What to do with large non opening sky lights?

Hi Maria, this is what I immediately thought of and wondered if it would work lol apparently it does work! Seems like it would be simple to take them down as well.

Yes, we have an indoor in-ground swimming pool and need the 2 skylights to heat it up. A few years ago we had them replaced and had a disappointment because the replacement job was not done correctly, we have a roof leak. They are difficult to put in after the originals . Plus the technician who did the job let roof material fall in-between the 2 layers-the domed part and the flat inside part, which is now impossible to clean out.

Getting to your situation, tension rods would work, you could select the fabric that would let in just the right amount of sun. After time the sun may bleach out your fabric, as you said, leave them up for the summer months. This could be a beautiful addition to your room.

Hi, 516maria,

If one of your skylights is very foggy, it's most likely a seal issue that might be addressed by a window glass company.

Assuming your window fabric sufficiently blocks light/heat, the tension rods should work, and this would be significantly less costly than skylight blinds! If you can access the outer glass, keep in mind that cleaned glass reflects more sunlight/heat.

I have seen this question asked many times over the years in this forum. Generally I would say that if you don't go with electric blinds, the tension rod idea is a good alternative. I work with tension rods a lot and they do move, especially when they are near a window where expansion and contraction of the wall may be more prevalent...even though it would be minuscule...the rods may fall. That could be dangerous if you are underneath them. So I would go with a rod you could screw into the wall to be safe. Like an expandable shower curtain rod or the like...just to be safe.

Hello there,

I have resulted to white washing my skylights because the sun did damage to my furnishings, but I intend to use ordinary stretch curtain wires and hooks and eyes to fix a sheer curtain to it for the duration. I should then be able to push them aside if I do want more sunlight! Happy days!!

Here is info on your skylights

https://blog.minwax.com/05/18/restore-a-foggy-or-cloudy-skylight/

https://ezsnapdirect.com/how-to-block-skylight-heat-top-four-fixes-for-under-100/

https://www.lbroofwindows.co.uk/latest/2017/07/cover-skylights-summer/

If you get blackout curtain material and your own rods, I'm sure you could cover these yourself!

Hi! I think your idea will work well!

Here's an idea as you said you're thinking about doing.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecwkDSvlnMY

We have two skylights in our kitchen and in the summer it was like standing under a spot light. Ended up getting two pieces of frosted plexiglass at Lowes. Cut to size and tacked white half round around the edges.

This not only diffuses the light (the panels are diamond like designs) but it also is quieter when it rains and looks so much better. It looks more finished. The best part is that it doesn't let the kitchen get hot via the summer sun and even protects against heat lose in the winter.

But the necessary items cost less then $30 dollars and makes a huge difference. Wish I would have thought of doing this sooner.

We like this so well we did the exact same thing with our patio skylights too. This way no moving anything. They are always in place and only taken down to clean them.

Maria, I did exactly what you are thinking of doing for my boyfriend's skylights. We removed the skylight coverings in fall and winter, however.

Thanks for all the great ideas. I would love to replace the one that’s foggy.. but I’m afraid that might open a whole can of worms... even a leak. And there’s already been many worms in this new home of ours ... lol

You could add privacy film over it. Rabbitgoo is a very good brand and won't make a mess on the glass.

You could use tension rods if there is a frame where you can inset them. Make sure you use lined material or it will fade and still allow quite a bit of heat into the room.

I had a huge one in my NYC loft, I used ripstop nylon, and parachute cording, small pulleys and a couple of tie offs below.

You could also use non-adhesive heat resistant window film, applys with a bit of water and a squeegee that I used on 2 very large transome windows in my bedroom.

You would need two rods one on each side of the window to hold the curtain from hanging down .

Here’s a photo. There’s 2 of them on a very high slanted ceiling