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August 21, 2009
Contractor Headache
I own a 3 story frame house in South Slope. I had my center hall skylight replaced by a contractor. It's a typical design, pyramid, rectangular. The unit he installed turns out to be a vented one and water gets in the house when it rains. The cap on top is vented and the glass is not sealed around the edges. He says that this new skylight is the same as the one he replaced. It's impossible to tell now because 1, it's gone and 2, it had so much tar on it you couldn't see most of it. Does anyone know if was typical for skylights to have been vented? Also, I told him I want the skylight replaced with a better unit. He basically said no and that the one he put in cost $3,000 to have made. That doesn't sound right to me - does anyone else have an idea of the cost?
Comments
I don't know about the cost but it sounds as if the little cap isn't big enough & also maybe isn't angled properly. They were/are vented but I never had rain get in.
Posted by: Arkady at August 21, 2009 9:54 AM
Of course not all skylights are or need to be vented. I have three and one was replced with a new skylight. it is not vented but the original two are. I wrapped the outside of one of them with foamboard insulation and aluminum tape to prevent heat loss. With a heavy storm, yes, there did use to be a bit of water getting in.
Sounds like he screwed up on the unit.
Posted by: daveinbedstuy at August 21, 2009 10:14 AM
The reason the old one was covered with tar was to stop the leaks just as you have now. The glass should be sealed at the mullions,some contractors just set the glass and hope for the best. Some skylights are vented, some are not, it depends what you want or need. I prefer vented because you have the option of sealing it as DIBS does, but wind driven rain can get in the vent if it is not well designed To get a reasonable price comparison call S&J sheet metal in the Bronx, they will give you a price over the phone/fax.
Posted by: edifice rex at August 21, 2009 10:50 AM
I replaced my skylight last year ( small than yours) and I think the cost was less than $1K including installation..... nick at rest assured roofer did it for me 917 662 5818
Posted by: owner12 at August 21, 2009 11:40 AM
Also, that open section was originally covered with glass...probably yellow. I bet all those "squares & rectangles" around the border are all colored glass underneath the white paint. Exactly the same at the top of my stairs.
Posted by: daveinbedstuy at August 21, 2009 12:15 PM
My two original (1899) skylight housings are vented. The only time I get water through them is during a real blizzard (heavy snow with high wind) when some snow blows through the vents and melts on the decorative leaded glass below. This has happened only a handful of times in the nearly 35 years I've owned the house.
There's nothing wrong with vents, but the ones in your new housing were obviously not made correctly.
Posted by: Bob Marvin at August 21, 2009 1:08 PM
Agree with above, we had an original skylight and it had a vent and it never leaked. Your skylight shouldn't leak. Except maybe in the aforementioned few-drops-during-the-great-blizzard-of-ought-four situation. No water should ever come in during a summer storm.
Either your contracter screwed up the install or the manufacturer screwed up the manufacture, but either way, you didn't hire him to install a skylight that leaks when it rains.
There's nothing you can do now if he ripped you off on the cost, so don't fixate on it. It's his job to figure out why it's leaking, and it's his job to stop the leak. Fixate on making him do that.
Posted by: bkrules at August 21, 2009 2:00 PM
bkrules has it right--your contractor should be expected to correct his work
Posted by: Bob Marvin at August 21, 2009 4:35 PM
You need to find out where it is leaking from. Use a garden hose to mimic standard ASTM test. I suspect ER is right. If it's leaking at the glass/metal joints, which it probably is, caulk it.
But agree w Bob too, the contractor should fix it, caulking or not. He's the one who bought it, he has to warranty it.
Especially since you paid the big bucks!
Posted by: denton at August 21, 2009 4:52 PM
I will be replacing a skylight as well, so I'll pass on what I've learned. First, if the skylight is above a staircase, it needs to be vented, as per DOB. Second, a new one made out of regular galvanized metal will cost about $350 depending on the size, then there needs to be a metal grid on top of the vent and one on the bottom for just in case the glass breaks or needs to be broken into. Those cost another $350 or so. If you choose aluminum, the cost is triple (for the skylight). Copper is somewhere between the two. I got this info from a manufacturer in Brooklyn, and double checked the regulatory stuff with my architect.
Posted by: townhouser at August 21, 2009 5:21 PM
Thanks for all the great information- I feel a little better about the vented skylight and now can call my contractor and tell him he's full of it to expect me to believe it cost $3K. I never expected problems especially because this guy was a friend of the family. I guess I learned the hard way.
Posted by: joe22 at August 25, 2009 2:01 PM
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