Should We Change Our Skylights When Our Roof Is Being Re-shingled?

Q:

Should we change our skylights when our roof is being re-shingled?

A:

If you have a shingled roof that is more then 15 years old and your skylights are at least that age then you should probably take the time to replace them.

Skylights don’t last forever and it is more expensive to replace them two or three years after your new roof is installed then to have the roofing company or another company that specializes in skylights to replace them before or during the re-shingling process.

One of the biggest problems with skylights is that when they fail they actually start to leak and allow water to enter your home. The damage can be severe, the drywall around the skylight or the trim and the drywall underneath the skylight all the way to were the roof meets the wall can be damaged by water depending on the slope or lack thereof in your cieling.

Not all roofs leak when people decide to have them replaced, a lot of times the look of the shingles (curling, flaking or shingles starting to crumble) prompt homeowners to have their roofs replaced.

This saves the inside of the home from being water damaged and also allows you to take the time to find the right roofer for your needs instead of the first one that will show up to stop the leaking.

I would recommend that you have the skylights replaced as a precaution to any future problems; the new skylights will probably last at least as long as your new shingled roof or longer as shingles these days seem to last an appealingly short amount of time.

Another problem with waiting to replace your skylights is that the shingles that are replaced directly around the skylight can look like a different colour because they aren’t from the same dye lot that the rest of the shingles on the roof where manufactured from.

For the amount of money it will take to replace I would bite the bullet and have them replaced.

Rob Abbott
Village Builders Inc.