Repairs to skylight flashing, curbs and seals, with condensation and ice on the glazing checked as well.
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A skylight leak is usually a flashing or seal failure at the curb, or condensation on the cold inside of the glazing that looks like a leak. On a snow-covered Palouse roof the skylight is also a place where ice and meltwater collect, so the repair looks at the frame, the flashing and the surrounding roof together.
A skylight brings light into a house, and it also breaks the roof in a way that needs careful flashing and sealing. The skylight sits in an opening in the roof plane, with a curb or frame that rises above the roof covering. The seam between the frame and the covering is where water can enter, and the seal between the glass and its frame is a second place. A stain beside a skylight can come from either, and sometimes from both at once.
Winter on the Palouse adds two complications. Snow and ice gather around the frame and in the flashing, and meltwater can run down the outside of the curb and under the flashing when it refreezes. Inside the house, warm air meets the cold glazing, and condensation can form on the inside of the glass and run down the frame. That moisture is easy to mistake for a roof leak, and it is part of why a technician looks at the skylight from both sides.
Phones are answered 24/7, and a technician is sent as one is available. The repair starts with where the water appears, then moves to the frame, the flashing, the curb and the seal. Some skylight repairs are small and can be made in a day, while others need the surrounding roof covering opened to fix the flashing properly. A visit on the same day happens only when a technician is free, and no arrival time is promised.
Do not stand on or walk on a skylight, and do not put weight on the glazing, which can crack and fall. Stay off a snow-covered or icy roof when working near a skylight, and do not climb onto the roof to clear snow from the glass. Glass can be sharp when broken, so keep children and pets away from the area below any skylight that has cracked. If the glazing is cracked, loose or leaking heavily, cover the opening from inside with a protected sheet and call for a technician to make it safe.
A fixed skylight does not open, so its leak is almost always at the flashing or the glazing seal. The repair concentrates on the curb, the flashing lap and the sealed joints around the frame. A fixed unit that is sound in its glass and frame often needs only the flashing and the lap to be rebuilt, which is a smaller job than a full replacement.
A skylight that opens has moving parts, a seal around the operable sash, and hardware that wears over time. Leaks at these units often come from the sash seal or from a hinge that has moved, rather than from the flashing. The repair replaces the seal or re-fixes the hardware, and then checks the flashing as well, since the frame and the curb are shared by both parts.
Condensation is a moisture problem inside the house, not a leak from the roof. It can be reduced by improving ventilation, by controlling the humidity in the room and by checking the seal on the inside glazing. The technician will say whether the condensation is a result of the skylight, the room or the attic, and what can be done about each.
Where the curb is cracked, rotted or no longer sound, or the frame has been damaged, replacement is the right answer. The new curb is set into the roof covering and flashed to the surrounding material, and the unit is fitted to it. This is a bigger job because the roof covering has to be opened around the skylight, and it is planned with the roof repair in mind.
Tell us what's happening and we'll tell you honestly whether it's a quick fix, and what skylight leak repair should cost.
Condensation forms on the inside of the glass and runs down the frame, often at the bottom edge, and it is most visible on cold mornings. A leak shows as a stain or a drip that tracks from the frame to the ceiling, and it may appear after a thaw or a driven rain.
Condensation happens when warm, moist air inside the house meets a cold surface. A skylight glass is one of the coldest surfaces in the room in winter, so it is a common place for moisture to form. The water runs down the glass and collects on the frame or the sill. It is not coming from the roof, and it can be reduced by controlling humidity and improving ventilation.
A roof leak around a skylight is different. Water comes from outside, through the flashing or the seal, and it can track down the frame and show as a stain on the ceiling some distance from the skylight. A technician looks at both possibilities and says which one is occurring before any repair is made.
Snow and ice gather around the curb and under the flashing, and meltwater can refreeze and push under the covering. Cold glass also encourages condensation inside the room, which can look like a leak.
The skylight is an opening in the roof plane, so the flashing around it has to shed snow and water at the curb. When the snow melts and refreezes, the water can run into a joint that was sound in the summer and push it open. The same heat-loss pattern that creates an ice dam at the eave can form ice around a skylight, because the warm attic air and the cold glazing meet at the frame.
The mechanism is the one the Minnesota extension guidance describes for ice dams: snow on the roof, with the upper part above freezing and the lower part below. A skylight sits in that same roof and sees the same pattern, so the flashing needs to be detailed for it, and the attic ventilation needs to keep the cold air moving.
A small crack in exterior sealant can sometimes be cleaned and re-sealed, but a leak at the flashing or the curb is not a job for a stopgap sealant. Working on the roof around a skylight in snow or ice is also unsafe.
A sealant applied over an open joint can keep the water in the roof structure, where it causes hidden damage that is more expensive to fix later. It can also stain the trim and make the failure harder to diagnose. If you have already sealed the joint, leave the material in place and tell the technician, so they can see what was done.
Inside the room, you can wipe up condensation, run a fan during showers and cooking, and keep the room's humidity moderate. These measures do not fix a roof leak, but they show whether the moisture is coming from inside. Photograph the stain and the time it appears, since that information helps the technician sort out the cause.
The type of skylight, whether the repair is to the seal or the flashing, the access to the roof around it and the extent of the covering that has to be opened all change the work. The price is explained and approved before work starts, and no figure is printed here.
