Skylight Advice

[joesxm3]

My bathroom has sort of a cathedral ceiling and has two skylights. They are over 33 years old and I was told they are Anderson. They open up, but have no screen to keep bugs out. I have never opened them up except once to have an exterminator get rid of a hornet nest.

I am getting a new roof, so I figure I should replace the skylights.

The roofing contractor said that I should use Velux skylights. He said that I could save money by buying them myself from Home Depot and paying them to install them. He said that when they buy them they do not get a good deal and would have to charge me more.

I did some searching and Velux seems to be one of the major brands.

Is there a danger that the Velux skylights bought from Home Depot are some sort of cheapened version? I heard that something like that happens with plumbing products.

I have a choice of a very low priced skylight that does not open, a medium priced one that manually opens using some sort of stick, an expensive solar one that opens from a phone app and a similar electric one.

If I am running window air conditioners, does it make sense to open the skylight in the summer to let hot air out of the house? I live in southern new england if that matters for the answer.

Any opinions on which model I should get? I think that the solar one senses rain and closed automatically but the manual one would stay open if I did not close it.

Thanks.

Joe

 

[Telly]

I wouldn't think that opening skylights in a bathroom is going to do much. The make-up air would have to thread its way through the bathroom doorway from open windows in other areas of the house. Doesn't sound like it would be worth it.

I would go with the sealed (fixed) skylights. Who needs leaks?

We have a bunch of skylights, all up pretty high through skylight wells. I looked at Velux once, didn't see anything wrong with them, but I found that the skylights we have are based on a totally different form-factor sizing system. It would have required me doing major structural roof reframing/sheathing/flashing/shingling, and ripping out and building new wells to use Velux or the like, so I didn't.

I have ordered a few custom windows, and some exterior doors through Home Depot. I stepped a HD store person who had never done it before through the ordering process on the PC in the Millwork area. She did great, as we went through all the dimensions and various option choices together, carefully, and if she didn't understand something, or asked a question, I explained it. When she pressed the Order button, I knew everything was correct.

The next time I did this, I got a glorified ex-cashier with attitude who they paid a few $ more to become a manager. It was awful, I almost bailed out. She had a real chip on her shoulder, and wanted to just speed through the screens click-click-click. She had no idea what she was doing, or what any of the options meant, and didn't seem to care. I can work with a lot of people, even if they know little on a subject, if they are reasonable. But "Stupid with Attitude" is a personality trait that should not be employed!

So to order them up you are going to need to be on top of the whole situation.

On the other hand, if you would be having HD come out and measure, and then they do the ordering and the whole replacement job, I wonder how they would be, quality-wise, on the flashing aspect.

Unless it has changed, HD renovation/installation projects are done by independent contractors who sign up with HD. The contractors don't make as much as they would working independently. So... why would a contractor sign up with HD? Uh-huh...

Around here, many roofers do not want to mess with skylights, unless it is a direct drop-in replacement. They just don't have the skilled people to do a good job. They see skylights as a hassle that they could screw up.

 

[latexman]

The roofing contractor said that I should use Velux skylights. He said that I could save money by buying them myself from Home Depot and paying them to install them. He said that when they buy them they do not get a good deal and would have to charge me more.

This creates an "easy out" for the contractor to blame HD and vice versa if a leak near the skylight develops. I'd look for another roofing contractor.

 

[folivier]

If all you want is more light and no ventilation look at a light tube. There are various manufacturers out there but they do let in a lot of light. HD & Lowes carry them. And if installed properly no chance of leaks.

 

[Aerides]

I am getting a new roof, so I figure I should replace the skylights.

We have skylights. When we replaced our roof, the contractor said if they aren't leaking, leave them be. They weren't, so we left them.

Insurance Home inspectors said the same. If it ain't broke.

We finally replaced them a few years back as they were not up to current hurricane grade, which all our windows/doors are, as it was needed to maintain a discount. (florida).

 

[COcheesehead]

If all you want is more light and no ventilation look at a light tube. There are various manufacturers out there but they do let in a lot of light. HD & Lowes carry them. And if installed properly no chance of leaks.

We had a sun tube in one of our houses and loved it. About the size of a basketball, but let in a ton of light.

 

[ransil]

I had bubble type in my house when i bought it ( leaked after awhile), replaced with Velux when a new roof went on, if I could have eliminated the skylights I would have ( cedar ceiling) the new ones did not leak but i did inspect ,clean and reseal them every few years.

 

[Ronstar]

I would tear out the skylights. Too much possibility of leaks.

 

[njhowie]

We had our roof replaced 3 years ago and have 10 skylights that are probably 40+ years old. They've been fine since we bought the house 22 years ago, and there was no reason to replace or remove them. Roofing contractor did a good job with the new roof and sealed up everything really well. No issues.

 

[deserat]

Another vote for solatubes here. I will be adding 9-11 of them in the new house I am building. Brings in natural light. I had 9 of them in my previous house. They've added dimming and solar powered night lighting as well.

In the end it depends on what you want from the 'hole'- natural light, ventilation or a combination.

 

[OldShooter]

... I did some searching and Velux seems to be one of the major brands. Is there a danger that the Velux skylights bought from Home Depot are some sort of cheapened version? I heard that something like that happens with plumbing products. ...

