Skylight Repair in Edmonton — Leaks, Curbs and Flashing
Half the leaking skylights in this city are not leaking. Telling the two apart is the whole job, and it decides who you should be calling.
- Free photo-documented inspection report
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- Written scope before any work starts
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Water around a skylight? Start with the diagnosis
Half the “leaking skylights” in Edmonton are not leaking. In a cold-climate house a skylight is the coldest surface in the ceiling, and warm indoor air condenses on it and runs down the shaft exactly the way a leak would — except it happens on clear January nights rather than in the rain.
Skylight repair in Edmonton starts with telling those two apart, because one is a flashing job on the roof and the other is a ventilation and humidity problem inside the house. Get that backwards and you pay for the wrong work.
First question
Is it leaking, or is it condensation?
The pattern tells you before anyone goes on the roof. Match what you are seeing against this.
| What you are seeing | Most likely cause | Where the fix is |
|---|---|---|
| Water on cold clear nights, no rain | Condensation on the glass and frame | Indoor humidity and ventilation |
| Water during or just after rain | Flashing kit or a failed seal at the head | The roof |
| Water only with wind-driven rain from one side | Side flashing or the shingle weave beside it | The roof |
| Staining at the top corners of the light well, dry glass | Flashing above the unit | The roof |
| Fog or haze between the panes, permanent | Blown insulated glass unit | The unit - glazing, not roofing |
| Water during a winter thaw, not during rain | Ice damming above the skylight | the eave and the attic |
Diagnostic guidance for typical Edmonton houses, not a substitute for looking at the actual roof. Two of these are not roofing problems at all, which is the point.
A useful confirmation: condensation appears on the glass and the frame and runs down from there, while a flashing leak stains the drywall at the top or the side of the light well first and may never wet the glass at all. If it is condensation, the answer is humidity and airflow — run the bathroom fan, check that it discharges outside rather than into the attic, and see attic ventilation.
The four things that actually fail
1. The flashing kit
Every skylight is designed to be installed with a matched flashing kit: head flashing above, sill below, and step or soaker pieces up the sides, woven into the shingle courses. Most genuine skylight leaks are a kit that was never fitted, was fitted without the underlayment detail, or has been sealed up with tar by somebody chasing a leak. This is roof work and it is the same discipline as any other flashing repair.
2. The seal — a blown insulated glass unit
Modern skylights are sealed double or triple glazing. When the edge seal fails, moisture gets between the panes: permanent haze, mineral staining, or fog that comes and goes with the temperature. Nothing outside is wrong and no roofer can fix it — the glazing unit or the whole skylight is replaced. A blown seal is glazing work, and it is worth knowing that before anyone climbs onto your roof.
3. The curb and the deck around it
A skylight sits either on a built-up curb or directly on the deck. Either way the timber around the opening carries it, and where a leak has been running quietly, that timber and the sheathing beside it go soft. This is the reason a “small skylight leak” turns into a larger bill: the fix is decking repair plus the skylight detail, not a tube of sealant.
4. The light well
The shaft between the roof opening and the ceiling below is a chimney of warm house air pressed against cold surfaces. If it was built without insulation and an air seal on the warm side, it will run with condensation every cold snap and stain at the corners — and every litre of that moisture also ends up in the attic.
Curb-mounted or deck-mounted?
Two mounting systems, and knowing which you have changes both the repair and the price of a replacement unit.
- Curb-mounted. The skylight sits on a timber box built up above the roof plane. Common on flat and low-slope roofs and on older installations. Look for a visible raised frame around the glass from outside, or a step at the top of the light well inside.
- Deck-mounted. The unit fixes directly to the deck with its own flashing kit, sitting lower and looking sleeker. Standard on modern pitched-roof installations.
Replacement units are made for one or the other. Fitting a deck-mounted unit onto an old curb without rebuilding the detail is a classic source of a second leak eighteen months later.
Repair or replace?
Three questions settle it. How old is the unit — skylight seals and the plastic on older acrylic domes have a shorter life than the roof around them. Are parts still available — a discontinued unit means a replacement rather than a repair whatever the fault is. And is the roof being replaced anyway — because that is the moment when a new unit and a new flashing kit cost the least they ever will, and the worst time to discover a skylight is finished is the year after a new roof goes on. See roof replacement.
Skylights on a flat roof
On a low-slope roof a skylight is always curb-mounted, and the membrane has to be turned up the curb and terminated properly under a counter flashing. Water does not run off a flat roof quickly, so the detail is doing real work every time it rains and every time snow melts on the roof. Failures here are usually the termination or the curb itself rather than the glazing. See flat and low-slope roof repair.
What an inspection settles
- Whether it is water or condensation. Established from the pattern, the staining and the attic, before anyone proposes a repair.
- The mounting type. Curb-mounted or deck-mounted, and the make where it is legible. This decides what any replacement unit has to be.
- The state of the flashing kit. Head, sill and side pieces, and whether they were ever installed properly or have been tarred over since.
