Browse Forums Building A New House 1 May 08, 2015 10:08 pm Just wondering what people with skillion / raked ceilings think of it in their homes? Particularly interested in those with high set 'clerestory windows' up high letting sun in. Does it make a big difference to lighting the place up? Did it cost more to build? Thanks in advance. Dave Re: Skillion Roof 2May 11, 2015 8:10 pm No one? How about even your thoughts on living areas facing south (backyard to south). I know this isnt ideal for capturing northern sun but hoping the north facing windows up the top of the raked ceiling help with that. Cheers. Re: Skillion Roof 3May 11, 2015 9:09 pm Hi TD, A little different to you as our proposed config is east facing backyard, with living area to the east, study / formal lounge to the north with high windows (privacy due to the location of our neighbours windows) and bedrooms to the south. Been doing a lot of research on clerestory windows too - our best advice is to go and look at display villages if you can and look at the way the houses are orientated, and what the project builders have done to compensate with lighting. If you can, have a look at different times of the day. We've been through a few houses now with clerestory windows and depending on the orientation they can benefit the house hugely. We've also been in houses that should have been more flexible with their lighting and the difference is really obvious. Also if you can, meet with a designer who can provide advice on specific lighting and window requirements and who will go to your proposed building site to talk through your designs. Ours will be doing a site inspection soon, and I am going to talk through my ideas / wish list with them. Ideally in the east-facing back living area we'll have a raked ceiling, with clerestory windows above the deck roofing to let light in at all times of the day. The hallway between south facing bedrooms and north facing lounge / study will also have clerestory windows to the north, to allow the hallway to be open and bright at all times. I'm assuming that we'll have a more modern looking house due to the variety of roofing angles. Ours is a custom design and build, and we're just starting the process. Good luck Re: Skillion Roof 4May 11, 2015 9:30 pm Hi PVBuild. Thanks for your great response and tips. I look forward to hearing how your design and plans progress. We are also just starting the process off. We bought 2.5 acres with my parents and will be building a dual occupancy house. It will also be a custom design... should be meeting up with the designer/drafty in a few weeks and hoping to do the same as you with running ideas past them. We really want a 'light' home. I know from previous places how cold and mouldy they can get whe the sun doesn't come through the windows. Im also a big fan of how skillion roofs look. Im a little worried though how it will look for us if the skillion slopes up towards the front of the house ie the clerestory windows facing the street as thats north. You don't see this often. The slope is usually sideways so you see the nice angles from the front. Sorry if thats confusing! Have you found any good sites or info on the clerestory windows? Also where are you building? Cheers Re: Skillion Roof 5May 11, 2015 9:40 pm We have a raised atrium in our living room. Our ceilings are generally 2600 but the atrium is 3800. It has louvres on two sides. Our roof is flat.
It is fantastic for letting in natural light and natural ventilation. The height and views out to the treetops also makes a nice addition to the space. Ours is oriented such that summer sun is blocked but winter morning sun streams in from the east north east. Our living room is a magic spot in winter and it's largely due to the atrium. As a lighting engineer I am passionate about great lighting, but even the best lighting design doesn't come close to abundant and thoughtful use of natural light. If you can afford it, I say do it. Re: Skillion Roof 7May 11, 2015 9:51 pm My profile pic shows it but you might need a microscope! I'll see if I can dig something up. It's hard to say how it's oriented. It is connected to the open kitchen to the east and our glass bridge foyer to the north which has full height glass both sides and links the master wing to the house. We have a courtyard outside the kitchen and foyer which has lots of glass, so the winter morning sun comes right in, and in summer it all opens up and the breezes off Moreton Bay flow through. The front wall of the house which is also the living room wall is solid (no windows) double cavity brick to stop the afternoon summer sun from cooking the house. To the south is the dining area, again with lots of glass. The atrium louvres face north and south, so in winter when the sun is low it streams right in through the north facing louvres Re: Skillion Roof 8May 11, 2015 9:56 pm I built a place with skillion roof and clerestory windows. The main windows in the living faced south over ocean views, and I also put Northern clerestory windows. There were two windows, at only roughly 1200 wide by 400 tall, and they brought lots of light into the living space. it really made the feeling of the space. Cost-wise, I don't think it added a lot, but I was owner-building. I did spend a lot of time cutting and bending up all the flashings on the roof of that place though. Re: Skillion Roof 9May 12, 2015 8:48 pm 1960sMH - Sounds like you have a nice layout! Do you remember how much the atrium added to your building cost (if you don't mind me asking). oneJohn - Thanks for the response. Good to hear you have essentially what I had in mind for our place and it brought in lots of light. Was the front of the house facing north? I'm also trying to get a feel for how the front facade would look with the clerestory windows facing the street / front. When we see the designer soon I will see what kind of cost he thinks it might add for us. Thanks. Re: Skillion Roof 10May 13, 2015 6:05 am My house was built in 1964 (well before I was even a twinkle in my parent's eyes) so can't help you there unfortunately! Building Services Engineer Renovating our 1960's modernist home in Brisbane https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=82091 Re: Skillion Roof 11May 13, 2015 7:38 am TeamDaire No one? How about even your thoughts on living areas facing south (backyard to south). I know this isnt ideal for capturing northern sun but hoping the north facing windows up the top of the raked ceiling help with that. Cheers. I have skillion roof with south facing windows mainly because that is where ocean view is but then my east and north walls also have glazing. Great for light and view but not for thermal efficiency. Its all perfect except in winter when it does get very cold (in Tas) and I have to find a way to winterise the cottage to reduce heat loss. pics http://www.homeaway.com.au/holiday-rent ... id=3821306 Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Re: Skillion Roof 