How to get light into a dark stairwell

[agnesrose86]

We are taking out a large staircase at the back of our house and rebuilding a smaller version in the middle of the house off the hallway to create a big kitchen diner with bifold doors that will completely transform the house. The work is happening while we are on a two week holiday. Our builder has just phoned to say the new stair well is very dark and is there anything we want him to do about it. I have to make a decision pretty quickly but has anyone installed internal glazing to bring light into a stairwell or a sun tunnel or is a dark hallway not much of a problem since you don't really stop there? Any advice/experience would be much appreciated.

We installed a roof light. We took the ceiling out above the stairwell, opened it up and put in the rooflight. The best decision we ever made. If you have the possibility of a sun tunnel, I think a roof light is way more stylish and no pp needed. We also have another darkish corridor and have installed a glass wall, mostly opaque, to the bathroom that runs along the whole length of the corridor. It is an ensuite bathroom and the bedroom and bathroom have their own discrete entrance so the glass wall works re privacy. Just a tunnel of a corridor otherwise. This area was difficult regarding opening up into the loft, so the glass wall worked effectively.

Thanks so much. Can you remember how much it cost to put your roof light in? That's a great idea.

We have two light tubes (from here in our upstairs landing which gets no natural light at all. They are really effective. You certainly don't need to turn lights on during the day. They cost I think about £250 + VAT each. They were right under the high part of the roof and also we have a long hallway created by an extension and needed light to both ends - so one roof light wouldn't have worked as well.

We also have a Velux skylight above our staircase. It's brilliant and lets so much light down the stairs and into the hallway too. We also have a motor on it so we can open it with a remote control on hot days - it lets loads of heat out (and closes by itself if it rains).

I can't tell you the cost sorry as it was there when we bought the house.