Skylights
Skylights are a window in the roof. They bring daylight into rooms that have no other way of getting it, which is why they work so well in bathrooms, hallways, kitchens and any interior room with no exterior wall.
In Tucson they also have to survive an unusual amount of sun, and that shapes almost every decision about which one to put in and how.
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Why Homeowners Put Skylights In
The most common reason is a room that is dark in the middle of the day and cannot be fixed with a window. Interior bathrooms, powder rooms, hallways, closets and kitchens set against a neighboring wall.
A skylight brings light in without giving up privacy, which a window in the same room would not do. It also lights a space more evenly than a fixture does, and the light changes through the day in a way people notice even when they cannot say why the room feels better.
The energy side is real too. A well placed skylight means lights off in that room for most of daylight hours.
Acrylic Dome Skylights
The bubble shaped domes on most Tucson homes built between the seventies and the two thousands. They go on flat or pitched roofs, in self flashing or curb mounted versions, and they show up on houses, schools and warehouses alike.
Lens options change what you get out of them.
White
High visible light transmission with low heat transfer. The most common choice, and usually the right one here.
Clear
Maximum light and an unobstructed view of the sky, along with maximum heat. Common as a base lens, harder to defend on its own in Tucson.
Bronze
A tinted lens giving a slightly dimmed, filtered light and lower heat transmittance, for when you want the daylight softened.
Heat Shield
Built specifically to cut heat transfer in summer, which in this climate is the months that matter.
We also offer an upgrade that adds a third lens to a new or existing skylight, which improves energy efficiency for a fairly small cost. Ask us about it when we are out.
Curb Mount Skylights
A curb mount skylight sits on top of a raised frame built into the roof. The skylight is the lid, the curb is the box.
These are the fastest units to change out, because the skylight sits over roofing material that runs up to the top of the curb. If everything else is sound, the old one comes off and the new one goes on.
Curb mount is the necessary choice on a tile roof. The curb has to be built above the height of the tile so water runs off properly rather than backing up against the unit.
Self Flashing Skylights
On a self flashing unit, the skylight and the frame that mounts to the roof are a single piece. The flashing is built into the unit rather than fabricated separately around it.
These are common on shingle roofs and on a lot of tract construction, because they install quickly. The trade off is that the waterproofing depends entirely on how that one piece was set into the roof, so when they fail it is usually at the perimeter.
Custom Skylights
Custom is often easier and cheaper than standard, which surprises people.
If an existing opening is an odd size or in an awkward spot, forcing a standard unit into it can mean hours of framing work and tearing up finished drywall on the inside. Building a unit to fit the opening you already have avoids all of that.
A lot of older Tucson homes fall into this category. If your skylight is an unusual size, that is not a problem, it is just a different path to the same result.
Dome And Lens Replacement
If the aluminum frame is still sound, you may not need a whole new skylight. Replacing just the domes is a much smaller job.
We pop off the retaining ring, clean the frame of debris and old sealant, clear and enlarge the drainage weep holes, then fit new domes and reinstall the ring. Blocked weep holes are worth mentioning on their own, because they cause a lot of leaks that have nothing to do with a failed skylight.
It is also the natural moment to improve what is up there, with a higher UV lens or an additional lens for better efficiency, since the unit is already open.
Not Sure What You Have
Most homeowners do not know whether their skylights are curb mount or self flashing, acrylic or glass, or how old they are. That is fine. Tell us what the house is and what you are seeing, and we will work it out when we are on the roof.
Whether it turns into a repair, a dome replacement, a full installation or an upgrade to glass, you will get photos of what we found and a straight answer on what needs doing.
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