Please answer a question. We have metal roofs and plastic skylights. Our 10 roofs are supposed to last about 30 years and we are about 15 years into it. Someone suggested we replace all 50 skylights with skylights that have a 40-year warranty. This replacement is apparently because some skylights have had leads around them where the flashing is or on top around the edges. Someone else said that when the roofs are replaced in about 15 more years from now, that the roofer will demand that all the skylights be replaced again, because any reputable roofer would not give a warranty for the new roof if they did not replace the skylights themselves. Can anyone shed any light on these issues? Thank you!

 

Why, are they leaking??????????????????????

 

leads = leaks........................

 

Just my opinion!
Skylights are a common area of leaks. If I were a roofer I would not warrant a skylight. However, a roof warranty is not the same as a skylight warranty. However, roof installation can be warranted, depending on who or how the installer wants to guaranty his work. With that said, again if I were a roofer I would defiantly want to buy, and install the skylights if I planned on providing skylight warranty against leaks (which by the way I would suspect would be less than that in number of years than the rest of the roof).

 

Many roofer's warranties aren't worth the paper they are written on because they go in and out of business like the seasons. Unless you go with a big company that's been in business for while and is still in business 5-10 years after installation, you're most likely going to have to pay for repairs.

Manufacturers have warranties, but 95% of leaks and issues are caused by installation issues, not material issues, so most manufacturer warranties don't help much.

And I agree, if a roofer doesn't install the whole roofing system including skylights, they probably won't warranty for leaks. I'm thinking back to a recent job and I think skylights may have been excluded from the warranty even if they were newly installed. There are just too many issues with them.

 

So, if I understand correctly, since skylights are a common cause of roof leaks, when it comes to replacing the roof, most roofers are not going to give that new roof a warranty unless they replace and install the skylights themselves along with the rest of the roof. So, if we replace the skylights now instead of repairing them, we will have to have them replaced again when the new roof is put on in 15 years or so.
I guess what I am getting at is that regardless of what we do now, we are going to have to replace all the skylights again when we are scheduled to replace all the roofs in our community in another 15 years. So, any 40 year warranty on replacements skylights now, is not useful in the future when the roofs are replaced, because the skylights will also need to be replaced to a get a new roof warranty. Whew! Is that right?

 

essential, yes!____________________________

 

Where would I go to get an actual roofer to put down on paper this warranty business? The main question is would a roofer hired to replace our 10 metal roofs in the future give a warranty for the roofs if they did not get to replace the skylights with the roofs, because the skylights are allegedly still under warranty for many years?

 

I'm not sure you are asking questions we can answer. This is not a DIY question. These are questions for your roofer. We can't tell you what he will say... you may even get different answers depending on who you ask. Bottom line is talk to the metal roofers that might potentially get the job in 15 years and ask them what they typically do when they run into existing skylights. No one here that I know of does this kind of work day in/day out professionally, so your best bet is to call a pro in your area and see what they say.

If you want my opinion, skylights are not a common cause of leaks... the flashing or shingles around them is. And any roofer worth his salt should be able to reflash an existing skylight and warranty his work. It's not much different than going around an existing chimney or dormer. You don't get a new chimney each time the house is roofed... It gets reflashed. Personally, I would use a type of skylight that is easy to service. Velux makes some that are super easy to remove and reflash. A few screws and the lid lifts right off, giving you easy access to reflash. The lid has a gasket that seals the lid to the curb once you set it back down again.

 

Xsleeper thank you for that great answer and advice! I'm glad I found this excellent forum.

 

True skylights themselves are not what leaks. But it is because of the skylight that a leak will most likely manifest itself. And that is a place that will standout and and get very bad very quickly if not re flashed or repaired. I also disagree with comparing it to a chimney leak repair. That kind of repair can be made by almost any so called roofer. But to repair a skylight properly requires skilled workers.

My cabin has a skylight and the Amish guy who installed my tin roof made it clear he did not like working around it. However, he did a fantastic job and I'm betting the flashing around the skylight will last as long as the roof in total. But I won't hold him responsible if it does not.

Almost any new roof will preform well for at least 10 years. It's after that time that problem may occur. Try and find that same roofer and get him to make "good". Bet it won't happen. In may opinion, be prepared to handle skylights as a separate but integral part of the home roof. And don't expect a typical roofer to warrant it.

As stated earlier, the roofer will blame the manufacture and vs versa. It's no win situation.