Skylight Installation
New skylights flashed into the roof system properly, so the hole in your roof stays watertight.
Skylight flashing is what keeps it watertight
Skylights get blamed for leaks that are almost never the skylight’s fault. It is the detail where the unit meets the roof.
Done properly the skylight is integrated into the roof system — underlayment, ice and water shield around the opening, and step flashing that layers with the shingle courses so water sheds over each layer rather than finding a seam.
The best time to add one is during a roof replacement, when the deck is already open and the flashing can be built into the new roof from the start.
Fixed, venting or tubular?
Fixed
Does not open. The simplest and least expensive option, with the fewest things that can eventually fail. If you want light rather than air, this is the sensible choice.
Venting
Opens, by crank or motor, to let heat and moisture out. Worth it over a bathroom or a kitchen where humidity has nowhere else to go, and useful for summer heat in a top floor room.
Tubular
A small reflective tube that brings daylight down into a hallway, closet or interior bathroom with no window. Far less disruptive to install and much cheaper than a full skylight.
Where it goes matters as much as what it is
A skylight interrupts the path water takes down the roof. Everything above it now has to be routed around it, which is why placement is a roofing decision and not only an interior one.
The things we look at:
- How much roof is above it. The more roof draining toward the skylight, the more water its head flashing has to divert.
- Distance from valleys. A valley concentrates water. Putting a skylight in its path is asking for trouble.
- Rafter spacing. Working within the existing framing avoids structural work; going wider means cutting and heading off rafters.
- Which way it faces. North gives even, soft light all day. South gives much more light and much more summer heat.
The best time to add one is during a roof replacement. The deck is already open, the flashing is built into the new roof from the start, and you are not paying to open a roof that was only just closed.
Questions we get about this
Yes, though the best time is during a roof replacement, when the deck is already open and the flashing can be built into the new roof from the start.
Not if it is flashed properly. Skylight leaks are almost always a flashing problem, which is why the flashing detail is the part of this job that matters.
Get a straight answer about your roof
A free inspection and a written estimate you keep. Daniel owns the company and does the estimate himself — there is no sales team, so the person who looks at your roof is the person accountable for the work.