Welcome to Family Roofing

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At Family Roofing, we take great pride in our experience, expertise, quality and customer service. It is our mission to provide excellent workmanship and complete customer satisfaction from start to completion of a project. Our reputation is based on service, safety and quality, regardless of how large or small the job.

 

SKYLIGHT LEAKS

Skylights are lovely things, admitting plenty of light and generally brightening the mood of any room.  Yet sometimes skylights leak.  They are literally holes in a roof, a part of your house not usually intended to have holes.  Why do skylights leak? And how should you repair a roof leak around a skylight? 

Age

Do you know the age of your roof and skylight?  Sometimes the problem with a skylight is its age.  Metal fatigues.  Wood rots.  Rubber deteriorates.  Caulking gets stiff and brittle.

A local, professional roofer can examine your skylight from inside your home and from your roof to roughly determine its age.  This can be a great start because you should not spend money on a skylight long past its useful lifespan.  A new skylight may be the economical answer.

Reasons Skylights Leak

Your roofer can determine if, indeed, your skylight is leaking or the water is coming from some other source.  Here are possible reasons why skylights or the surrounding roof could be leaking into your home:

1. A wandering roof leak — Your skylight sits within your roof’s field shingles (or metal panels), and all around it, your roof extends up to the ridge and down to the eaves; a ridge leak can wander down between your roof layers before dripping through drywall near your skylight.

2. The skylight itself — Sometimes the skylight frame (metal or wood) loses its structural integrity, and small amounts of moisture can bead up, then drip down into your living space.

3. Condensation — The skylight could be entirely watertight, but summer heat can cause condensation to form on the inside glass, then pool and drip inside your home.

4. Faulty installation — Roofers are best equipped to install skylights, though handymen and do-it-yourselfers will claim expertise; faulty installation is extremely common and often doesn’t reveal itself for years, as materials degrade and gaps open up.

5. Failed flashing or weakened roof cement — Flashing is thin metal used to bridge and seal gaps between unlike materials, such as the skylight and the roof sheathing; roof cement is a sticky adhesive used to hold parts in place; if either fails, your skylight can leak.

6. Improperly installed insulation — Every gap and space within the walls and roof of your home should carry insulation to keep your expensively treated indoor air indoors; poor or missing insulation allows water to accumulate and enter your building envelope.

 

Proper roof flashing is the key for a skylight not to leak.

With different types of roof pitches and style of roofing materials are used, the skylight flashing has to be right for the application or you have the possibility for a leak when a rainstorm hits.  When using shingles, shakes and slate type materials, an upper and low saddle with step flashing is the rule of thumb.  Tile with a profile uses a lead upper and lower saddle, then a pan flashing down the sides.  Low slope roofs can use a solid flashing { no steps } or cant strip at the base of the curb, with the low slope roofing sealed at the corners and rolled up the curb.  In most cases a fixed skylight flange will cover the metal or roofing, making a good waterproof skylight.