Advice needed please

[macloon]

Hi all, hope all are well. Looking for some advice. We have 5 fakro roof lights in our rear extension which are leaking. We have discovered its because they are not designed to be in the roof as its too shallow for them. I've added some pics

My question is as the fibre glass goes over the frame, is there some sort of fixed glass window that would fit on to the existing frame? Or could it be possible to take the sash out and just put a piece of glass on to the frame? Any advice would be much appreciated

[PeterW]

Welcome - are they virtually flat ..??

 

You would need a flat roof light such as one of these 

[macloon]

Hi there, they are roughly on about a 10degree pitch 

[macloon]

Would the atlas window fit onto the frame of the old pivot window though?

[wozza]

Velux do a window that is suitable for pitches between 2 and 15 degrees.

 

[Simplysimon]

i suppose it would need to be costed as to whether it's cheaper to replace with new roof lights or whether it would be possible/cheaper to increase the angle and keep existing windows

[macloon]

Hi all, thanks for the responses. The problem is that because the fiberglass goes over the frame of the window it makes it impossible to get the window with the frame out without damaging the fiberglass and also the plaster work internally. 

I'm  wondering if there is a way of keeping the window frame in place and placing a new window on top of this or even just a pane of glass??

[ProDave]

I would take a different approach.

 

You have already considered a non opening window or just a simple pane of glass, so clearly the ability to open it is not important.

 

I would have a detailed look to see where the water is getting in.  Is it every time it rains? or only if the wind is blowing in a particular direction at the time?

 

Then I would look at making modifications to stop the leak.  The window is designed for a certain pitch of roof and relies on the water running down in a particular way and if there is not enough slope water may run in places it is not supposed to so you need to find where and stop it.

 

The final option is lots of CT1 or similar and just seal everything so the window no longer opens and every joint is sealed. 

 

I really don't see any realistic option to fit a different make of window on top of the existing frame.

[andyscotland]

I think it would be hard to outright replace/add to the window itself and get a good seal/overlap round the flashings/fibreglass. Although, one of the benefits of fibreglass is that you can cut sections out / add new sections and bond it all together reliably without too much hassle.

 

But you could definitely look at putting something above the whole window assembly to stop rain landing on it. There are several ranges of flat roof window that use a plastic dome for that purpose - basically an umbrella over the window itself.

 

 

It looks like sterlingbuild sell the polycarbonate domes as a standalone unit e.g. https://www.sterlingbuild.co.uk/product/rectangular-dome-only-single-skin-50x80cm and they're quite cheap. You would only need single skin as it's not doing anything thermal, just keeping the rain off the actual window.

 

If they have a size big enough to overlap the entire current window you could just do that. You might have to be clever with how you fix it on at the sides (perhaps carefully drill/screw through the side of the window flashing with some washers for spacing, or maybe go slightly bigger and fix down into the top of the fibreglass kerb with spacers as required).

 

If you leave a gap you'll still be able to open the window/trickle vents for ventilation and possibly even enough for cleaning if the dome is big enough.

 

Or, I guess you could engineer some sort of flat glass canopy above the window but that might look more odd and be harder to achieve/fix securely - I suspect a horizontal pane of glass in mid air will get fairly battered by the wind.