If your skylight is leaking in your home or commercial roof there are mainly two reasons and diagnostics to decide if the skylight can be repaired or needs to be replaced.
A standard skylight has two weak connections that might cause leaking; one is the connection between the surface and the roof and the second is between the skylight glass and the housing, which usually is sealed by the manufacturer. In most cases, a skylight leaks because of the connection between the base and the surface of the roof can be solved by fixing the roof tiles around it and re-sealing the skylight. The technique of overlapping the roof tiles must be completed effectively in order to avoid any leaking from the skylight to the room. A silicone or any tar or liquid will not help to solve a leaking skylight unless the connections are properly sealed. If the skylight is leaking from the glass that is usually caused because the skylight is old, usually at least over 15 years old, and the sealed connection of the manufacturer is damaged due to the skylights age. In most cases this type of skylight needs to be replaced with a new one. We saw some cases that sometimes people try to fix it with silicone, epoxy or other glue materials. Usually that is only a short term solution which would hold no more than one winter and the glue materials expand and shrink from the weather temperature change and this results in weakened connection and again you will find leaking.
Repairing a skylight might get expensive,, depending on the type of roof and the model of your type of skylight. As always, choose a contractor/company that you can trust to give you the right diagnostic in order to make the skylight repair or skylight replacement at a low cost, and always ask for a warranty as you don’t want to pay twice for the same skylight repair.
If you have any questions regarding skylight repairs or installations, new or old, we would be happy to help and advise.