Skylight Installation & Replacement in New Jersey

Why Skylights Leak

Failed flashing

Skylights come with a manufacturer flashing kit designed specifically for that unit and that roof pitch. When one is installed without the proper kit or with the kit substituted for a bead of roof cement, it leaks, usually within a few years.

Age

The seals and gaskets on a skylight are consumable. Most units are looking tired somewhere around the twenty-year mark, and older acrylic domes yellow, craze and go brittle in the sun.

Condensation mistaken for a leak

This one catches people out. A skylight over a bathroom or kitchen, in a cold North Jersey January, will collect condensation on the inside of the glass and drip, with no roof leak at all. If your “leak” is worst in cold weather and there’s no rain involved, this is probably it, and the fix is ventilation rather than roofing.

Ice damming above the unit

Snow melts, refreezes above the skylight and backs water up under the flashing. That’s an attic ventilation problem showing up as a skylight problem.

We diagnose which of these you have before quoting, because two of them aren’t roofing jobs at all and we’ll tell you so.

Replace It During a Roof Replacement

If your skylight is more than about fifteen years old and your roof is coming off, replace the skylight at the same time. Every time.

Reflashing an old unit into a brand-new roof means the newest part of your roof is sealed to the oldest part of your skylight, and when that unit fails in three years the repair means opening up your new shingles to get at it. Doing both at once costs a fraction of doing them separately and removes the most likely future leak on the whole roof.

See roof replacement.

Choosing a Unit

Deck-mounted vs curb-mounted

Deck-mounted sits lower and looks cleaner on a pitched roof; curb-mounted sits on a built-up frame and is usual on low-slope roofs. Your roof decides more than your preference does.

Fixed vs venting

Venting units open, which is genuinely useful in a bathroom or kitchen where moisture needs a way out. More moving parts to eventually fail.

Glass vs acrylic

Glass is the right choice on almost every residential job now. Acrylic domes yellow and craze; that milky old skylight you’re looking at is acrylic.

Sun tunnels

For a hallway, closet or windowless bathroom where a full skylight isn’t practical. A reflective tube from the roof to a ceiling diffuser. Much less work, much less cost, and no structural change.

Where We Work

Skylight work across North Jersey, including Newark, Paterson, Clifton, East Orange, Bloomfield, Montclair, Belleville and Passaic. See all areas we serve.