Kitchen extension

[Katjolo]

Hi all. Planning a kitchen/ diner extension. Wondering thoughts on roof lantern or flush velux for flat roof. Does anyone have any experience of either of the above? Any pics? Thanks 🙂

[TwoLeftSocksWithHoles]

No direct experience but a friend who has a lantern says he has to climb onto the flat roof up every so often to clean bird poop off it (even though it is 'self-cleaning' glass) whilst some Velux windows can rotate so you can clean them from the inside.

However I thing lanterns look better (assuming no bird poop!)

[Daisydoesnt]

We have a flat skylight in our kitchen extension. It’s absolutely lovely, although it was expensive (I think about £1,500 although it’s over 1 meter long so quite big) A skylight is much nicer than a lantern IMO.

I think that the roof of extensions these days have to be strong enough to bear weight for maintenance, ie the window cleaner just climbs on to the roof to clean with skylight.

[GinAtMerlottes]

We have a vaulted ceiling which looks really fabulous and gets a lot of comments.

[Katjolo]

Thank you. Does anyone have any pics? I'm trying to use rightmove and pinterest for inspiration but not always seeing what I'm looking for. Our ar direct suggested foux velux. If they can self clean then that's a bonus!

[OnTheBenchOfDoom]

I can recommend watching Stu Crompton a British brickie that link is the flat roof and two roof lights going in. He also does full extension builds which will allow you to see the process if this is something you are interested in.

I had my kitchen extension done years ago and got to see the thing built. We have a sloped roof and one large velux which I need a ladder to clean due to the height, but I can flip it so I can clean the outside from the inside. It is not that easy to do but it isn't like I do that every week.

Also look at Home Building and Renovation and their video on roof lanterns

In fact YouTube is a great source of building/renovation videos. It will usually have something you are looking for.

[wowfudge]

A neighbour saved money by buying a roof lantern the builders then put together before it was fitted and have had nothing but trouble with leaks. Turned out to be a total false economy.

[Katjolo]

Thanks. I'll check out the YouTube links.

[SlightlyJaded]

Following.

In exactly the same position OP and need to decide

I like the additional height you get from the lantern and I've see Some quite cool looking ones with thin black frames that I'm quite tempted by. But the cleaning is giving me pause for thought.

[HBGKC]

Ooh, my people! I'm also having to start thinking about these things as we hope to do a kitchen extension next year.

Does anyone have any idea of the respective costs? Are flat Veluxes the cheapest, then pitched/slanted, then roof lanterns (and are they the raised 3 dimensional box frames that hold the glass higher than the roof?

[PucePanther]

I have a Skypod roof lantern. It’s lovely to sit under and look out. The room does get quite warm in summer though. Also I can’t open it to let out flies etc. It’s self cleaning, been in five years and I’ve never cleaned it.

[rosettesforjill]

We have a lantern. It needs cleaning fairly regularly but it's straightforward as we can get onto the flat roof pretty easily. I had originally wanted a flat one but I am so pleased with how it looks. Couple of pics attached - let me know if any other angles would be helpful!

[HBGKC]

That looks lovely, @rosettesforjill. This style is what our architect has put on our plans, more or less. Would you mind sharing an approx ballpark cost?

[rosettesforjill]

@HBGKC

That looks lovely, *@rosettesforjill*. This style is what our architect has put on our plans, more or less. Would you mind sharing an approx ballpark cost?

I'll ask DH to dig it out the cost from his spreadsheet later!

[woodlandwalker]

I have a lantern installed by previous owners. It looks good and makes the room really light. The only issue is that the room gets very hot in the summer and blinds are difficult and expensve.
My window cleaner goes on the roof to clean outside and occasionally I get him to do inside.

[HBGKC]

Thanks rosettes!

[Katjolo]

Roof lantern looks lovely. Delighted to find people to share/discuss these ideas with.

[SlightlyJaded]

Is there such a thing as a roof lantern that opens? Does anyone have one?