Dark landing - half glazed door?

[Twoshoesnewshoes]

I’ve had a quote for a sun tunnel for our landing as it doesn’t have natural light.
but just thought, I could swap out the bathroom door for a half glazed one - just the top panel.
does anyone have similar? Does it actually provide any light?

Of all the rooms, I would want privacy in the bathroom!

Does it need to be a sun tunnel? Can you not just add a few extra lightbulbs?

😂
it would be frosted glass!
id like natural light if possible, the rest of the house is very light, lots of space, views from every window. The landing feels really grim in contrast!

About 2 yrs ago, there was a thread in property which included opinions on light tunnels.
Is the quote expensive, they can be fitted with a light for night time. slightly coloured bulb make it cosy.

I have to say, I loved our sun tunnel, it made a huge difference to our landing, and I'd really recommend them.

Whats the space above the doorway before the ceilings? My parents put some frosted glass above all the doorways in our landing when I was young.

I live in an older property, the bit above the doors in the upstairs landing are glass. Let's in light without affecting privacy.
If doing the above wasn't possible the yes use a half glazed door, my parents have this with frosted glass and it's fine.
I've had a sun tunnel in a previous house, it was fairly old. Worked fine but I didn't like the look of it so eventually replace it with a velux window, which was gorgeous.

Can I ask how much your quote was for the run tunnel. We also have a dark landing and I have considered a tunnel but wasn’t sure on costs.

No way would I put frosted glass in a bathroom door unless the bathroom was large enough that anyone inside would be 2m away from the door when inside.

Frosted glass does not really dive much privacy when you are stood closer to it. Especially if the light is on as well.

My mother in law had this issue, she put windows in along the top of one bedroom wall. It lets a lot of light in to the very narrow hallway but doesn't affect the privacy of the bedroom

Yes that’s a good idea re the bit above the door. They are stud walls so wouldn’t be a problem.
@TwoBlueFish the quote was £1200 fully installed, it was for a larger dome with rigid tunnel - apparently the best for light.
hmmm maybe the sun tunnel is the best option.

That's a great price, we paid the same 4 years ago. Go for the sun tunnel - the amount of light they let in compared to a glazed door is substational.

I guess the transom window could be clear glass? As it’s so high up?

Personally I wouldn't like a light tunnel but instead a velux on the roof with straight sides going up to it, like this

https://whyskylights.com/velux-skylights-blog/can-i-install-skylights-in-a-room-that-has-a-flat-ceiling-with-attic-space-over-it

Just because I would like to see the sky out of it.

My parents had glass above the bedroom doors to let light through. I found it disturbed me whenever anyone put the landing light on to go to the bathroom overnight.

@ScanTheNextOne yes they’re much nicer, but the landing thing is not a priority really so trying to do it as cheaply as possible!

@Cyclistmumgrandma yes I’ve had that too, if I did the transom thing I’ll only do it over the bathroom- so I’m wondering if that will let in enough light?

I would still get a quote for it just so you can weigh it up. Having renovated 2 houses going cheap on something can often lead to regret further down the line. Plus we are heading into winter so that landing will become enemy darker.

We have decided to buy a light panel for our landing that can sort of mimic dawn till dusk in the settings. Ours is IKEA but not installed yet. Philips Hue is similar.

@ScanTheNextOne Oh we have Phillips hues in our snug, but I didn’t know dawn til dusk was an option? Can you put a link? I’m not very clear on how the system works.

You cant see anything through frosted glass, just an outline of a person if the light is on.

my first house had no window in the upstairs hallway, we just had frosted glass in all the doors….. made a huge difference

I wonder if I had frosted panel in the door, and then a transom above, would that be enough for the landing? I don’t want to put glass in all the doors as people in the bedrooms would be disturbed by bathroom light etc.

I stayed at a friends house and they had half a glazed bathroom door and it was awful- you can't see detail but even so!

I've even been to a hotel that had one in the bathroom and it was just me sns DH and I hated that too

The transom window sounds ideal!

We did exactly this and it made a big difference to the light.

Yes if you really look hard you can make out the shape of someone on the loo, but who does that in someone's house? Public loos maybe sadly, but not family members and guests in a private house.

As far as we are concerned it's fine for privacy and works well to improve the light.

I think some people on here must stand at the bathroom door with their face squashed up to the glass trying to look through 🙂

You could get some decorative window film to stick on the bathroom door half glazed panel. Frosted with a pattern perhaps?

That’s really helpful, thank you @OooPourUsACupLove , I think this is the way forward.
our bathroom door is original and annoyingly non standard size so I’m going to take the top panel out myself and fit the glass (or maybe acrylic) - £50 instead of £1200!