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February 12, 2009
Skylight Not Sealed
My skylight isn't just drafty: On windy days (like today) an almost-constant stream of random sediment "rains" in to the apartment. When it snows outside and is very windy, it also snows in my kitchen. And on windy spring days, I sometimes get flower petals! The last part is nice, but overall I would like to fix this, and the roofer who recently redid the roof claimed that he saw no problem with the skylight. Does anyone have any ideas about what I should do? (I live in a co-op.)
Comments
A lot of these skylights have vents on the sides. I covered mine with foam board insulation and aluminum duct tape. Problem solved.
That said, I can no longer walk around my bathroom on flower petals in the morning.
Posted by: daveinbedstuy at February 12, 2009 11:42 AM
I have the same problem and, according to our faithful contractor, your skylight is not intended for residential use without some kind of glass/plexiglass buffer.
I don't remember the terminology he used, but you might want to contact John Roggenkamp and ask him to assess the situation and give you an estimate on fixing things. He's old school and, in my experience, won't advise you to do unnecessary work. You can find his contact info in prior Forum posts.
Posted by: South Sloper at February 12, 2009 2:41 PM
We have 2 beautiful old skylights in our kitchen which we can crank open in the summer. Obviously, winter makes it less pleasant. Last winter my husband bought those plastic wrap type kits where you blow dry the plastic to make it smooth and tight. He had to repeat it a couple of times when the wind loosened them. This year he put three lines of the adhesive tape they supply around the sides and stuck them on GOOD. SO far they have held fast and I cannot tell you what a difference they make for warmth. A really easy, cheap, seasonal fix.
Posted by: mshook at February 12, 2009 2:59 PM
Thanks, I'll go up there and see if that's it!
Posted by: TinyShiny at February 12, 2009 3:07 PM
In our old coop we had the exact same problem -- very drafty, very dirty in one of the bathrooms because of the skylight. Previous owner had tried to seal it up with foam or something and advised us not to crack the skylights open. Naturally we did anyway and it got colder and dirtier.
Our solution was the same as mshook: shrink wrap and double sided tape.
From your response I think you are intending to apply the wrap to the outside of the skylight. That is not the intended usage (or at least not what I did) -- the wrap is applied to the ceiling of the apartment...
Posted by: phripley at February 12, 2009 9:39 PM
Thanks everyone. I'll head up to the roof--once it's not so windy--and see if there are vents. I also think that South Sloper could be correct, as the other top-floor resident does have some kind of a glass pane in the ceiling, under her skylight. I can't seem to search for "Roggenkamp"--would you mind posting the link? Thanks again.
Posted by: TinyShiny at February 13, 2009 4:27 PM
I had trouble finding it as well. Here's what I found via Google:
John Roggenkamp Roof & Sheet Metal, Inc
510 76th St, Brooklyn, NY 11209-3305
Contact Phone: (718) 680-1217
FWIW, I saw a number of recommendations for Leak Master when I was searching for Roggenkamp's information; assuming they haven't planted their own good press, you should search under "roofer" here, read the posts, and get a quote from them as well.
Good luck
Posted by: South Sloper at February 13, 2009 7:35 PM
this is something I can help with. I've installed trim supporting plexiglass around these many times.
My company is The Tinker's Wagon. www.thetinkerswagon.com
Steve
347-813-9635
Posted by: stepkocym at February 15, 2009 9:13 AM
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