Skylight Installation From Semper Fi
A skylight can change the whole feel of a room that doesn’t get much light, like a hallway or a bathroom or a kitchen where the windows are all on one side of the house. But a lot of the calls we get about skylights are from people who already have one and it’s started dripping or the glass got foggy and they want to know if it can be fixed or if it needs to come out.
Semper Fi Roofing & Exteriors got going over 20 years ago with two Marines and a truck and we put in and replace skylights on a lot of the roofs we work on. Our work has a lifetime workmanship warranty on it and the estimate doesn’t cost you anything, plus we have weekend availability if you can’t meet during the week. Get in touch online and we’ll come out and look.
Old Skylights That Leak
Most of the skylights we replace went in back when the house was built or sometime in the 80s or 90s and they just plain wore out. Usually it’s the seal around the glass that went bad or the metal around the outside of the skylight that got bent or rusted, and a lot of times somebody already tried to fix it with a bunch of caulk that cracked again after a winter or two.
Some of the signs we hear about the most are:
- Water stains on the ceiling around it
- Drips during heavy rain or snow melt
- Fog or haze between the glass
- Cracked or yellowed glass
When it’s an older skylight like that we’ll usually recommend putting in a new one instead of patching the old one because it’s going to keep leaking either way. A new skylight with all new metal around it is going to hold up a lot better than trying to save one that’s 25 years old.
Adding a Skylight Where You Don’t Have One
If there’s a room in your house that always feels dark even in the middle of the day then a skylight is something worth thinking about. We see it a lot in upstairs bathrooms and hallways and in kitchens where the cabinets take up most of the wall space. Rooms with a vaulted ceiling are usually the easiest spot for one since there’s no attic in the way.
When we come out we’ll look at where you want it and let you know if it’ll work there and what size makes sense for the room. Some skylights stay closed all the time and some can open up to let hot air and steam out, which people like a lot in bathrooms. We’ll go over the options with you and show you what’s available before anything gets ordered.
Doing It With a New Roof
If you’re already planning on getting a new roof it’s a really good time to replace an old skylight or add a new one. The shingles around it are coming off anyway so it saves you from paying to have that area opened up twice, and the new skylight and the new roof get sealed up together at the same time. A lot of our roof replacement customers end up doing their skylights while we’re up there.
Taking a Skylight Out
Not everybody wants to keep their skylight and that’s fine too. If you’ve got one that’s leaked for years and you’d rather not deal with it anymore we can take it out completely and close up the roof and the ceiling where it used to be. Once it’s shingled over you’d never know there was one there from the outside.
Skylight FAQs
Is my skylight leaking or is it just condensation?
It can be hard to tell from inside so the easiest thing is to have us come out and look at it, but if you only see water on cold winter mornings it might be condensation and if it drips when it rains it’s most likely a leak.
Can you replace a skylight without a new roof?
Yes we can replace just the skylight and redo the shingles right around it without touching the rest of your roof.
How long does it take to put in a skylight?
Most skylights take us about a day to put in or replace and that includes finishing up the shingles on the outside around it.
Schedule a Skylight Estimate
If your skylight is leaking or you’re thinking about adding one to brighten up a room we’ll come out and take a look and let you know what we’d recommend. Contact us online or schedule an appointment to get started.
