Using shower door as skylight on Skoolie
Xandria
| Posted in Construction Techniques on
So I have found a 6mm shower door, tempered glass that I thought I would like to use as a skylight in my school bus conversion. ( I also have an 8mm door to) its 5.5 ft x 28 inches
Skylights are tempered glass and 4-6mm so why can I not use this?
I will be framed in with 2 x 4 and at a slight angle for water to run off.
Any thoughts on this? Can I ???
Replies
Well, they were not intended to lay flat for starters. And I know someone that placed a patio door glass on a roof curb as an oversized skylight.
The difference is that your vehicle is moving and subject to a potentially jarring ride.
There’s no real film in your glass that might contain the glass in case of some sort of impact….at least I don’t think so. I had a patio door replacement job on a tempered unit that broke into trillions of tiny pieces from a lawn mower stone. Broke the outer pane but did not affect the inner.
Ambitious undertaking. Back in the mid 70’s we cut the whole roof off a VW MICROBUS and placed it atop a Dodge van. Nothing like the added headroom as well as the retractable sunroof.
Knowing that vintage, did Wavy Gravy do what you suggest on his bus? I believe it was near the Hobo Voyage Tent at Woodstock.
He and/or Ken Kesey put this together.
You would really be better off with some lexan. (or other polycarbonate)
Glass will be heavier and more likely to break.
Also, consider how to shade the sun through whatever you put in. (it will get that bus hot while it is parked.)
Remember there are two kinds of skylights on things that move, those that leak, and those that will leak.
Use Dicor sealant meant for RV roof penetration sealing.
I’d be really wary of doing this, from a safety perspective. You’re putting the door in an orientation it was not meant to be in (horizontal vs vertical), and the lack of a safety film means that you risk breakage not only on a bumpy road as the whole piece flexes (remember, glass is technically still in a liquid state), but what about something that falls from a tree, like some of the pine cones we have in my neck of the woods that might as well be rocks? Lexan is a much better option, or a proper skylight from a resale yard/craigslist.