What we fix · Skylights & Flashing
Skylights, Penetrations and Flashing
Every hole in a roof is a decision someone made to accept risk in exchange for light, ventilation or a vent stack. Those decisions are where roofs leak. The field of the roof is one continuous surface; the penetrations are where two materials have to meet and stay met for twenty years.
Photographs and a written scope. If the honest answer is that it can wait another season, you will get that answer.
67
Florida counties we are licensed to build in
HVHZ
Miami-Dade and Broward product approval, done properly
GC
A general contractor, so the structure below is our problem too
25%
The code rule that decides repair vs. replace
The problem
Why this goes wrong
The standard bad repair is a tube of sealant. Sealant is a component of a flashing detail, never a substitute for one. It has a service life measured in a few years under Florida sun, and a bead of caulk around a skylight is a repair that will be back. Real flashing works by layering and gravity, not by adhesion.
Recognise it
What it looks like
Drawn rather than photographed, so each one shows the mechanism instead of one particular roof.
Counter-flashing at a wall
The detail that is most often missing, and the one that most often causes a leak blamed on the roof surface.
Leak, or condensation?
A skylight that drips only on cold mornings and dries by noon is usually condensing, not leaking. Different problem, different fix.
From the ground
Signs to look for
- A stain that appears near a skylight, chimney or vent.
- Visible sealant beads around a penetration, especially several layers of it.
- Rust or staining running down from a vent boot.
- Condensation inside a skylight that is mistaken for a leak.
- Leaks at the point where a lower roof meets a taller wall.
Scope
What we actually do
- 01Establish whether it is a leak or condensation — these look identical and are not the same problem.
- 02Inspect the flashing layering, not just the surface sealant.
- 03Check counter-flashing at walls and chimneys, which is frequently missing entirely.
- 04Assess vent boots — these are a wear item and age faster than the roof.
- 05Rebuild the detail properly rather than re-sealing it.
- 06Photographs of the failed detail before and the rebuilt one after.
Worth knowing
Old skylights are worth a separate conversation. A unit past twenty years with a failed seal is often cheaper to replace than to chase, and modern units are dramatically better at both sealing and heat rejection. Where a skylight is no longer wanted, closing the hole and roofing over it is a legitimate and permanent answer.
FAQ
Common questions
- Can you just seal around my skylight?
- We can, and it will be back. If sealant is the whole repair, we will tell you that it is a stopgap and roughly how long it should hold.
- Is my skylight leaking or sweating?
- If it appears on humid mornings and dries up, and if it is on the glass rather than the frame edge, it is very likely condensation.
- Can a skylight be removed?
- Yes. Closing the opening, framing it, and roofing over is straightforward for a general contractor and permanently ends the problem.
- How long do vent boots last?
- Less than the roof. On many South Florida roofs the boots are the first component to fail and are a routine maintenance item.
Areas served
Where we work
HVHZ
Fort Lauderdale
Our home city, and a genuine mix: barrel tile on the mainland, flat and low-slope on the mid-century houses near Victoria Park, and metal appearing steadily on the newer waterfront builds. Broward is HVHZ, so every product on your roof needs a Miami-Dade Notice of Acceptance.
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HVHZ
Wilton Manors
Compact lots and a large stock of 1950s and 1960s single-storey houses, which in practice means low-slope and shallow-pitch roofs rather than tile. Those roofs rely on membrane and flashing detail, so the failures here look different from the tile failures a mile east.
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HVHZ
Oakland Park
A lot of housing built either side of 1970, now reaching the point where an original underlayment has certainly been replaced once and may be due again. HVHZ rules apply, and Oakland Park permitting is generally straightforward compared with the barrier-island municipalities.
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HVHZ
Pompano Beach
Two different roofing markets in one city: older single-family inland, and a wave of oceanfront towers built in the last decade. The beachfront work is almost entirely low-slope with heavy salt exposure, which shortens the life of fasteners and terminations well before the membrane.
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HVHZ
Lighthouse Point
Canal-front houses with long-tenured owners, which is exactly the profile where a tile roof has looked fine for twenty-five years while the underlayment quietly reached the end of its life. Salt air on the canals is hard on exposed fasteners and metal trim.
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HVHZ
Deerfield Beach
The northern edge of Broward, and the last city before the HVHZ boundary — cross into Palm Beach County a mile north and the product approval rules change entirely. Large stock of 1970s and 1980s condominium with low-slope roofs held in common by the association.
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Next step
Find out what is actually wrong with it.
An inspection, photographs of what we found, and a written scope. If the honest answer is that it can wait another season, that is the answer you will get.