While most skylights installed by reputable contractors do have some fairly lengthy life expectancies (20+ years for acrylic skylights and 30+ years for glass skylights), they don’t last forever and will eventually need replacing. If they aren’t replaced when they should be there can be serious consequences for your property. The problem is, it’s not always obvious when skylights repair or a completely new skylights installation is needed, which is why we’re going to point out a few telltale signs during the course of this article.
Do You Need a New Skylights Installation? Here’s How to Check
Many times a property owner will only check the condition of their skylights from the interior and while they may look fine from this perspective, an inspection of the exterior may tell a rather different story. Here are the top indicators that you need new skylights installation:

• Passed Their Life Expectancy – As already mentioned, acrylic skylights are typically expected to last for close to 20 years, while a glass skylight will last 30 years or more in many cases. If this time period has passed you may want to carefully inspect its condition, particularly in the case of acrylic skylights, as over time the materials do naturally age and lose their ability to adequately insulate your home.
• Your Energy Bills Have Risen Dramatically – There are in fact numerous reasons why your energy bills could have risen significantly, but a decline in the condition of windows, doors and skylights is among the leading causes. If your doors and windows all seem to be in good condition, it could be your skylight that is allowing heat energy to escape and in turn force your heating and cooling systems to work overtime to maintain a comfortable temperature.
• There’s An Obvious Leak – If your skylight sustains some serious damage and there’s a clear passage for air and moisture to get inside your home, this is a sure fire sign that your skylight may need to be replaced. Skylights repair may be an option but a full inspection will need to be carried out to assess the level of damage in order to make an informed decision.
• Clear Cracks – Skylights, particularly those made from acrylic, are not overly impact resistant and the plastic becomes more brittle as time passes by. If you happen to suffer a hailstorm in your local area or anything happens to collide with your skylight during a period of rough weather (not uncommon in Toronto), and you happen to notice cracks on the exterior, your skylight may need replacing.
• Distortion of the Light – Again, this is an issue that is more commonly associated with acrylic skylights but can sometimes occur with glass models if they are not properly maintained. The acrylic may discolour overtime, which distorts the colour of the light itself as it filters through the skylight and into your property. In extreme cases the only way to remedy this problem is to opt for new skylights installation.

If you would like a professional to assess the condition of your skylights or you want us to inspect your property and measure up for new skylights installation, contact the Toronto based team at Aluplex!

If you’ve made the decision to opt for glass skylights over acrylic skylights, the next decision that you’re faced with (or at least one of them) is what type of glazing to use. This glazing needs to be able to withstand anything and everything that Mother Nature could throw at it, which can be considerable in the Toronto area as we’re sure you’re only too aware. It also needs to be able to withstand any impacts that could occur as a result of human actions. In terms of glass skylights, the two main glazing options that are typically used are laminated glass and tempered glass.  Which one should you choose?

Introducing the Two Main Glazing Options for Glass Skylights

We’re going to start by introducing laminated and tempered glass, briefly touching upon how they are produced, before going on to explain some of the main benefits of each.

Tempered Glass

Tempered glass is essentially a single block of glass that is heat treated to produce an end product that is much stronger and resilient than many traditional glazing options. Here are a few of the main benefits of choosing this option:

• Strength – As already mentioned, glass skylights must be able to resist the worst of the Toronto weather, including large hail stones and storms that could cause debris to collide with the skylight and tempered glass offers a much better level of impact resistance than standard options, meaning damage is much less likely to occur.
• Safety – When a standard piece of glass breaks, it splinters and large shards will often be created which are very sharp and represent a serious health and safety hazard to anyone in the property. Glass skylights that are fitted with tempered glass are much safer, however, since rather than splintering, the glass breaks down into thousands of tiny little ice cube shaped pieces that are not sharp. As well as being safer, this also makes clearing up the debris much easier.

Laminated Glass

There’s one obvious difference between tempered glass and laminated glass; laminated glass features two pieces of glass as opposed to one and between those two layers of glass sits a plastic layer, which is designed to hold the glass in place if it breaks. Here are a few of the main benefits of laminated glass skylights:

• No Falling Shards – Should the skylight become damaged and the glass be broken, it won’t fall to the ground, since the layer of plastic prevents this from happening. This negates a significant health and safety risk since skylights are often located several feet from the ground level.
• Increased Security – Windows are considered to be the most common point of entry for home intruders, but glass skylights are also weak points in a property’s outer layer. Even after laminated glass has been broken by the intruder, it will continue to offer protection to the property.
• Sound Reduction – Due to the several layers that combine to form laminated glass, it is very effective at blocking out outside noises, improving the comfort of your home environment.

