Replies

1. 
   rjw | Apr 13, 2003 02:34am | #1

   FWIW, One of the very first FHB's had an article on this

   _______________________

   10 .... I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful.

   11 For no one can lay any other foundation than the one we already have--Jesus Christ.

   1 Corinthians 3:10-11

2. 
   Luka | Apr 13, 2003 03:19am | #2

   Art,

   Check with Jim Blodgett. He can give you more information than you could hold in a 5 gallon bucket.

   Quittin' Time

3. 
   Piffin | Apr 13, 2003 03:30am | #3

   Hello Hound

   In Grand County, Colorado, there is a set of condominiums with nine skylights per unit, six or eight units per building, and eight or ten buildings. The skylights are made from the glass for slider doors. I built and flashed them. They are almost more of a window wall than skylights because they were in a south facing roof about a 28/12 pitch.

   I built the box from fir 2x6 with a dado to recieve the glass, except the bottom which was full cut to the same depth.

   Set the box to the roof openning.

   Flashed the bottom first with the top edge of the flashing lapping up over the box and a hem built into it. In other words trhe bottom flash was a large "Z" piece with a return hem in the top leg.

   Then I set the window into a good bead of silicone caulk in the dado. That was the tricky part since it wanted to slide down and away. I used a clamp to the suction, a prayer, and a block temp wedged in to hold it

   Then I added a couple pieces of angle metal screwed to the bottom, set in silicone, and protruding up to flange over the glass to keep it fdrom sliding down and out.

   After the glass was secured and sealed with silicone, I built the flashing for the rest of the box in similar z-style, lapping out onto the glass about an inch, again sealing it to the glass with silicone.

   This was not a step flashing detail but a continupous piece on the sides. sealed roofing to it with caulk. Lower pitch roof and I would have used a return hem under the shingles.

   .

   Excellence is its own reward!

1. 
   IronHelix | Apr 13, 2003 04:03am | #4

   Did an envelope house in the early 80's......had 50 IG units that were used normally for patio doors.   Details much as Piffins Job......but two years later there had been a 50% seal failure that was not under warranty as per manufactures disclaimer on IG door units installed other than in a vertical position.  

   Call the doctor, call the layer..............no one was happy!!!

   It all came out of the owner's back pocket......I was sick at heart for him!!! Twenty some odd years later he and I still laugh at it as I write him another check for my insurance needs.  And for all I know I have "paid" for a few panels over the years.

   IMHO.....don't do it. 

   The adhesive for vertical versus horizontal glass is supposedly different due to the amount of heat retention in a skylight. 

   Check the warranty with the glass manufacturer.

   .............................Iron Helix

1. 
   xMikeSmith | Apr 13, 2003 05:03am | #5

   i'm with helix...

   order fixed glass insulated units special for the application.. sliding door units will have a seal failure rate that will make you wish you had never seen them...

   Mike Smith   Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore

4. 
   Clay | Apr 13, 2003 05:34am | #6

   BAAD IDEA!!! You will wish you had paid top dollar and never even thought of this idea if you do it.  Some reasons have been given by the posters above.  In addition you would be compounding the potential for disaster by using used units that would have an unknown life span even if used as they were intended.  Skylight construction is one of the MOST difficult endeavors in the arena of building technology.  The incidence of problems is very high and the cost of fixing them is also very high.  you should stay away from skylights alltogether unless you are an expert specialist in this arena.  The top pros have enough difficulty, for everyone else it is just too sad to think about.

1. 
   jimblodgett | Apr 13, 2003 05:59am | #7

   Hey, Art - Several years ago I bought a truck load of single SGD panels from a guy who replaced them with double glazed units under one of those Puget Power enegy grants.  They sat around for years until I finally put a few to use as skylights in my shop 4 or 5 years ago.

   I used a rabbeted curb, so the surface of the glass was flush with the top edge of the curb.  I then applied 2" alluminum L as a flashing over the joint between the glass and the curb and flashed them like I would any skylight.

   I scratched my head for quite some time on whether to double glaze or not and finally decided to double glaze two, and single glaze two, as a test (just HAD to test).  The double glazed units have held up great.  But I never could get the single glazed pair to stop leaking so I've had them covered with visqueen and some old bar clamps for the past few years.  Come to think of it, I'd better get up there and fix them this summer, huh?

