Skylights · Salt Lake City & surrounding counties
Skylight Installation
Skylights set and flashed so they stay dry.
What skylight installation involves
Curb built, manufacturer’s flashing kit installed in sequence, shingles woven around it.
A skylight leaks when the flashing sequence was rushed, not because skylights leak.
What matters on skylight installation
Sequence, not sealant
A skylight stays dry because the flashing kit was installed in the manufacturer’s sequence and the shingles were woven around it in the right order. Every skylight leak we have chased was a sequence that got rushed.
Doing it during a re-roof
The cheapest time to deal with a skylight is while the surrounding roof is already off. Flashing can be set properly instead of worked around.
We work Salt Lake City & surrounding counties, 9 counties in all, with 27 years in the trade and the last 8 as Hancock Signature.
How the system goes together
Decking is the part nobody plans for
The sheathing under the roof only gets looked at once every couple of decades, which is when the old roof comes off. Older homes up here might have skip sheathing, plank decking with gaps, or plywood that has been soft over a leak for years. It gets replaced where it is bad, because fasteners do not hold in punky wood and a soft deck telegraphs every wave through a new roof.
It is measured, not guessed
Sheet count gets documented once the roof is open, before anything goes back down.
Skylights are a curb detail
A skylight leak is usually not the glass. It is the curb, the head flashing above it, or the fact that somebody installed a deck-mounted unit on a roof that gets ice. Curb-mounted units sitting proud of the deck plane with proper step and head flashing handle winter here much better. When a roof is being replaced, that is the moment to reset or swap an aging unit, because doing it later means opening the new roof back up.
Condensation on the glass
Often a ventilation issue in the room below rather than a failed seal.
What we check
- Curb height and condition
- Flashing kit installed in the maker’s sequence
- Decking around the opening
- Condensation staining on the inside frame
How we approach it
Look first
We get on the roof and read what is actually happening before quoting anything.
Say what we find
Photographs and a plain explanation, including when the answer is that you do not need us yet.
Built in sequence
Crews we hire and run, working the right detail in the right order.
Leave it clean
Magnet over the yard, container gone, walked with you.
Spring wind off the benches
Canyon wind is the thing homeowners here tend to shrug off. It does not arrive as a steady push, it arrives in gusts that lift a shingle tab, break the seal strip, and set it down again looking fine. Three or four of those and the tab is loose, water gets a path, and nobody knows until a ceiling stains.
Rakes and ridges go first
Edges take the uplift. That is why we nail the rake tighter, use a starter course with a factory seal at the eave, and look at ridge caps before anything else after a blow.
Cold nights pull condensation into the attic
A lot of what people call a roof leak up here is not a leak. Warm moist air from the house rises into an attic, hits a deck that is well below freezing, and condenses on the underside of the sheathing. In the morning it drips. Homeowners see a wet spot and think shingles, when the problem is that the attic is not moving air.
Frost on nail points
We look for rust rings and frost on the nail shanks. That pattern tells you it is condensation before a single shingle comes off.
Where roofs go wrong
The shortcut we see most
A skylight flashed with sealant instead of the manufacturer’s kit, or the kit installed out of sequence with the shingle courses.
What good looks like instead
Curb built, kit installed in sequence, shingles woven around it so water is shed over the flashing rather than into it.
Signs worth a look
- Staining on the interior frame or surround
- Condensation between the panes
- Shingles lifted or loose around the curb
- Sealant cracked or peeling at the flashing
What to expect
Choosing a unit
Fixed, vented and tubular units solve different problems. The right answer depends on the room below, the roof pitch and whether ventilation is wanted as well as light.
Doing it with the roof
The cheapest time to install or replace a skylight is during a re-roof, while the surrounding field is already off and the flashing can be integrated properly.
Expected life
The unit outlasts its flashing detail in most failures we are called to. Getting the flashing right at install is what determines how long it stays dry.
Related work
Skylights covers more than one job, and they are not interchangeable. These are the others in the same family, each on its own page.
Questions we get asked
Not the question you had? Call the shop and ask a person. We would rather talk it through than have you guess from a website.
(801) 382-8898Do skylights always leak eventually?
No. They leak when the flashing sequence was rushed. Installed in the right order with the manufacturer’s kit, they stay dry.
Can you replace a skylight during a re-roof?
That is the best time to do it, while the surrounding shingles are already off and the flashing can be woven in properly.
Do you handle the insurance side?
On hail-damaged roofs, we work with your insurance to get the roof covered. We document the damage thoroughly with photographs, so the claim reflects what is actually on the roof.
Do you work through the winter?
Yes, with judgment. Shingles need to seal, and in genuine cold that takes longer or needs hand sealing. Emergency work happens whenever it has to. Full replacements get scheduled around the weather rather than forced into it.
How do I know when a roof is getting close?
Granules collecting in the gutters, tabs lifting or curling at the edges, shingles that look bare in patches, and daylight or staining in the attic. Any of those is worth a look.
How long does a roof replacement take?
Most houses in this valley are a one to two day job once the crew is on site. Steeper pitches, multiple layers to strip and complicated roofs with a lot of valleys take longer, and we tell you which yours is before we start.
Talk to Hancock
Ask about skylight installation
Call (801) 382-8898 or send a note. We will look at the roof and tell you straight what it needs.