- The timber and the deck around the opening. Photographed from the attic where it can be reached. This is the part that decides how big the job is.
- The light well and the ceiling. Insulation and air sealing on the warm side, which is where winter condensation is made.
- Which trade you need. Roof-side flashing work, a glazing replacement, or a humidity problem. You get that in writing, including when the answer is 'not a roofer'.
Signs
When to get a skylight looked at
None of these gets better on its own, and all of them are cheaper before the timber around the opening gets involved.
- Staining on the drywall at the top or side of the light well
- Drips during rain, or only with wind-driven rain from one direction
- Water running down the glass on cold clear nights
- Permanent fog or mineral haze between the panes
- Tar or sealant smeared around the frame by a previous repair
- A skylight on a roof that is about to be replaced anyway
Insurance
Skylights and insurance
Sudden, accidental damage from a covered peril is claimable like any other roof damage: hail that cracked the glazing, a branch through the unit, wind that lifted the flashing. Two common situations are not. A seal that has blown with age is wear, and water that has been getting in slowly for two seasons is usually treated as a maintenance failure — policies require you to act on damage you know about.
Where a hailstorm is behind it, the skylight belongs in the same claim as the roof rather than in a separate conversation afterwards, and the glazing is worth photographing along with the soft-metal collateral. See hail damage roof repair and the Alberta hail claim guide.
What skylight work costs in Edmonton
There is no honest single range for this, because three different jobs hide behind the same complaint: a flashing repair on the roof, a replacement glazing unit, and rebuilding a rotten curb. We will not print a figure we cannot source. What sets it:
- Which of the four failures it is. Flashing, seal, curb or light well.
- Whether the unit is still made. A current model is ordered; a discontinued one means a new unit sized to the old opening, or a rebuilt opening.
- Curb-mounted or deck-mounted. Different units, different flashing kits, different labour.
- How long it has been leaking. The single largest swing, because it decides whether the timber around the opening is still sound.
- Whether the roof is being done at the same time. By a distance the cheapest moment to deal with a skylight.
One practical piece of advice, free: if the skylight is more than fifteen years old and the roof is being replaced within a couple of seasons, deal with them together. Doing the skylight afterwards means opening a new roof, and doing it before means paying for access twice.
What this site offers on a skylight today is the diagnosis: which of the four failures you have, photographed from the roof and the attic, and an honest statement of which trade fixes it. Where the answer is a glazing unit rather than a roofing repair, that is what the report will say.
Skylight repair: common questions
Why does my skylight only drip in winter?
Because it is condensation, not a leak. The glass is the coldest surface in that ceiling, and indoor moisture — showers, cooking, drying laundry, people — condenses on it and runs down the shaft. The giveaway is that it happens on cold clear nights and not during rain. The remedy is indoor humidity, a bathroom fan that actually discharges outside, and insulation and air sealing in the light well.
Can a skylight be resealed, or does it have to be replaced?
Depends on what failed. A flashing failure is repaired on the roof: new kit, correctly woven into the shingles. A blown insulated glass unit cannot be resealed in place — the glazing or the whole skylight is replaced, and that is glazing work. A curb that has rotted is rebuilt. Anyone proposing to fix any of the three with sealant around the frame is buying you a season.
How much does skylight repair cost in Edmonton?
Three different jobs sit behind that question — a flashing repair, a replacement unit, and rebuilding a rotted curb — so a single quoted range would be invented. What moves the number most is how long it has been leaking, because that decides whether the timber around the opening is sound. Get the diagnosis first, in writing, then price the actual job.
Should skylights be replaced at the same time as the roof?
If they are aged, yes, and this is the most useful thing on this page. A skylight installed with a new flashing kit into a new roof is straightforward; one replaced two years later means cutting into a roof that is under warranty and paying for access again. Sealed units have a shorter service life than the shingles around them, so 'it is still fine' often means 'it is fine for now'.
Is a leaking skylight covered by insurance?
If a covered peril caused it — hail cracked the glazing, a branch came through, wind lifted the flashing — normally yes, as part of the roof claim. Age, a failed seal and slow water entry that has been happening for seasons are maintenance and are not covered. Photograph it before any repair and open the claim with the storm as the date of loss, not the day you noticed the stain.
Related roofing services
Roof Leak Repair
Finding and sealing the actual entry point, not just the wet drywall.
Explore service →11Roof and Chimney Flashing Repair
Step, counter, valley and chimney flashing - where most 'roof leaks' actually start.
Explore service →14Flat Roof Repair
Ponding, split seams and failed parapet details on torch-on, EPDM and TPO.
Explore service →Where we inspect roofs
Edmonton proper and the Capital Region. Summer hail, prairie wind, ice dams and freeze–thaw cycles attack different parts of a roof, and our inspections look past the obvious impact marks to flashing, vents, underlayment and decking.
If your roof is inside the Anthony Henday, we are usually there the next morning.
Water around a skylight?
Find out whether it is a leak or condensation before anyone sells you a repair. Free inspection, photographs from the roof and the attic, written verdict.
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