vertical studs are modified posts.

The framing could also be done with ceiling planes, but I saw no need since the skylight shaft already has drywall.

The only problem that I see with shortening the skylight to adjust for the roof pitch is that it reports its size incorrectly on the material list. In all other respects it is accurate.