Oh, man. This is all making me so sad. The whole reason we got two new sun tubes in the living room was to pull in full spectrum light, but now I find that in order to counter the blue cast from these things, I might have to add more cast. What I will say is that if your have the 14" sun tunnels from Velux, they sell a "neutral light" filter that is spec'd at around 3600K, so, not sure how that compares to using a theater gel, but it might work for some people, and you don't have to cut it yourself. For my purposes, I am going to have to do some other experimenting, because I need more of the spectrum, not less of it (for me to do artwork, but also my plants). If anyone has been able to track down the source of the bluing (is it the diffuser, or the inside of the tube, or possibly the dome on top?), that would be a huge help. Of course, I will check for the blue film! Thank you all! Addendum: I just took the diffuser out and looked at the light coming in, and it is definitely not the diffuser causing the bluing, nor is there a film in there. It's the top dome I think. I conveniently have an older sun tube in my bathroom that does not do the bluing thing, and it also does not have a tinted dome on top, so that seems like the main difference between them. Now I am wondering if the dome can be replaced maybe with something not tinted...

UPDATE... First off, thank you all for your comments and suggestions. I thought you'd like to know the final outcome of our plumbing & venting issues.... We have moved the shower drain pipe. After getting a totally unacceptable estimate of $4,800 to move our shower drain pipe & vent from our kitchen contractor that included punching a hole in the roof to vent the drain, we solicited comments and estimates from 3 outside plumbers. Of those 3, 2 proposed the same solution and a third proposed a different solution...none of these solutions involved punching a hole in the roof. Why not? Well, it turns out we have a whole-house vent stack in the attic that we can tap into. All 3 outside plumbers checked our attic to see if we had one and then proposed solutions using that vent stack. Our kitchen contractor's plumber never checked the attic for that stack so assumed he would have to go through the roof. (You know ASSUME does...) Our first outside plumber proposed tapping into the toilet waste pipe. But, all of the other plumbers were uncertain if that would pass code...this estimate was for $550 + $150 for an express permit The other two plumbers proposed rerouting the shower drain back to the main 2nd floor waste pipe...one was for $925 and the other for $1,000 both + cost of drywall repair. We went with the $925 estimate for a couple of reasons...(1) they were local and have an "A" rating across the board on Angie's List (the first time it's been useful!) and (2) the other plumber was not a master plumber (journeyman), he was not insured, and wasn't even sure if his license was up-to-date in our county...all red flags to us. Anyway, so our plumber came out and moved the drain pipe. He then told us he would try to run the vent to the attic without cutting into the wall (saving us the $500 for drywall repair). It worked! He was able to push the vent pipe up the wall and into the attic without any problems. While he was working on this we asked him about the Polybutelyne water pipes...he, as well as all the other plumbers, had recommended changing them out. We're on well water so there's no chlorine involved, but they did tell us that it would eventually become brittle and split. So, we got estimates for that and, since our kitchen project has been stalled for over 8 weeks, went ahead and had it done ($3,200 for replacing water pipes + $1,900 to repair drywall in 3 bedrooms + LR textured ceiling = $5,100. We already have the ceiling down in the kitchen and the main wall opened up so no charge for repairing those) This was all done fairly quickly and we have had both our final inspection done and the drywall repairs completed...in time for our kitchen to restart Wednesday. The only drawback...previously, since each fixture had it's own water pipe, flushing the toilet had no affect on the shower. Now, however....a very different story! It's taking some getting used to! BTW...it turns out the first plumber's solution would have met code and passed inspection since he had planned to use a sanitary T. I was curious so I asked the inspector about it when he was out Friday. If you want pictures, let me know and I'll post them. Thanks again everyone!

In my area the closest incorporated town (17 miles from me) has just put in 3 more Starbucks in the last year (town of 55,000). Lots of other commercial retail businesses are also going in, in various parts of the city. A Lowe's is now being built across from HD - along with lots of other retail stores - a big shopping center. Lowe's is due to open Dec 6. The guy who is building Lowe's said they go all over the country just building Lowe's and they get them up in 3 months (amazing). The guy said they are going to Colorado Springs (I think - know it was in Colorado) to build the next one. Next town beyond that 40 miles away just put in a new Target shopping center (5 miles from another new one put in year before last) with other retail shops too - will open shortly. I don't see a slow down on new housing developments being started in the surrounding areas either. Prices have dropped some in the new housing developments but they are still building more and selling them. So I am thinking that if they are still putting in retail shops and more housing developments my area couldn't be doing too poorly. I'm keeping my hopes up. Media needs to quit spreading gloom and doom. I believe if you keep postive thoughts - good things will follow.

Satin gloss on the red ceiling - could look really nice and reflect a pinkish glow down to the people eating under it. Just use a couple of coats of paint. Toxicity of paint and varnish is negligible after it's dry, so don't worry.