Let There be (a Velux 10") Light (Tube)

A few months ago, I picked up a Velux 10" light tube for our hallway. The hall has no windows, and since we usually keep our bedroom doors closed to keep the pets out, it's always dark. Even during the brightest part of the day we can't see if there are any dog toys on the floor. It's a painful problem - guess how I know this. Below is what it has looked like without the light turned on. Pardon the blury picture, the camera didn't like trying to get a pic in this low of light.




Step one of the install was determining where we were going to put the light tube. I cleared away what little insulation we have and marked the hole. I had to offset it slightly to make room for existing electrical wiring. Pay no attention to the crappy light fixture. It'll be replaced when we get around to renovating the hallway.




My biggest concern with this job was cutting a hole in my brand new roof. The flashing process is straight forward, but it's still a bit unnerving cutting a hole in the roof in an area which up until now has been watertight. In this picture, you can see the trim ring which is visible in the hallway and the polished tube connections at both ends. These ends rotate allowing you to line them up. In between will be a straight tube of polished metal.




From the outside, the light tube is pretty low-profile. Instead of using the standard felt that the instructions call for to help create a water-shed under the shingles, I used some left-over ice & water dam from the re-roofing. This material is thicker and has a sticky back. As you stick nails through it, it seals around the nails. From the road, this dome doesn't stand out anywhere near as much as I thought it would. Normally I would have put this on the back side of the house, but there wasn't enough open space due to a roof vent and plumbing vent. On the plus side of having it on the front of the house, it's got a southern exposure so the light tube brings in more light.




Once it was done, it brought in as much light as I had hoped. Here's the hallway with all lights turned off and no flash on the camera. Still not enough light in the camera's opinion, but good enough for me. Now we really get a good look at the crappy skid-mark brown carpet. The project took about 4 hours, and wasn't nearly as difficult as I had expected it to be.

Let There (Eventually) be Light

I'm not planning on re-roofing the house for a month or two, but I found these light tubes on sale at Menards for $10.00 off, so I figured I'd save money and get them now. Well, I actually only got one since that's all they had, but I'm going back before the sale ends to get the second tube. I'm planning to put one in the bathroom and one in the hallway. Neither area has any natural light, and the hallway seems especially dark unless we turn on a light - even during the day. I got the 10" tubes, although they also sell 14" tubes. I think the larger size would be overkill for the limited space I'm trying to light.




I also had to make a run back to the tile store today. I noticed late last night that I was missing a box of 8" tiles. When we were (over)loading the van, we put one box off to the side because it was open and there was a shattered tile inside. The intent was to go through it to make sure it was only one tile, but in my haste to drive a low-rider van, I forgot about it. Only one tile was broken, and I was refunded the cost of that tile. While at the store, I decided to pick up a pair of corner shelves for the shower. I don't know if I'll use both or only one, but either way it should help keep us from having the shampoo bottles all over the lip of the tub.




I also got a chance to review the instructions for the heat mat and thermostat. It doesn't look like it'll be difficult to do, although I'm not sure yet if I'll need to run another power line to the bathroom to run it or not. The current service panel is pretty much tapped out and should be replaced, something else to add to the long list of projects! I like the blaze-orange color of the mat - reminds me of road construction barriers. I guess I'm easy to amuse.




While we were out picking up stuff for the house, I grabbed 160 pounds of Milorganite (high-nitrogen fertilizer) and a big bag of Scotts weed preventing fertilizer. The Milorganite is basically recycled waste from the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District. Not a tasty thing to think about loading into your car, but I like to think there's a little bit of each of us in every bag.