1. 
   junkhound | Apr 13, 2003 08:46am | #8

   Thanks to all for advise, I will use the doors ( with some left over for Jeff if he still want one)  notwithstanding others' reservations, as I get plenty leaks now (see below).  Like Jim said, the replacement of single pane doors with power company financing has provided lots of free doors being available in this area.

   Will try to take some pix tomorrow and post them.  Got 4 grandkids now and had to expand the bike storage shed for 8 bikes and 2 wagons, plus etc.etc. etc. Always had about 15ea  50# boxes of nails in another shed  now to be moved to the bike shed, as  DW thinks that original shed should be her 'potting' shed exclusivly. Bike shed is off back of garage. Present garage roof is 2 oz clear fiberglass panels with < 1/12 slope (been there 25 years)  and it is getting to be a real pain to clean the fir needles off them even with 3000 psi pressure washer - have to put 26" by 8 ft pieces of ply on roof to move around.

   Going to reroof a center bay with sawtooth window (2-1/2/12) with  5x10 baltic birch and patio doors to try to keep some semblanece of the great interior lighting the fiberglass gives.  The ice strorm of a few years back and yearly windstorms play heck with the FG roof - lots of ongoing repairs as totally surrounded by fir trees.  Last time Jeff was here working on his truck I had not cleaned the roof for 2 years which cut light in the garage by over 60%, hope that having a firm surface to walk on will create an easier way to PW the rest of the roof.

   Leaks are little concern. As one could imagine, a 2" hole from a fallen branch from a bunch of 150 foot tall firs every few months lets in lots of water, and repairs should be easier in the future.  Plan to add a stairs to the roof too for ease of maintainance of the remaining FG.

1. 
   Piffin | Apr 13, 2003 07:38pm | #9

   I had a clue to your re-cycling philosophy when I responded. I probably wouldn't recommend doing this for the average person or over a nicely finished living space. Back in the seventies, we were all still learning a lot of things. A garage or shed is an ideal place for this kind of project.

   On the ones i built that way, HUD financing was involved and they approved it bewcause everyone was enamoured of passive solar designs, despite the drawbacks. It was an ongoing project that I was involved with for a good two years and did other work for that contractor afterwards. There were some seal failures that were traced to probable high altitude pressure problems. Today, there are some glass manufacturers who make different units for high altitude than for sea level.

   On mine, I made sure to keep laps facing downhill, knowing that the silicone would fail someday. Since I moved away after five or six years, I don't know when or if that day has come. I'm sure the steep pitch helped

   .

   Excellence is its own reward!

1. 
   jimblodgett | Apr 13, 2003 07:52pm | #10

   On the subject of altitude affecting seals - I just recently read it really matters not only that your thermal units are made at close to the same elevation they are installed at, but that even if they are built and installed at compatible elevations, even transporting them through a mountain pass for example can compromise the seals because of air pressure fluctuations. 

   At least I THINK that was the jist of it.  Anyone else remember reading that?  Maybe in "Cross Section"?  It was just in the past year or so. 

2. 
   jocobe | Apr 13, 2003 09:11pm | #11

   I wouldn't recommend it.  Insulated glass units, for skylights, are made of tempered glass AND laminated safety glass.  The laminated safety side is in the home and the tempered glass on the outside.  The tempered will withstand a harder impact, but if it breaks the laminated safety glass will keep it from showering into the living space.  If your units break, someone's reaction is to look up.........not a good idea.  I'd be concerned with liablity issues, as it wouldn't be the safest installation.

   jocobe

3. 
   BillHartmann | Apr 13, 2003 09:37pm | #12

   Jim

   I have seem coments on that, but can't be more specific.

   Seems that at least one manufacture is adding a some "tube" for an expansion chamber.

4. 
   Piffin | Apr 13, 2003 10:00pm | #13

   I heard something similar to what Jim said directly from Marvin when I had problems with one of their units a few years ago. They said it was manufactured at close to 2000 ft elevation and then shipped to me at sea level. The conversation had a few examples thrown in that I don't remember much of, regarding half of it as BS since all I was interested in was a good unit for my customer..

   Excellence is its own reward!

5. 
   FrankB89 | Apr 14, 2003 03:16am | #14

   Best use I've seen of those glass panels is for cold frames in the garden.  Their pretty strong and a little leakage doesn't matter.