Skylights

[RalphVa]

We've 7 approximately 1986ish skylights in this house. Just got a quote back on replacing 4 of them in the breakfast room. Quote seems a tad high but have a lot of confidence in the guy.

Cannot seem to find anyone else to quote. Even have a neighbor over on the next ridge who owns a roofing company. He wasn't interested in coming to look.

Know any skylight outfits in central Va?

Ralph

 

[TnAndy]

Don't know of any, but I will say having put in a lot of them over the years buy Velux brand.

 

[RalphVa]

Velux are what he quoted.

Ralph

 

[3Ts]

There are also the solar tube skylights, also referred to as sky tunnels. I've had no-name skylights, velux brand, and solar tubes. I think the solar tubes provide the most light even though they are 14" diameter compared to the 2'x4' (nominal) velux and no-name skylights. The solar tubes can be retro-fitted and be offset to go around framing.

 

[EddieWalker]

I'm not a fan of skylights, but if you are committed to them, the biggest problem with replacing them is the condition of the shingles around them. If they are five years old or older, you risk breaking them when lifting them up to get the new flashing in place. Older are even harder to work with because they become more brittle with age. The problem is that while fixing one problem, you create other problems that become increasingly expensive and difficult to fix. As a home repair/remodel contractor, I refuse to touch skylights. I do get quite a few jobs to repair the sheetrock that is damaged from a leaking skylight and at least half of them leak a year or two after being replaced. The only sure fire, best chance of not leaking, is to replace skylights when you replace your roof.

 

[ruffdog]

I'm not a fan of skylights, but if you are committed to them, the biggest problem with replacing them is the condition of the shingles around them. If they are five years old or older, you risk breaking them when lifting them up to get the new flashing in place. Older are even harder to work with because they become more brittle with age. The problem is that while fixing one problem, you create other problems that become increasingly expensive and difficult to fix. As a home repair/remodel contractor, I refuse to touch skylights. I do get quite a few jobs to repair the sheetrock that is damaged from a leaking skylight and at least half of them leak a year or two after being replaced. The only sure fire, best chance of not leaking, is to replace skylights when you replace your roof.

^^Yep, that tells the story.

 

[Gem99ultra]

I feel for RalphVA! I have a love/hate feeling for sky lights. I very much appreciate the natural sun light one gets from them. On the other hand, I've never seen a sky light that didn't leak in time. And the cost to repair the damage is not insignificant.

 

[RalphVa]

We inherited these. Made them a little more livable by putting in cellular blinds to keep the heat out many years ago. Have to slide them back this time of year to keep from having condensation.

Think we've about decided to use this outfit and to replace all 7 of them. Have 40 year shingles. Hopefully they will be more pliable. Says it's a 3 or 4 day job what with getting the shingles in and out, flashing and all.

Ralph

 

[PILOON]

I always said that it was not if but when they would leak!
Had a client that insisted on one over the bath tub.
Well they later complained that it leaked cold water when they bathed.

DUH, warm moist air raises and condenses on the cold skylight and then drips down.

The ceiling is insulated R40, skylight is probably less than R3/4 so guess what.
Also to note that there is never any snow on the skylight as it always melts due to heat loss while the roof has as much as 4 ft of accumulation.

But in my defence I repeatedly attempted to discourage the skylight installation so they never reproached me over the issue.

 

[Thomas]

Skylight were the must have in 80's around our area,but one home owners saw the heat loss keeping snow clear from window leaks skylights have faded.
Maybe roofing company can point you to someone.

 

[oosik]

I built my Panabode cedar home here in 1982. It was designed to have many skylights. Previously, I had seen problems with skylights. Leaking, difficult to keep clean, condensation, replacement........ I choose to not have skylights. I'm glad I went that way.

 

[GeneV]

This thread makes me feel better about not having skylights. We have an open concept living/dining/kitchen area that's a bit of a cave...men and the wife always saying to each other, gee wish we had skylights here! Reading about all the problems with them, no thanks.

 

[Oaktree]

This thread makes me feel better about not having skylights.

