A skylight is an excellent source of both warmth and light for your home and they can enhance the overall appearance of your house as well as giving you a little extra air when required. There are a number of different factors that can lead to a leaky skylight but the most common factor is an improperly fitted or installed skylight. This inadequacy is usually brought about because having a skylight fitted by a professional roofing contractor can cost a lot of money, and people tend to revert to a handyman or, often worse still, doing it themselves.  

Without proper knowledge of construction regarding the skylight fitting and the roof surrounding it, though, can lead to disastrous results. Even the inadequate fixing of an existing leaky skylight can make things worse. Roofing contractors tend to charge quite a high cost to fit a skylight because they would rather work on better paid, roof installments. That doesn’t mean you can’t find a reputable and highly skilled roofing contractor who will complete the job at a reasonable price. However, because fitting a skylight is a skilled job, as is all roofing, you will need to pay more to have one fitted properly by an expert when compare to paying a handy man to fit it.

Why is my skylight leaking?

The slightest hole, crack or blemish on the skylight, the panels surrounding the skylight or the roof can lead to a leaky skylight so it is important that whoever is fitting your skylight has a good knowledge of all these factors. Of course age, extreme conditions and accidents can also be the cause of your leaky skylight and it is important that you employ an experience and knowledgeable professional to repair the leak as soon as possible to prevent further damage to the skylight, the roof and the inside of the house.

Condensation.

Bear in mind that if you have drip on the inside of your skylight it does not necessarily mean you have a leaky skylight and condensation can often be the cause of sleepless nights and panicking homeowners. This is especially true in extreme conditions. Dryers, washing machines, hot baths and even the occupants of the home can cause condensation to build up on the inside of your skylight and this will inevitably drip off giving the impression that you have a leaky skylight. This becomes even more pertinent when the weather gets colder outside. A build up of ice or snow on the outside of your skylight is a sure fire way to promote condensation on the inside of your skylight and even a small crack means that this condensation can be in between the two panes of glass if you have double glazing.

The damage a leaky skylight can cause.

A leaky skylight causes relatively minimal damage in the short term, however over the long term this damage can become significant so you should make sure that the drops you saw coming off your skylight are actually condensation and not the first tell tale signs of a leak. You may end up having to replace wallpaper, carpets and worse still making structural repairs to the inside of your house (although only usually in extreme circumstances). A leaky skylight may also be indicative that you have bigger problems with your roof so you should get someone out to check it as soon as possible.

To learn more about skylights, please visit http://www.veluxusa.com which provides information on sun tunnels, and roof windows offered by VELUX America Inc.  Also read FAQs on most questions related to skylight purchase, installation, and service

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