Toronto Skylights

Do you need Toronto skylight installation or repair?

Skylights are overhead windows, usually built into your Toronto roof, that allow sunlight to filter into any room. They are a great natural light option to lamps or overhead lights during the daytime. Adding a skylight to your Toronto home or building can almost immediately open up any room and make it lighter and brighter, adding a sunny, airy feeling.

If you have a Toronto home-built in the 1980s, you may have a skylight because they were the “in” thing in architecture. Unfortunately, the glass was not really glass, it was a white acrylic dome designed to provide even light distribution throughout the day. Additionally, shoddy construction or the use of single-paned domes caused the skylights to leak.

Skylights today have come a long way in terms or looks, materials and uses. Gone is the unsightly acrylic dome and durable flat glass is back. Glazing has evolved from single layers pieced together via glazing bars, to one large sheet of glass. Double paned skylights (and windows) are constructed with a gas-filled space between the panes. Argon or krypton gas reduces conductive heat transfer, lowering heating and cooling costs of the home.

Additionally, most windows and skylights of the 1980's were framed with aluminum, because it was cheaper. The problem came when the homeowner would experience very low thermal resistance, severe condensation in cold weather and significant heat loss. Now the norm is PVC, vinyl or fiberglass frames, which may cost more initially but is a better investment in the long term. Some styles of skylights even offer a venting feature with a built in sensor to close automatically if rain begins to fall. How cool is that?

What are the advantages to Toronto skylights?

• Energy-efficient skylights can help reduce heating, cooling, and lighting costs.
• Skylights can make a dreary room bright.
• Skylights in your Toronto home can provide up to 30% more light than regular windows.
• Skylights can solve lighting problems. For instance, in a small bathroom with minimal wall space, a skylight may be the only way to get light into a room

Types of Skylights

Today, there is a wide assortment of skylights to brighten your Toronto home or business. Skylights come in many styles, shapes, designs and price ranges. In terms of size, they can be rectangular, oval, triangular, or virtually any shape you can conceive.

Today, they also come with low-E and tinted coatings which control transmission of both heat and UV rays. As an alternative to tinted glass, you can buy shades or blinds for your roof skylight. Skylights that open will usually come with a screen as well.

Skylights can be fixed or operable. Fixed skylights might be flat, or domed, and they obviously only provide light. Other models of skylights which provide ventilation can be opened or closed using a hand crank, a remote control, a wall switch, or an automatic temperature sensor. That means you don’t even have to leave the comforts of your bed to view the stars!

Skylights on north-facing roofs provide cool illumination, while east-facing roofs provide maximum light and heat in the morning. West-facing skylights provide afternoon sunlight and heat. South-facing skylights provide more passive solar heat than any other location.

If you are looking to install dome skylight, roof skylights, vented skylights or more, trust the Toronto skylight installers at The Cutting Edge. For skylight installation, skylight repair or virtually anything on your Toronto roof, call us to get an accurate and honest estimate.