Same here. My wife (love her dearly, but she has no clue what's involved with a lot of the renovations she thinks would be nice) bugs me from time to time about them. Yeah, our upstairs can be dark (windows only on the ends of the 2nd story), but to me the downsides outweigh any gain.

As Thomas noted, they were an 80s fad that fortunately has mostly gone out of style.

 

[spitter]

40 years of carpentry found out one thing sky lights leak . If they don't now they will eventualy.:drink:

 

[EddieWalker]

40 years of carpentry found out one thing sky lights leak . If they don't now they will eventualy.:drink:

I agree with this 100%.

I consider a skylight to be the same thing has having a hole in the hull of a boat.

80 to 90 percent of your energy is lost through the attic, which is why the R value standard where I live has gone from R30 up to R60. Having the maximum R value in attic insulation is where you get the most return on your money. Putting a path through the your attic insulation creates a massive path for warm air to escape in winter and cold air to heat up in summer. With modern LED lights, there is absolutely no validity to the argument that you save money by having them because you don't have to turn on the lights during the day.

 

[TnAndy]

This thread makes me feel better about not having skylights. We have an open concept living/dining/kitchen area that's a bit of a cave...men and the wife always saying to each other, gee wish we had skylights here! Reading about all the problems with them, no thanks.

Well, personally I like them. Lot of problems come from cheap skylights. I made the mistake of putting one of those plastic bubble kind in our house in 1985 in one place, and very small, openable type Velux in another. The bubble type leaked within a few years and I had to replace it....used a Velux this time, and never had a problem since. Never had a problem with the small Velux, it was in an upstairs bath room that had no other way to put a window in due to the roof slope. I did go back couple years ago when we remodeled that bath, took out the little skylight and put in a BIG Velux (46x46) that makes all the difference in the world in that room.

The plastic bubble one was over our stairwell to the 2nd floor, that one I replaced with a openable type somewhere in the early 90's

A good skylight, like Velux brand, will outlast the typical roofing material on a house IMHO....they use an extremely good flashing system that if installed correctly is leak proof. Could the glass part or some other part eventually go bad ? Sure....nothing is forever....I have a couple of Andersen casement windows on the west side of the house I'm replacing after 37 years because the constant exposure to the afternoon sun has simply worn on them to the point I'm replacing.....nothing is forever.....including roofs.

As for insulation value, again, no argument from me.....skylights don't come anywhere close to a well insulated cavity....but using that as a reason to not have them would also negate having windows in a side wall.....because windows are a big thermal hole in the wall, but sure are nice to look out of !

 

[Oaktree]

As for insulation value, again, no argument from me.....skylights don't come anywhere close to a well insulated cavity....but using that as a reason to not have them would also negate having windows in a side wall.....because windows are a big thermal hole in the wall, but sure are nice to look out of !

I suppose a lot of that depends on where you live. Doesn't really get all that cold in Tenn, so maybe you can get away with the additional heat loss thru a skylight.

I would imagine they also affect the structural integrity of the roof somewhat, in where you need to cut and bridge rafters to accommodate them.

 

[fruitcakesa]

I suppose a lot of that depends on where you live. Doesn't really get all that cold in Tenn, so maybe you can get away with the additional heat loss thru a skylight.

I would imagine they also affect the structural integrity of the roof somewhat, in where you need to cut and bridge rafters to accommodate them.

They can be really problematic in snow country.
You do have to reframe accordingly.

 

[BoylermanCT]

I just put a new roof on my house and removed all 6 skylights. Best decision. House stayed much warmer this winter, especially the bathroom which had an 8' sheetrock "chimney" up to the skylight. You could feel the cold air coming down that chimney in winter. Half of the sky lights were starting to leak, so they had to go.

 

[bunyip]

Have had skylights and heat was always an issue, about 3 years ago we put in a LED skylight which of course is not a true skylight but comes on gradually as the sun comes up, they come in different sizes and ours is about 18" square, mounts on the ceiling and is a flat panel, one small hole for the wire to the panel on the roof.