A fixed skylight with a sound frame and a failed seal is a much smaller repair than a curb that has to be rebuilt and re-flashed. Replacing a curb means opening the roof covering around the skylight, which adds time and material. A ventilating unit with a worn seal and hardware is a different job again, and the technician will say which case applies to your roof.
The age of the building and the state of the surrounding roof covering also matter. Where the roof is due for a wider repair, the skylight work may be combined with it, and the price is set for the combined job. You will be told what the repair involves and what it costs before any work starts.
A small repair to a skylight seal or flashing may not need a building permit, but replacing a curb or altering the roof opening can. The building office for the address decides whether a particular job needs one.
In Moscow the Building Safety Division can say whether the work at your address needs a permit. Outside city limits, the county building official is the right contact. If the skylight work is combined with a reroof, the permit question follows the roof work, and the city treats a reroof as its own permit category.
In Pullman, Washington, the permit rules and the registration rules differ from Idaho's. A skylight repair on the Washington side follows the city's permit pages and the Washington contractor rules. The technician will say which set applies before the work begins.
The technician first checks whether the water is coming in or forming inside. Condensation runs down the inside of the glass and often collects at the bottom of the frame, and it is most visible on cold mornings. A leak shows as a stain or a drip that tracks from the frame to the ceiling, and it may appear only after a thaw or a driven rain.
The skylight is checked for a cracked or loose glazing seal, for a frame that has shifted, and for any gap where the frame meets the curb. The technician looks at the inside trim for water marks and at the outside for cracked sealant or lifted metal around the curb. The result shows whether the fault is in the unit itself or in the way it is installed.
The flashing that connects the curb to the surrounding roof covering is the most common leak point. The technician looks at the upslope flashing, the sides and the downslope flashing, since water running down the roof reaches the downslope edge last and often leaks there. Any lapped or sealed joint that has opened is noted for repair.
A failed seal is replaced, a loose frame is re-fixed, and the flashing is rebuilt or re-lapped as needed. Where the flashing has to be redone, the surrounding roof covering is opened to put the new metal under the covering it should sit beneath. A sealant placed over an open joint usually fails at the next thaw, so the repair rebuilds the lap rather than sealing over it.
After the work, the technician tests the repair with water where that is practical and checks the room below for any sign of a new stain. Condensation is discussed separately, because a repaired skylight can still sweat if the room is humid or the attic is poorly ventilated. The homeowner is told what was found and what to watch.
The Palouse has a long winter in which snow sits on the roof for weeks, and a skylight is one of the places where the snow and the warm room air meet. The eastern timbered towns hold their snow longer than the river valley towns, so a skylight in Troy or Deary may face a longer winter exposure than one in Clarkston or Lapwai, and the repair should be planned for that.
Moscow has many houses where a skylight was added later, sometimes in an older roof that was not designed for the opening. The curb and the flashing on those openings are often the first things to fail, because they were fitted to a roof that was already past its middle years. A technician who has worked older Moscow roofs will look at the framing around the opening as well as the unit itself.
Pullman sits about 14 kilometers from Moscow and follows Washington's rules, while the Idaho towns follow Idaho's. A skylight repair in Pullman is planned under Washington's permit and registration framework, and one in Moscow under Idaho's. The technician will say which set applies to your address before work begins.
Not sure if you're covered? Check your ZIP code.
Finding and sealing the path water takes into your Moscow or Palouse home, from attic stains to flashing at the eave.
Resetting or replacing the metal at valleys, chimneys, sidewalls and vent pipes that keeps water out of a Moscow roof.
Air sealing and ventilation that keep attic heat from melting snow on a Moscow roof and feeding ice dams at the eave.
A look at the roof, gutters and attic before the first snow, to find the loose flashing and blocked gutter that cause winter leaks.
A skylight that is leaking will usually continue to leak, and the water can damage the framing and the ceiling below. A small amount of condensation may stop once the room's humidity is controlled, but a leak from the flashing or the seal needs a repair. A technician can tell you which problem you have before any work begins.
The answer depends on the condition of the unit, the curb and the surrounding roof covering. A sound frame with a failed seal can often be repaired, while a cracked, rotted or badly installed curb may need replacement. The technician will look at the whole assembly and recommend the option that suits the roof.
Wind can drive rain under the edge of the flashing or into a joint that is only marginally sealed, and the water shows only in the storm. A technician checks the downslope and sideways flashing for this, since those edges are the most exposed to a driven rain. The cause is often found by looking at the flashing when it is dry.
A new skylight installed correctly with proper flashing and a sound curb is less likely to leak than an old or badly fitted one. It will still see snow, ice and condensation, and the attic and the room need to be managed as well. A technician can recommend the right unit and the right installation for your roof.
Clearing snow from the glazing and the curb from the ground is safer than climbing onto the roof. Heavy snow or ice around the curb can push water under the flashing, so clearing what can be reached from the ground helps. Do not climb onto the roof, and do not try to chip ice away from the glass or the frame.
Repeated condensation can stain the trim, promote mold on the sill and wet the frame over a long winter. It is a moisture problem that the room and the ventilation need to manage. A technician can look at the humidity, the ventilation and the seal to find the source.