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The problem are the skylights (Velum) in a house I’ve been building over the last 10 years. It seems that snow melts and runs down and then freezes again at the base of the skylight. With time, I think that heat makes it way to the base of the skylight and melts some of this snow/ice. The end result is that water weeps its way in and leaks. I’m told that this is common for skylights. I know that step flashing was used on the sides of the skylights, but I don’t know of anything special done at the base. I’d be interested in doing some metro work to prevent a future crisis. I believe the slope of the roof is 7 in 12.
Thanks!
Replies
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note: spell check changed Velux to Velum...
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Kent,
If they were properly installed they shouldn't leak. Have installed their skylites from almost no pitch to pretty steep. Their flashings are very good and about the only time they leak, someone has misdone the steps and the counter flashings. You say ice builds up from the base of the lite? And are there more than one that leaks? If there are more, I would strongly suggest that the prob might be in the installation. Let me know, I'm curious.
PS, some guys will do an initial seal with some strips of iceguard.
best of luck
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Yes, more than one in the house is leaking. So, it might be the installation job--the only work I outsourced was the roof! By the way, spellcheck got me on "metro", should have been "retro"...
Thanks!
*Kent, Just out of curriosity, did they lay the shingles on top of the flashing or underneath it at the bottom? I've run across a few oddities before and thought I would just ask. Is it a curb mount or step flashing system?
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Ihave also installed the velux brand of skylights in my house and have had problems when there is snow on the roof. I have even redone the flashing with no success in curing the problem. This is especially agrivating to me because I am a building contractor. thank goodness its not on a customers house.
*Jacob,No kidding? Tell us more, would always like to know more. It concerns me as I am a builder also and would not like this to happen. Thanks
*Hey I don't know what to add. there's no real pattern to the leak. It never leaks during a rain just leaks on occasion when there's snow laying above it,but not every time . I have added additional flashing above the window but this has not totally stopped the leak. The slope is a 5 on 12.
*Jacob,Is there clear roof uphill of the lite or a wall or other penetration? Had a skylite that appeared to leak but it was found to be only the exit pt. Poor step flashing where a hip met a second story wall was the entry. Water travelled hip to jack to header of lite. Maybe?
*I think your problem also could be coming from the inside, in the area of condensation on interior glass of the skylight and from a vapor/insulataion barrier failure at the shaft and/or ceiling around the skylights. Not knowing exactly where you are located, may make this comment relevant: In my area of the US, we often have ice dams that can foil even Velux's flashing unless steps are taken to control them. Another, might be that water is being diverted too aggressively towards the windows and flashings will fail and water can even run up hill. (fancy that)As a personal point, I am not much of a fan of putting skylights on the lower portion of a roof unless special precautions have be made. (ie. water diverters, extensive ice/water membrane usage, and even a cricket if required.Ten years is a long time to complete a house, how much is completed, say percentage wise?
*The foolproof method of install is to run Grace ice and water shield up the skylight and out onto the roof, completely around a skylight...I have in the past run the sticky stuff far above and below too...The light will never leak this way. And for gosh sakes put the stuff on from the lowest point to the highest point....Any of you who need help in person, just send out an airline ticket, feed me, house me, and I'll take care of the rest...Skylight-Leaks-Solved-at/thelakeside.netnear the stream, building dams with Gracies,aj
*ice & water is what we use as our first line of defense also..there is always the odd chance that the factory gasket between the factory trim and the glazing is defective and the leak is from there...we had one like that that plagued us, especially after we thot we had found the culprit, a missing step flash...but no, the gasket (a butyl tape) had been misapplied and that was the real leak, you might want to wait for spring and water test with a hose if you can't find anything apparent....
*Mike...next time just email us our seat assignments on the airline of your choice and will fix it right up for ya...First class to(o) if ya want the same...Raining cats (including mine) and dogs, near the flooding stream,ajHey Smithy...Where ya located, I forget with all you locals, being a pee brain that I am?...
*I've never ahd a velux leak that the flashing kit, step flashing, and ice and snow were properly installed. Velux has a really nice product but I'd surely wrap the ice and snow up the sides, top and bottom so if the water makes it past the flashing, you're covered.
*My last house in Northern Wisconsin had 3 skylights that were all flashed and shingled properly and they all leaked eventually. The problem was that there is so much heat loss through the skylights that water would melt over and around the lights and then freeze up on the bottom edge forming small ice dams. The water would then collect behind the dam and eventually leak above the flashings. The only solution was to remove the snow from around the skylights after each snowfall. I am not a builder or an expert but my conclusion was that skylights should simply not be used in my climate. I know there will never be another skylight in a home of mine in a cold climate.
*I installed three roof windows a few years ago and two leaked. Since they were bronze, I caulked the hell out of them with bronze caulk and have had zero problems since. Hope this helps!!
*I have installed dozens of Velux roof windows and skylights in the last twenty years, all in Colorado. None of the ones where I did the flashing and roof tie-in myself ever leaked. Velux now specifies ice and water shield under the flashings, but my old ones didn't have any and they were fine. My own house has 4 on a north-facing 6:12 composition shingle roof. They sometimes sit buried in snow for weeks (8300 feet elevation) and nary a leak.For what it is worth, I have always run a light bead of expanding foam where the sheathing, flashings, and skylight frame come together, in the hope that it would bolster the R-value of this joint, and eliminate any stray convection. This is done from inside after the installation is dried in. With the ice and water on there, the foam doesn't touch the flashing or the roofing, making for a simpler job when re-roofing is necessary. This practice runs directly counter to the explicit Velux directions, however. Two of the roof windows (old GGL's ... remember those?) have been there for 16 years, with a lot of roof above. We get a lot of winter wind across and up the north roof slope, but never a problem. Just lucky?Now for a funny story. The year is 1991. I am at a customer's home with my partner Paul, sitting out a spring squall with the owners over a cup of tea. Looking up through the Velux above us we see wind and ferocious rain. The conversation naturally turns to the integrity of the roof seal. Paul and I are both waxing eloquent about the bulletproof nature of the Velux flashing system. All of a sudden the skylght starts a-leaking like crazy! Did we ever look dumb! It stopped in a few minutes, although the rain continued. In the ensuing 9 years, it has never leaked again, nor had it ever done so in the 5 years prior to that incident. We would have looked dumber if we'd been the installers. I still wonder what made it leak that one time. Weird.
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The problem are the skylights (Velum) in a house I've been building over the last 10 years. It seems that snow melts and runs down and then freezes again at the base of the skylight. With time, I think that heat makes it way to the base of the skylight and melts some of this snow/ice. The end result is that water weeps its way in and leaks. I'm told that this is common for skylights. I know that step flashing was used on the sides of the skylights, but I don't know of anything special done at the base. I'd be interested in doing some metro work to prevent a future crisis. I believe the slope of the roof is 7 in 12.
Thanks!
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Ice Shield around skylights is a must. I even put a strip across the back pan ,incase of a backup there never had a leak with one I did myself.