I know its an age old question….I bought a house with two skylights in the living room. I hate skylights because I know there is no ‘perfect, non-leaking’ skylight.
So recently with heavy downpours here I have a little water coming through-enough to make a small puddle on the flooring below!!! What to do? Do I re-caulk and just go all around the whole thing and then see the results? Do I re-flash and re-caulk? I wish I could rip the whole thing out so please don’t advise to do it because I can’t right now, too busy. Thanks.
Replies
I think a strategically-positioned planter is an appropriate solution.
Check the roof to be sure that there's no buildup of leaves and such around the skylight, creating a "dam". If that's not the problem, and there are no obvious cracks in the unit, then it needs to be reflashed or replaced.
Caulk is just short of useless for this problem. In fact, caulk can CAUSE problems with otherwise adequately-installed units.
You could possibly muddle through for a few months with a piece or two of rubber membrane material, appropriately positioned. But knowing how to "appropriately" position it is the trick.
How steep is the roof?
(If it's only a few drops of moisture you had, you should consider the possibility that it's due to condensation vs leakage.)
Edited 11/21/2006 1:01 pm by DanH
Definitely not condensation. The pitch is very gradual, I would estimate 18 to 20 degrees. I will go up there today and see if there is anything obvious. I actually cleaned the gutters last month and looked up there and there was no debris. Sounds like I'll be reflashing soon enough.
Let's see... skylight. That's where you take a perfectly good roof and cut a hole in it, right?
Do make sure it's not condensation, good time of year for that.
PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
Gotta know what sort of skylight it is to give good advice.....
That's being awfully fussy. (About the quality of the advice, that is.)
People never lie so much as before an election, during a war, or after a hunt. --Otto von Bismarck
There are abnout four different styles of skylights. One of them is fairly certain not to leak if installed correctly. All are very dependent on the quality of installation.
They are
Velux - has excellent flashing system and good glass seals. the only one to get consistant recommendations here.
The plastic bubble - Worthless
plastic bubble on a curb with locally made flashing - nearly worthless
Local shop made skylights - Not too bad, depending on who made it and if they knew what they were doing. Same comment on other brand names - say from Andersen, all a step or two down from the Velux quality
I wouold need to see a photo or hear a good descripotion of what you have and where it is leaking to have a chance of giving decent advice what to do about your leak.
I had over twenty years roofing and have dealt with well over a thousand skylights. This is certain in my mind because on one single condo job we flashed 1296 skylights
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Whoa, that's a lot of skylights. I guess someone hates them more than me.
It is a velux I am fairly certain. Has a nice frame and a crank open/close mechanism.
It is only leaking one one side, first near the top of the pitch about six inches down and then at that same side on the lower corner! That's where I am nervous, that it is coming in at the corner at the lowest spot! If it were the highest corner I would knwo where to begin. I like the suggestion of reflashing higher than the skylight about six inches or more so that the rain deflects all the way around. Is this a good idea? I have never re-flashed before. Any obvious suggestions on the purchase of flashing or the actual process? Thanks! Happy Thanksgiving to all of you too. ENJOY the time!!
You said this occurred during heavy rain. Was the rain blowing in, or did it seem to leak in after puddling on the roof? If it blew in on an operable skylight, you may just need to replace some weatherstripping.
Also, remember that water will tend to cling to a surface and run downhill until it gets to a "discontinuity". So sometimes the actual leak is farther uphill than the drip.
Think like a drop of water.
People never lie so much as before an election, during a war, or after a hunt. --Otto von Bismarck
Dan, this occurred to me this morning. I may open up the darn thing and go up there to see if there is any bad weatherstripping around the edge. Maybe this is the only problem. Sure would beat ripping up flashing and shingles!! Thanks.
I would not worry yet about the lower corner, Since you have some coming in at the upper corner, I suspect that wht is happening is not necessarily a leak in the skylight or flashing, espeially since this is a ( Hooray!) Velux. Nine times out of eight, a Velux leak is from poor installation, often a carpenter instead of a roofer doing the install.Here is my best guesss, The install had no vycor or ice and watershield or even tarpaper turned up the sides behind the flashing or lapped right at corners. The tarpaaper ould even be torn up aabove the roof higher up from the lite. Some roofs are even applied with no tarper underlayment. So with a heavy rain as you described in symptoms, the water backs up at the top flashing portion behind the lite. One way or another, it gets behind that and leaks in. There could even be a nail or two poked through that flashing - a no-no that is common - that is letting the water in.Take a thin wafer of wood like a yarstick or a paint paddle stir stick and see it it slides under those upper shingles easily. They should have been cut back a good four inches from the curb. That head flashing runs back about 12-14" before it has a return hem. You will be able to feel if there are nails in that space. If it were me, I would be removing a ouple of shingles above the skylite to be certain. then I could seal that head flashing, see water signs to id where it it running, and even remove and re-install the head flshing.for a cheaper, easier sorta fix, you ould squeeze some silicone caulk up under those shingles that lap the head. if the cause is water back-up and nails through the flashing, that would probably fix it short term. If it is water getting in further up, though, this woill just trap water and make things worse. I see so many times thought that a leak is something easy to find for me that befuddles others for years...a photo or two would really help confirm my suspicions or re-direct my thinking if need be.
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Thanks for all the help Piffin!! I'l double check that head flashing. Report call for an inch of rain on Thanksgiving! Oh, Boy. Guess I'll have some bucket to empty during the football and food prep. I will try to get some photos up there and post them.
Happy Thanksgiving!
An inch ain't much, Waht do you call a heavy rain anyway? We got over eight inches last week in five days, with only a slow drizzle for one of them.
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In addition, the Velux skylights will have various curbs depending on the slope of the roof.
On my last house I installed some flashing one course up from the top of the skylight that was folded to stick up about an inch so that all water coming down the roof got directed around the skylight. Then the caulking only had to deal with the water that fell on the foot or so just above.
Steve.
Who just removed the three "solar tubes" here.
Good advice above. I'll just say that, often as not, "skylight" leaks originate farther up, and just enter the room at that convenient break in the ceiling vapor barrier. Is it a drywall ceiling? Any sign of rusted fasteners?
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Now you guys are really getting me worried!! Yes, drywall ceiling but no sign of rusty fasteners. I may go up and do some caulking before the rain hits tomorrow and then re-evaluate once the rain passes. A home is definitely an excuse to pass the time!