Often, glass skylight contractors will install skylights that utilize tempered glass on the outer layer and laminated glass on the interior, as this offers maximum protection and minimum risk in terms of health and safety.

Should you commit to skylights installation? Or should you leave it? It can be a difficult decision to make in some cases and before committing to an installation you must absolutely believe that skylights are the right choice for your property. While they offer a considerable number of benefits, including the ability to seriously reduce your electric bill, they do represent an investment and the level of financial outlay involved does mean it’s a decision to take seriously. And let’s not forget, skylights can’t be installed at every property; the conditions need to be just right to make their implementation into your property’s design possible. Below you’ll find a few questions that most skylights manufacturers recommend you ask yourself before you start contacting companies to discuss a possible installation.

Skylights Manufacturers Advise You to Answer These Questions

Assessing the viability of something that you’re not entirely familiar with can be difficult, but we’ve put together a list of questions that most skylights manufacturers would ask when inspecting your property prior to an installation.

• Is Your Roof Trussed or Conventional? – Many people aren’t aware of the answer to this question or its relevance. If it’s the framing is conventional, it will likely be either 16 or 24 inches on centre, while trussed framing is commonly 24 inches on centre. The latter will typically allow you to integrate a 2 foot wide skylight into the roof. If you were thinking of something larger, the framing in your roof may need to be modified, which will undoubtedly increase the overall cost of the project considerably.
• Are There Any Obstructions in Your Attic? – This rather more straightforward to answer. You would be well advised to do a sweep of the attic of your property, keeping a close eye on features that are integrated into the walls and ceilings, such as wires and pipes, as these elements could restrict where the skylight could be installed. In older properties in particular there are sometimes irregularly placed features that can impede skylights installation.
• What About the Roof? Any Features? – You need to do the same thing for the roof. If it boasts features such as solar panels, fans or vents, these are all things that can limit where a new skylight can be installed. If your roof is packed full of solar panels you might have to re-think your plans to buy a skylight from one of the leading skylights manufacturers.
• Will It Complement Your Home’s Design? – The questions you should ask yourself don’t all relate to the practicalities of whether the installation is possible; you have to think about how it will affect your property from a visual perspective too. Will it blend in with the other design elements on your property’s exterior or will it stick out like a sore thumb?

These are just a few of the basic questions you should answer before having residential or commercial skylights installed in Toronto. If you would like to know what other factors there are to consider, pick up the phone and speak to a member of the Aluplex team today.

Opening up a building and increasing the amount of natural light that flows into it has been found to have a number of very important benefits, particularly in a commercial environment, such as boosting productivity and raising concentration levels. For that reason, architects have been asked to integrate skylights into building design on an ever more frequent basis in recent years, but there’s always been one highly debated question: Are glass or acrylic skylights better? Aluplex has been involved in the installation and repair of skylights in the Toronto area for many years and it’s a question we’ve personally been asked on countless occasions, which is why we’re going to point out some of the pros and cons of each option below.

Acrylic Skylights: Are They Better than Their Glass Counterparts?

Neither option is really “better” than the other option, it’s just a case of selecting the option that is most suitable to your requirements. Here’s some of the main pros and cons of both acrylic skylights and glass skylights to help you do this.

• Roof Pitch – The shape of your property’s roof is one of the main factors to consider when choosing between glass and acrylic skylights. Acrylic or plastic skylights as they’re otherwise known can be installed on just about any type and shape of roof, including flat roofs. However, a glass skylight cannot be installed on a roof that doesn’t have at least a 2/12 pitch without some serious modifications, which naturally drives the overall cost of the project up.
• Colour and Coating Options Available – This is where glass skylights have the upper hand. Acrylic skylights are typically only available in a limited range of colours and coatings, and the choice you make will usually influence the amount of light that enters the property, the amount of heat loss and the amount of heat gain. However, with glass skylights there are many more options available and these options can be used to manipulate the performance of the skylight to meet your requirements.
• Maintenance Requirements – Acrylic skylights are very easy to maintain (use a soapy dishwater mixture and wipe them), but you have to be more careful in terms of the cleaning solutions that you use as many store bought options contain chemicals that can cause damage to the plastic. These solutions can usually be applied to glass skylights without risk of damage however.
• Longevity – How long a product is expected to last is an important factor in any buying decision and glass skylights, probably unsurprisingly, will usually outlast acrylic skylights. Glass skylights are generally expected to last 30 years or more, while the life expectancy of acrylic skylights is usually around the 20 year mark.
• Cost – If you find yourself wanting to invest in skylights installation but you are on a limited budget, acrylic skylights are available from most contractors in the industry for much lower prices and considering their expected lifespan, they represent genuine value for money.

