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We just bought a home last year. There is a 20 year old addition with skylights. One of the skylights appears to be leaking. The other day I found a wet spot on the carpet under the skylight. I dried it and after raining the rest of the day I didn't see anymore wet spots or notice any more drips but a couple of days later I noticed the popcorn ceiling around the skylight hole is buckling. It goes all around one side. The skylights were installed when the addition was built. Do they need to be replaced? How much damage could this have caused to the roof/ceiling? Anyone have any idea how much this could cost? Thank you for your help.
I actually did search and read the thread you suggested before posting however did not find an answer to my question which is why I posted. I'm not asking if they are good or bad. I already have them and they (or at least one of them) is leaking and I need to know what to do about it.
Forget flashing and the typical instructions and methods of putting in skylights. Do what I said before. The wild card being if some roofer redid the roof, they can screw up a free lunch.
Give us a pix or two to better see what is there.
Here is what you do (Prior post) Just about as foolproof as it can get:
If you put the skylight in my way there is no such thing as "flashing".
You need to open the shingles back a lot further. Put down a layer of Bituthene at least 12" around on all sides. Hopefully the skylight has a lil flange all the way around. That will compress the Bituthene and can even be nailed thru it. Then another layer of Bituthene is put on bonding to the first layer on the roof and running up the sides of the skylight and bonding to that. You can also then take a roofing foil backed tar tape and run completely around the parimeter of the window at the joint where the skylight meets the roof.
The light is totally completely sealed by two layers of waterproof membrane and bonded on both the roof and skylight surfaces. Can have standing water and still not leak. The further out you can run the Bituthene inital collar the better. The roofing can be nailed thru it without any problems.
The solid flashing / cover that comes with the skylight really does nothing to seal. It is more a decorative cover to the other sealing membranes. It can be attached as required but not critical to form a water tight seal. Again it can be nailed or screwed thru the Bituthene sealing membrane layers without any problems if need be. Roofing can be run up to the skylight and nailed anywhere as required. Stand off distances are not critical, can nail right at the skylight within several inches.
The rub always comes if the roof is replaced. The roofer must understand strip the shingles around the skylight carefully, never to damage the first layer of Bituthene. The second layer and maybe the foil tar tape layer could be replaced but don't have to be. It is probably best to replace them if you want a totally leak proof seal as originally installed.
Skylights are always a pain to work with but should never leak. Do not depend on flashing for the seal. Murphy's Law is always at work and either ice dams, heavy rain or some method of getting water around the flashing will occur under extreme circumstances. My method will endure even standing water usually up to the lip of the skylight lower section standing curb. There are several layers that must be penetrated to have a leak, even then the Bituthene tends to be self healing. Great stuff.
I want to give you instruction about how to repair a skylight leaking.
1> If supposed leak is not actually excessive condensation that has moved along the underside of the glass toward the edge and then dripped down the side of the interior opening. This is mostly happen in cold climate in single-glazed skylights.
2> Find that the skylight is fully closed and that any weather seals are in good condition. Normally this problem is occur when skylights are located in very high ceilings & it is hard to see if they are fully closed.
3> Normally the skylight leak occur mainly in winter when there is snow or ice on the roof?
The simple method to stop skylight leak is
1> Patch damaged flashing as described
2> If you are an experienced do-it-yourselfer with roofing skills and feel comfortable working on roofs, remove the roof and flashing as necessary to correct a faulty installation or replace damaged flashing.
Mod Cut
Last edited by Ultrarunner; 06-28-2010 at 01:22 PM..
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We already told you what to do...............
