Victorian Lightwell Help

[yorksluchador]

Hi All, wondered if I could find an answer in here...

We have recently bought a victorian semi and the lightwell over the stair well is covered with glass on the inside. It is covered in debris and I can't for the life of me figure out how to clean it.

Am I going to have to just smash the glass to get rid of it and have it open? I imagine when the skylight was replaced any debris just fell inside and has been there ever since.

Any help or advice is greatly appreciate!

Thanks a lot,

Ian

 

[Cubist]

Hi There and Welcome,

Is there any indication at all how the glass is fixed inside the lower frame? Is the frame itself made of wood, steel, other? Is the glass seated inside a rebate in the frame and sealed on its upper side with say putty? Is there any evidence on the ceiling in the immediate area of the frame of any fixings, brackets perhaps, and maybe buried beneath the plaster? Some additional photos would also be helpful.

Cheers,
Cubist

 

[yorksluchador]

Thanks a lot Cubist.

The pane of glass does move, it lifts up slightly when you push it but it's in a recess and is actually quite heavy, I imagine it'll be very awkward to remove. Hopefully these extra photos help, quite difficult to get a decent photo photographing towards a light source, makes everything dark!

There doesn't seem to be any evidence of a frame although there is obviously something there, it is very smooth and I can't see any clues as to what is there.

Could be worth getting some sort of scaffolding in there and see if I can remove it? Then I could paint at the same time!

Thanks again for any help and advice.

Cheers,

Ian

 

[Cubist]

Hi Ian,
Thanks for the pics. Doesn't look like there are any leaks around the inner frame so it may be fair to suggest the glass is seated in a bed of putty above that. Is the movement you are seeing just the glass or is the inner frame moving too? Do you happene to know/can estimate how much space there is between the glass and the outermost skylight?

Breaking the glass is potentially very dangerous and should be avoided. In any event I would be tempted to post-pone any work on this until next year when the finer weather returns. The key risks are that you do not know the condition of the outer skylight and how easy/difficult/expensive it may be to repair or replace it if needed. Also, if it's not weathertight you may find that rain will leak into the stairwell and perhaps cause unnecessary damage.

My initial guess, assuming the frame and glass were installed from below, is that the frame is carried between a couple of timber joists and or noggins and it was positioned by lifting it into place at an angle to horizontal before being lowered into position. It may then have been fixed in place with screws or nails through the visible inner sections of the frame. While waiting for the sunshine to return you may want to investigate by removing the paint to expose the nail/screw heads. The worst case scenario is that the frame was fixed in place above the line of the ceiling and from outside the supporting joists and if so will be difficult to cut/remove.
Cheers for now,
Cubist

 

[88v8]

What size is it?

This does not look like an original feature, there would have been some sort of ornamental moulding around the opening, and that glass looks like Large Artic which could be 1930s, and is no longer available.

If it appears to move it may have been dropped in loose, and just be stuck now with debris. I would put a wood block under it padded with an old towel or something and give it a gentle thump starting at one end. It may break of course so I would start by sticking a criss-cross of packing tape across it and around the perimeter, like they did in the war.
Wear stout gardening gloves.

After cleaning you can refit it or drop a new piece in from below.
If it breaks, Small Artic is still made, you might want to go for laminated.

 

[bobby spray]

I had something very similar myself in my own house. My skylight was sealed off in the 1950’s before the house was central heated. The glass used was the same as yours (Flemish glass?) and my false ceiling was a bit bigger than yours but suffered from the exact same problem – it was covered in dirt. The skylight above was vented to prevent condensation forming but the venting allowed all sorts of rubbish to be blown into the house and rest on the glass. The person who I bought the house from had simply cut holes through the pyramid above the glass to allow him to clean it – no mean feat as it was over 15 metres squared.

I had the ceiling removed, the pyramid repaired and a new rooflight installed. It looks great now. Below are some pictures during removal. You can see the cleaning access holes the previous owner had cut!


.

 

[Feltwell]

Lovely skylight! Good luck for you that the dental cornicing above the "new" ceiling was left in place.

 

[yorksluchador]

Thanks everyone for your help, i will be sure to come back here and update you when we finally get around to sorting it! Lots more to deal with before we tackle this. Beautiful skylight by the way @bobby spray , i hope mine is hiding something similar!