With years of experience in skylights repair and installation in Toronto, if you have any questions relating to either glass or acrylic skylights don’t hesitate to get in touch with the team at Aluplex Skylights.

While almost everyone is aware of what a skylight is and the benefits that they can bring to a property, most people’s knowledge doesn’t extend any further. However, if you’re seriously considering having residential skylights installed at your home, it’s advisable that you do some background reading around the subject, particularly into the different types of residential skylights that can be purchased. Each option has their own unique attributes that could affect (and hopefully benefit) your home in their own unique way. After more than three decades in the industry, we’ve installed just about all of the different variations of residential (and commercial) skylights that there are and we are going to talk you through a few of the main options in this article – ventilating, fixed and tubular skylights.

Residential Skylights: There’s More Than Just One Option!

• Fixed Skylights – As the name rather suggests, with this option the skylight is fixed into position and can’t be opened or closed. They are typically used to illuminate long stretches of the home where the most important requirement is the amount of light that enters the interior, such as hallways or stairways. These are areas are typically normally quite dark and the additional light provided by fixed residential skylights not only makes it easier to navigate these areas, but it makes them appear larger too.
• Ventilating Skylights – In other parts of the home that are more frequently used, not being able to open the skylight can be an issue that causes the space to smell and the air to go “stale.” That’s where ventilating residential skylights come in. They can be opened and closed to ensure a supply of fresh air can easily be circulated around your home, helping to prevent the aforementioned problems. As hot, humid air rises, it exits the property and is replaced by cooler air, which helps to ensure the correct moisture balance is sustained. As they are often located at a considerable height, ventilating residential skylights will be installed with some sort of mechanism to enable you to open and close it, which can be manual or motorised. Other features can be integrated into the system to automate its operation, including detectors that monitor humidity and temperature levels within the property, as well as rain sensors.
• Tubular Skylights – This is a cost effective solution that is typically utilized when it’s simply not possible to install fixed or ventilating residential skylights due to their size. They utilize a small collector dome, which is installed on the roof, a highly reflective delivery tube that runs from the roof until the ceiling inside the house, and a light diffuser which is installed into the ceiling of the target room. This system channels the sun’s natural light into your home and then distributes it evenly throughout the room. They offer a number of advantages over the first two options, including reducing the potential for glare and irregular light patterns.

To learn more about each of these options and discover which one is most suited to your needs, contact the experienced Toronto based team at Aluplex on (416) 665-4482.

Residential skylights have rapidly grown in popularity among homeowners in Toronto in recent years, but what about commercial skylights? Are they able to benefit businesses in the same way that they benefit homeowners? If you own a commercial property and you’re looking to ensure its design is as efficient as it can possibly be, there are a number of reasons to consider having commercial skylights installed and we’re going to discuss some of the main ones during this article.

A Few Very Good Reasons to Consider Having Commercial Skylights Installed

How could commercial skylights possibly benefit your business? Aren’t they just essentially planned “gaps” in the roof that let the light from the sun inside?! While that is a description that is technically correct, if not a little basic, commercial skylights can benefit a commercial operation quite significantly in many cases, as you’ll find out below:

• Considerable Energy Savings – In a commercial environment, one of the biggest drains in terms of energy usage is artificial lighting. Through various studies it has been found to account for approximately 40 percent of the total energy usage in the average commercial building. 40 percent! Skylights allow natural light to be used and reduce your dependence on artificial lighting to the point that it is used up to 70 percent less in most cases. This translates to considerable savings and ensures the initial outlay is recouped in a relatively short amount of time.
• Creates a Healthy Environment – There are many studies that have been conducted that have found a lack of exposure to natural light and frequent exposure to artificial lighting can be harmful to your health. Commercial skylights ensure your premises is flooded with natural light containing vitamin D, which is essential to a healthy lifestyle. Natural light is also thought to have a positive impact upon mental health and this is thought to lead to greater productivity levels and fewer days absent from work.
• Environmentally Friendly  The push towards being environmentally friendly and sustainable has been huge in recent years as the whole world pulls together in order to protect the earth’s atmosphere and preserve its depleted supply of natural resources. Commercial skylights are a great way to reduce your company’s carbon footprint and become greener, since you will consume less energy as a result of skylights installation, and the alternative you will be using is completely sustainable and doesn’t give off any harmful by products.
• Further Cost Savings – It’s not just the  energy that is an ongoing cost when utilizing artificial lighting; the actual lights themselves and the bulbs (which need replacing) can cost a considerable amount in a large commercial property. And then there can be electrical issues that need repairing (not free either!). The light that filters through commercial skylights and into your property’s interior is not only free but it’s also uncomplicated and doesn’t need any other form of technology to work.

If you’re thinking of having one or more commercial skylights installed, contact the team at Aluplex for further help and information.