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Several skylights in my contemporary house in New England leaked last winter after major snow storms. I asked a local roofer to repair them, and he told me that he would have to reshingle the entire roof, at a cost of $8,000. Is this right? Isn't there an easier and less costly way to resolve this problem? Lee in Boston

2006-11-21 06:03:35 · 4 answers · asked by Born in Bost 1 in Home & Garden Maintenance & Repairs

4 answers

maybe this link can give some answers

http://www.roofer911.com/leaky_skylight.htm

2006-11-21 06:21:10 · answer #1 · answered by party_pam 5 · 0 0

Just to help to make sure that every possibility is covered, I will mention 2 more.

(1) When I put anything halfway up a roof, there is sometimes a very simple cause and a very simple solution. Sometimes the slot in a shingle or the joint of 2 shingles are above whatever it is you install - skylight, roofing vent, heating vent, etc. When the water or snow builds up behind it, it backs up underneath these shingles and gets in through these openings. Obviously, there is a point at the top of shingles at which the shingle ends. If the water backs up beyond this point, it will go onto the plywood underneath. What I do is caulk the slots above the skylight, etc. When it is a skylight, you may also need to caulk under the shingles above it, too; in other words, under each tab.

(2) I had a leak in a skylight that I had a very hard time finding. The problem was that it wasn't really the skylight that was leaking. I made a mistake because the owner was speaking to me very much of the time that I was roofing, and it distracted me. I had left one step flash out where the same roof met the wall. Because the shingles were well sealed the water got in there and followed along the top of the shingle until it found the skylight, where it got through UNDERNEATH the skylight, flashing, and all. The leak could be other places on the roof, too, and may find its way to the skylight.

2006-11-21 07:14:33 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

It is the best solution, as you will not have to "chase the leak". It is also very expensive and late in the season to reroof. It is probably a flashing issue. You might want to talk to a reputable skylight installer, about inspecting the flashings and doing a temporary repair for this winter, using a butyl caulking and maybe some flashing overlays until the spring thaw. then depending how old your roof is, maybe it is time to consider reroofing. If it only happened after big snow storms then it could be that the height of the snow covered the curb/counter flashing - which is a bigger problem because that means the curbs on the skylight are too low.

2006-11-21 06:23:04 · answer #3 · answered by cvorse_04 3 · 0 0

hi
I did repair some and never had to replace a whole roof.
all he has to do is remove the flashing around the skylight and check the step flashing and used roofing cement around it and replace flashing.
that's all

2006-11-21 06:16:32 · answer #4 · answered by pcc122 4 · 0 0

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