12May 13, 2015 5:08 pm Yes, not good for thermal performance, that's for sure!! But we live in Brisbane so our "winter" involves putting on long pants and long sleeves, so it's not really a problem. And due to the excellent shading and ventilation properties of our home we never use the A/C Re: Skillion Roof 13May 13, 2015 5:39 pm 1960sMH - your place sounds wonderful! Quite frankly, the more (well thought out) glass I can get, the better. Would love to see some bigger pics if you felt like it. TD, I know what you mean about wanting a light home. As passive as we can get ours would be fabulous. The place we're in now is a 50s post-war WB, tiny little thing with random terrible shaped rooms added on, and about 4 sq of livable space. The hallway / bathroom have no natural light whatsoever, and no overhead lighting either - even on the brightest day you can't find stuff in the linen closet. The breeze also comes in through the floor, and all round it's freezing or boiling. It's cute, but definitely time to have something a little more livable. Know what you mean about the roof angles, I still think having the north facing high windows you could definitely angle the roofline to the way you prefer it. Such as the house in this link, understand this is the rear, but have seen front facing houses look like this and they can look fabulous. http://www.lurieconcepts.com.au/uploads ... 7_orig.jpg And then this one too http://www.structerre.com.au/projects/w ... e-pacifica Basically the more you can web browse the better. The more pictures you look at, books and articles that you read etc will all help bed down your idea of what you want. Our house location is based 9kms north of Melbourne CBD Re: Skillion Roof 14May 13, 2015 6:14 pm We also bought the book from this site, and reference both a reasonable amount: http://www.yourhome.gov.au/ Think its worth it if you're a building noob (like us!). I should add even though there's nothing like designing and building and in the experience itself you learn so much, we've sourced as many home design books / magazines that we can get our hands on. The more reading and reference material around, the better. And then when I have the library in the study, the shelves will be full . Re: Skillion Roof 15May 14, 2015 8:58 pm We have done this in our family/dining room, we have uPVC double glazed north facing windows with highlight windows above, I think this maybe different to clerestory windows but probably the same concept. We are installing motorised windows so we can let the hot air out in summer. Would love to tell you how well they are performing but haven't finished the build...for another day. Here is a few photos. We also designed external sunshades for our location (with the help of this link http://www.yourhome.gov.au/passive-design/shading) to ensure we keep out the summer sun but let in the winter sun. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ My build thread: Custom build on 40 acres viewtopic.php?f=31&t=75656 Re: Skillion Roof 16May 15, 2015 12:25 am Top stuff, great to see people putting real thought into their home design, particularly around natural light and ventilation. Choosing a house plan out of a brochure and selecting paint colours and floor coverings isn't design. Good work guys, the extra effort and expense will be worth it! Re: Skillion Roof 17May 15, 2015 8:25 am MnT your place is awesome! And yes, that's what I was referring to for our east facing living space, the same type of skillion roof & windows. Can I ask did it add significantly to the cost of your build (guessing though if its custom design you may not have had the difference quoted)? Just checked your thread... the outlook from your place is magnificent, I can understand wanting to optimise views and orientation. 1960sMT - hope so. I suspect the first thing to fall out due to budgeting will be my under house garage (not really sub basement, as we're on a sloping site & I'm hoping to use the garage to elevate the house). If I can keep the roofing / lighting then I suppose that's a small compromise. Re: Skillion Roof 18May 15, 2015 9:00 am Hi MnT That can be risky considering the cost of those design features You can do simulations at the design stage for eg, Airflow (CFD), thermal dynamics, contaminant flow, dynamic structural loads, etc,etc, Here's one airflow sim I did for a beach house..we also determined 8mm Lam glass wasnt enough for extreme storm loads If you find its not working for you please let me know https://plus.google.com/u/1/11454493899 ... 5916531570 MnT We also designed external sunshades for our location (with the help of this link http://www.yourhome.gov.au/passive-design/shading) to ensure we keep out the summer sun but let in the winter sun. Generally (in WA), i dont shade northern windows as I try to achieve as much unshaded glass for thermal mass internal heating in winter if there is a problem with storm coastal (NW) wind loads I use vertical shade/wind deflectors. Interestingly enough, the family holiday house which is 30 years old is in great condition, but very poorly designed for todays lifestyle. Designer,Engineer (Civil,Const & Envir),Builder,Concrete & Masonry Contract.Struct Repairs Re: Skillion Roof 19May 15, 2015 12:27 pm StructuralBIMGuy Hi MnT That can be risky considering the cost of those design features You can do simulations at the design stage for eg, Airflow (CFD), thermal dynamics, contaminant flow, dynamic structural loads, etc,etc, Here's one airflow sim I did for a beach house..we also determined 8mm Lam glass wasnt enough for extreme storm loads If you find its not working for you please let me know Will do, hopefully you won't hear from me at the other end of the same room (southern side) we have windows where we can open up and start to get the air moving low down if needed. My build thread: Custom build on 40 acres viewtopic.php?f=31&t=75656 Re: Skillion Roof 20May 15, 2015 12:29 pm PVBuild MnT your place is awesome! And yes, that's what I was referring to for our east facing living space, the same type of skillion roof & windows. Can I ask did it add significantly to the cost of your build (guessing though if its custom design you may not have had the difference quoted)? Just checked your thread... the outlook from your place is magnificent, I can understand wanting to optimise views and orientation. Thanks for the kind words and yes you are right, since it was a total custom build we don't know the cost for the scallion roof & windows - probably just as well too! My build thread: Custom build on 40 acres viewtopic.php?f=31&t=75656 Why don't you call and talk with someone at the town planning in your council? 1 2214 This certainly doesn't look good. I would be engaging with an independent inspector to have a look at this. As for the unscheduled site visits, most builders are quite… 1 28541 traditional gable roof facade - Have you did the dark and light gray color combination in facade with gray stone in facade… 0 4480 |