Replacing a Victorian skylight with a Velux
window
The old skylight
was in poor condition,
containing various odd bits of glass, no hinges on the opening light and rotten
lower joints where the frame for the opening part met the base board. For the benefit of passers-by, I had attached a
safety-line to the opening light to prevent it from hurtling down into the
street below. The skylight had survived
well in this state,
long enough to see in it’s centenary.
So the day came
when I had been putting up a new TV aerial for Freeview
and as I sat on the edge of the skylight to manoeuvre the crawling ladders back
indoors and heard the unmistakable crack of shattering glass beneath my bum, I thought I would
seize the opportunity of some holiday I was owed and replace the whole skylight
with a nice, new Velux
window. Installing a Velux
window was not something I had tried before.
As luck would have
it, we were in
the midst of a spell of hot, dry July
weather, so I left the skylight in it’s
new artistic state and toddled off down to B&Q where I found the recent
discount offer on Velux windows had come to an
end. There was just one window of
approximately the right size on the shelf and I was impressed with the size and
weight of the thing as I struggled to get it onto the trolley. The box was marked: GGL S06 114cm x 118cm, 3059 THERMO-STAR. The dimensions (I wondered which was height & which was width) were tantalisingly close
to the size of the existing opening: 116.5x117.5 cm. It might even drop straight in!
I thought a
roller-blind for it might be a good idea, but I found the product codes and keys
so baffling that I gave up on this.
At the counter the
helpful lady asked me if I wanted the flashing kit. Flashing kit?
You mean it isn’t included in this enormous heavy box? I went back to the shelves and retrieved a
flashing kit for slate. (There’s more than one type). The box was marked: EDL S06 114cm x 118 cm 0000. The matching dimensions gave me confidence. I wondered what the GGL, EDL and S06 meant. With a dent in my credit card for £238.23 and in the
sweltering heat I then tried to load it into the back of a Peugeot Estate via
the rear door. A passing chap gave me a
hand and it went in with only minimal damage to the door rubbers. God bless Peugeot! With the rear seats folded forward, you can get all
sorts into these cars. And God(gods?) bless helpful chaps. [Reminder note
to St Peter re. this one].
p1