IMO no risk. I'll further guess that the plumbing warning came from the general contractor or your plumber. I got the same thing when we were building our new lake house, looking at a Kohler kitchen faucet that was $100 cheaper at HD. The warning was that internal components like washers would be made from inferior materials. When I unboxed the HD faucet I just laughed. The main body was machined brass. Lots of it. If Kohler had wanted to save money, the first thing they would have done is to replace all that expensive brass and machining with a cheap die casting. So I am 100% confident that the product is not compromised.

Think of it from the manufacturer's point of view: Would I want to put a compromised and inferior product through a high-volume, high-visibility distribution channel and risk damaging the brand that I have spent years building up? There may be outliers who are harvesting a brand name, but serious folks like Velux and Kohler are IMO not going to even consider it.

For the record, I called Kohler tech support and was told that there were no quality differences between products sold through different channels and that all warranties were the same. You would kind of expect to be told that, of course, but I did make the call and got that answer.

 

[Jerry1]

Generally, I'm in the "if it's not broke, don't fix it" camp. However, I also understand that when you have someone there that it might be a good idea to replace something. The classic example is getting a new timing belt on your car and not replacing the things you have to remove to get there (like a water pump) or at least giving it serious consideration.

To answer one of your questions, I would go with a skylight that doesn't open. Less chance for leaks and since you haven't opened the ones you have, you will not miss that feature.

I also agree with OldShooter. I don't see a major manufacturer slighting its product quality for a big box store to discount. I could see them offering less options or features, but not skimping on quality.

 

[CTRetiree]

We just made this decision. We had 5 Velux operable skylights. One leaked in bad storms.

We replaced the roof and all 5 skylights with Velux fixed skylights. The roofer measured carefully and the new skylight were an exact fit, requiring no interior work. They now come with a composite interior frame. No painting needed.

We never opened the skylights, so it was an easy decision to switch to fixed.

The roofer had a crew of 7 and installed 24 squares of GAF shingles and the skylights in a single day.

 

[joesxm3]

Measuring by me does not seem to match the Skylights I see at HD or Lowes. I am probably measuring the wrong points. I meet with the roofer Friday and I think I will tell him that I would rather have him do it all even if it costs more, and will press for clarification of skylight work warrantee.

 

[Happyras]

The roofer will likely buy all materials from one of the major distributors. Like ABC etc...they sell wholesale (I know, I had them quote my Velux replacements). The contractor has to warrant if he supplies, not so much if you supply and are in the middle. My roofer decided to farm out the job to a crew that was corrupt, did not speak no Innglish, and did not follow my install specs on any of the work. The roofer was to replace my deck mounted Velux (30 years and no leaks) opening vented lights with fixed non-vented curb mounted skylights. They cheated me, install 7without curbs, and totally did not follow mfg flashing standards. They had to pull every one and re-install properly, re-roofing expensive tri-lam presidential roofing. None of them were even mounted flush, only 3 were mounted on the existing curbs but they did them wrong as well. Bottom line, one vented skylight was pulled and re-installed 3 times and never was installed right. It turned out the skylight itself was out of square. The Velux rep came out with a new skylight and bam, worked as designed. 10 skylights with flashing kits was worth about 9K from ABC and 11K from HD.

Had I special ordered from HD, I would have been in the middle of it, and likely no service from the Velux rep. Having ABC be the source, the rep did his job to support the supply house and roofer. There is much more to tell, but as for the Velux lights, they are now great. I did not replace with vented in the bathrooms, never open them. I have to rave the old skylights (7 Velux) were still good. The 3 from Western Skylight had failed/fog. They were big ones 4x6 each.

Velux rep told me they moved away from Ureathane sealants, as they leaked over time. I was surprised to hear they now use 50 yr silicone instead. Still, great skylights and warranty.

 

[COcheesehead]

I would tear out the skylights. Too much possibility of leaks.

We’ve had two houses with them and never a problem.

 

[Ronstar]

We’ve had two houses with them and never a problem.

I had a house with them and never had a problem.

I had an office building with skylights and a flat roof. During a major rainstorm, water rose on the roof and came through the skylights creating severe damage. My office and entire wing of the building had to be ripped out down to the studs and had to be rebuilt. Lost a lot of work records. I worked from home and out of a cubicle for the couple of years it took to rebuild. Part of the reason that we sold the building and moved.

The water would have run off the roof without damage had it not been for the skylights.

 

[JoeWras]

Keep it simple. FIXED.

I love my Solatubes and endorse the idea as others have, but I want to remind everyone that OP currently has the framing and interior finish for square skylights, probably with boxed in drywall chutes. Un-doing this is a huge project.

Best to just replace what is there with fixed versions.

As for HD or Lowes brands... Well, Kohler has about 50 models. The models don't differ. What differs is the type of models you can buy. Big Box tends to tilt to a lot of the lower quality models, and may offer some very special super cheap versions that are exclusives. Supply House offers the spectrum of models, also have their own exclusives, and contractors tilt to the higher quality so they they get:
a) Less call backs
b) More profit for them since they typically double their cost when charging customers

You can buy the higher end models at Big Box usually as a web order or special order.