We restored the skylight and the lay light for the Justin Morrill Homestead library. Cypress was sourced for the repairs to the skylight as it was the original construction material. Earlier repairs had been in pine but one of the main rules of historic preservation is to replicate original materials whenever possible.
The lay light sashes (which are the colored glass panels that lay flat under the peaked skylight) were in good shape structurally but a large percentage of the glass was broken. The colored glass panes are engraved with copper wheel engraving which is the same process used to create Waterford crystal. We were able to find one company, Cascade Crystal in Toronto, who is still doing this work to replicated some of the glass that was too damaged to be repaired. The majority of the panes were repaired with an automotive glass epoxy.
When the skylight and the lay lights were reinstalled a plexiglass layer was added between them to protect the lay lights.
