The Installation of Roof Lanterns

If you are looking to enhance the look of your property, you can’t go wrong with roof lanterns from Natralight.

All of our rooflight products have been designed with speed and ease of construction in mind to ensure a seamless installation process.

For this blog, we will talk you through how we install this type of rooflight.

How we install roof lanterns

Firstly, we will quality check all the parts against inventory, as this will depend on the size of your unit. 

If you have ordered an aperture that measures, for example, two metres by one metre, this will measure 70mm in width to match the width of the built-in upstand you are having installed. In this instance, we recommend a minimum height of 25mm but this can be increased if required.

For a number of installations, you may have added a roof membrane on top of your deck, so ensure that there is enough excess material on your curb and rooflight upstand as this will weatherproof your roof light when its being fitted. Remember this can be folded back out of the way until your roof lantern is installed. Natralight recommends that the membrane is added to your roof once the lantern is added to avoid damaging or piercing it.

If your roof light is larger than 3 metres by 1.5 metres, the frame will need to be assembled by taking two of the corner cleats and inserting them into the slots in the frame. The other ends of the cleats need to be inserted into the slots of the matching piece of the frame before you push the two pieces of the frame together. The nuts and bolts are put into the pre-cut hole.

The frame section needs to be fastened together securely with screws through the top of the upstand, with this action for all the corners of the frame fastened securely together. 

Once all four corners are fixed through this process will be repeated for each corner screwing the unit together through the preformed holes located in the underside of the unit. The upstand is now ready to be fixed to your curb, using a thick bead of silicone all the way around, about 20mm from the internal edge.

Our installers will then carefully place the assembled upstand onto the curb, ensuring it sits flush with the inner and outer edge of the curb. The upstand will be secured to the curb by inserting screws into a purpose-made groove of 100mm from each corner. The installer will pre-drill holes into the aluminium frame using a standard metal drill.

Natralight recommends 12 screws in total to each corner with a further screw in the middle of each side. Standard timber screws with a minimum length of 50mm are recommended.

Next, we will attach four hip bars to the upstand bringing the hip into position over the upstand, sliding the head of the bolt into the slot of the hip pulling the hip body forward whilst tightening the bolt. This ensures the internal nut remains in place when tightening. This process is repeated for each corner when tightening the hip body. 

Introducing the ridge bar

The ridge bar has blocks located at either end which already house the bolts that connect the hip bars. The slotted end of the hips bars needed to be slid over the screws in the ridge end block position. The hip bars need to connect with each other, in line with the centre of the ridge bar. We will then repeat for the other end.

The protective film will be removed from each side of the ridge and hip profiles when you are removed these fit the packers at each corner of the curb. 

A small spot of silicon will be applied on either side of the packer, preventing them from sliding from side to side. 

Inserting glass sections

Before glass panels are introduced to your unit, the first five centimetres of the green glazing tape needs to be removed. This is pre-applied to your ridge and hips, ensuring the peeled off film is accessible from the inside of the roof lantern once the glass is positioned. Not peeling off all of the protective cover ensures your glass can be moved and repositioned until you are happy with all four sides of the lantern frame. 

Roof lanterns are designed so the glass easily fits into position, with extra care taken with the heaviest component parts. Bringing in one of the panels and sitting it on the inside groove of the packers, with the frame gently lowered for all four glass panels.

Once the glass is positioned correctly, a generous amount of silicon will be applied into the groove of the top and bottom of each of the hip profiles. Silicon will need to be run between all the glass panels and frames on either side of the hip and ridge bars, with only 100mm of silicon needed. The installer will gently tap the hip carriers and top caps onto the hip bars by hand. 

The powder-coated top cap slides the hip carriers up the hip bar, so the angled cutouts line up perfectly and a position dead centre to the ridge bar. The hip carrier is staggered so the 100mm is sticking out at the top as you cannot slide the hip caps into position. Until the ridge carrier and top cap is fitted. This process needs repeating at the other end of the lantern.

The ridge carrier needs to be prepared by cutting off the corners using a hacksaw set.

We will run silicon between the glass and ridge bar to prepare for bringing in your ridge carrier. When your ridge carrier is being prepared, we will gently tap it into place by hand or using a rubber mallet, ensuring it is centred perfectly. 

The ridge top cap will be slid from one end, ensuring it is perfectly centred, checking both sides. The hip top caps can be slid into position, meeting equally at the top; the same as the process with the hip carriers. 

Now it is time to fix four hip caps to the ends of your hip with a screw gun. This procedure is repeated on all four corners of the lantern. Fitting the ridge end caps fills the space between the end of the ridge cover and the hip caps using silicon. Two end caps will be applied, with all that remains is to seal the underside of the bottom edge of the glass with silicon. 

Need more information? Contact us now

If you need more information about Natralight’s range of roof lanterns, please do not hesitate to get in touch today. Don’t forget we offer free no-obligation quotes on all of our products.