Affordable Residential and Commercial Roofing Company In Cincinnati

A Watertight Skylight Is Vitally Important to the Health of Your Roof

skylight

If you have a skylight, you are a fortunate homeowner. Skylights can brighten up any room and make for an aesthetically pleasing way to open up the interior of your home.

However, to prevent a disaster, that skylight has to stay watertight. Having, essentially, an intentional hole in your roof, you must make sure that it is not taking on moisture or acting as a point of ingress for any wetness. The key to achieving this is taking good care of your skylight flashing.

What do you need to know about your skylight flashing, as it relates to the rest of your roof?

1. Skylights often have their own integral flashing

<p”>Commonly, skylight flashing is constructed as part of the skylight. When it is first installed, that flashing is built right into the structure of the window itself. If this is not the case, then the skylight will have saddle flashing across the top of the window, step flashing running along each side, and continuous flashing along the base of the skylight.

2. DIY flashing may have issues

Home-handyman sites show a variety of ways to install your own skylight flashing. And while we do not want to discourage you from working on your own home, we also can’t emphasize enough how important this flashing is to keeping water out of your home. Misapplied or leaky flashing could cause you tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of damage, and in a worst-case scenario, could destroy your roof. Step into home-fix flashing scenarios with caution – this is not a great DIY project.

3. Curb mounted skylights are smart

With a curb mounted skylight, there is a gasket surrounding the skylight. The skylight is mounted onto the curb, and then the gasket forms a tight seal between the curb and the skylight. Deck mounted skylights are also available, but these curb mounted skylights tend to be more common.

Although they’re a great source of light and delight, skylights can be a problem area when it comes to roofs and leaks. We 100% recommend professional installation and repair for all skylights. Here in the Cincinnati area, we can, of course, install, repair or replace skylights for you, but wherever you’re located, this is a job best left to a professional.

Roofing Contractors Have A Tough and Dangerous Job, Treat Them Nicely!

Roofing is not easy work. The materials are tricky – nails and shingles and flashing and tar. The roof surfaces are hot and exposed. The work happens primarily during the summer, so those hot surfaces are scorched by the hottest sun we experience all year. The days are long, and the hours start early. We start early so that we can get a lot done before the noon heat gets intense, and that often means getting up there right at down. There are many ways that roofing contractors can get injured. It’s easy to fall off of a roof or a ladder or a scaffold. The materials – especially the tar – can burn our skin if we aren’t careful. All told, roofing is potentially hazardous work. But we love it. We take pride in our work, and we love finishing a job site, satisfied in the knowledge that we have left a perfect roof for the homeowner.

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