The building I am working on has real accessibility issues to the roof. It has deep overhangs where the rafters run naked out to about 8′ away from the building, 35′ up in the air (small apartment building), and is a square hip roof. There is no way to set a ladder up without damaging the guttering, so scaffolding or a bucket truck is the only choice for reroofing and future gutter-cleaning. No other access to it either.
I have good access to a big attic, does anyone know of mfr of a roof door that I could install between the rafter bays that would be water tight and allow walk-out access? The ones I’ve seen for flat membrane roofs are too big, though I can header off rafters.
thanks in advance, remodeler
Replies
Any opening in a roof is a big potential problem. In your situation I would think that an operable skylight might be the best solution. Another possibility is a "pop-top" coupola.
A potential leak problem? It shouldn't be any harder to flash than a skylight.
Had a client with a building with a roof hatch. It was a godsend--just go in the attic and then pop out on the roof. They positioned it so that you did not need a ladder to get in or out, in a place where the rafters were about 42" off the joists. It was a simple curb built up as for a skylight, but capped with a sheet metal box that latched from the inside. Unlatch, push up, pivot, pull inside.
I'm going to put one on my house when I re-roof. A sheet metal shop can make the flashings and the cap a no-brainer.
You got any idea how many skylights leak?
No, but I guess you're going to tell me.
I have custom sheet metal made for something on virtually every job. It would be child's play for my sheet metal guy to solder up a one-piece curb flashing and a roof hatch lid that would not leak. Copper or galv steel, take your pick. In all my years of building I have never had a skylight leak that I know of (sure, that doesn't mean they don't, but I think I'd hear about it), and I've put in a lot of them.
From my experience, less skylights leak than valleys, and both are mostly due to installer error than product defect. In fact, I can only remember having to replace one skylight ( I'm not considering those curbless plastic bubble pieces of crap to be skylights) and it had broken glass. I have had to reflash many incorrectly flashed skylights.
As kids we would give Mom fits by climbing out onto the roof through the roof hatch on our house. It was great to be 2 1/2 storeys up and look out over the whole neighborhood.
These hatches were nothing more than flashed curbs, maybe triple 2x4 height, with a fitted cover overlapping the curb several inches. Never knew it to leak.
Cover was held down by opposing latches - simple hook and eye screen door latches.
There are prefabbed hatches available, complete with levered operating handles and hinges and locks. Some time long in the past someone posted a link to a supplier. Researh is easy - jump on that GOOGLE.
I'd tends to think a roof hatch might leak and wouldn't look particularly attractive.
What about a dormer? Just stick in a window on the front that's tall enough that you could comfortably crawl out of. Or get one with removeable sashes to give you more room in a smaller window.
Depending on the style of the building, a dormer might look a lot more in charachter.
Q: What do women and tax forms have in common?
A: Men love to cheat on them.
A dormer might leak and might not look particularly attractive.
We don't really know much about the appearance the structure. Both options are worth considering and neither may be appropriate. I've repaired a heck of a lot more leaky dormers than roof hatches. Either one, if installed correctly, should be water tight. Appearances aside, the roof hatch would be much less expensive.
Of course, they're kind of hard to get to when you have to climb thru trusses.
I was just tossing out another option that no one had brought up yet. Since we don't know what the building looks like, they may or may not be a good idea. But it was worth a thought.
I can't imagine how a dormer would be NEARLY as much of a risk for leaks than a roof hatch or skylight.Q: How can you tell when a man's had an orgasm?A: From the snoring.
You took me the wrong way as far as the dormer option. It's a great idea. But, more flashing = more potential for leaks. I've built/rebuilt many roof hatches and have yet to have a call back on one. I do get lots of calls about leaking dormers.
Bilco has a nice attic access hatch, S20 at about 200 lbs. and 3' x 2'6" from my local dealer about $400+freight. It looks good.
Thanks for the referral.
Boss - how do you truss a dormer? :)
remodeler
"Boss - how do you truss a dormer? "
Being a male, and not being terribly perceptive, I don't know if you're yanking my chain or really asking a question. But just in case you're serious or if someone else wants to know, I'll answer the question.
Probably the most common thing to do is simply double up the trusses on each side of a dormer and "ladder frame" between them as needed. This typically works for dormers up to 6' wide. (But check your local codes)
At times we'll put a girder on each side of the dormer, add a header in, and put in some snubbed trusses. Depends on the situation.
I the dormers are false we just ignore them and lay the trusses out like they weren't there.
We sometimes build trusses for the actual dormers, and someimes not. Some framers like to build their own so they can fudge the size a bit and make their layout come out like they want. This also works out well for homeowners who don't really know what they want and change things around a lot. Although people like that are obviously very rare. (-:Definition of a bachelor: a man who has missed the opportunity to make some woman miserable.
google on
Bilco
Roto
& Velux.... they all make roof doors
Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
re..dw
My brother had the same problem, only he also put up about 10,000 Christmas lights around his eaves every year.
Solution? He bought a used towable manlift. Sort of like the bucket on those tree trimming trucks only it is mounted on a towable platform. Cost him about $3,000 These things are great for a number of jobs. Plus if there are other tall homes in the area, you've got yourself some work every fall cleaning gutters.
C
I built a house several years ago that was on a bluff overlooking the bay and the city, etc. The HO made a deal with the local TV station to put a camera on the roof for their "weather " shots and such.
So I inherited the task of building a hatch through the roof. This was in a marine, headland environment so it had to be weathertight.
I built a 6" curb around the opening and had the sheetmetal shop make up stainless flashings like you'd have on a skylight and an insulated SS hatchcover with a rubber seal that married the rim of the curb, then a set of adjustable camlocks to suck it down tight when closed.
Actually, it turned out to be a fairly straightforward project and has remained watertight.
BTW, the opening had to be fairly large 'cause the local TV engineer who had to maintain the camera and transmission dish , etc., was a 300+ pounder.