This style of sloped glazing skylight system is built with multiple panes of glass and many joints. Every joint in this type of skylight is a potential source of water infiltration and quite often requires ongoing maintenance. Changing it to a single dome (Double Glazed) is a very cost effective solution with no seams or joints.

This sloped glazing skylight system has been caulked and re-caulked several times over the years, but it never stopped the leak.

In fact caulking a skylight is never the solution. In this case the client had been chasing the leak for several years without success.

Dismantling the old glass skylights takes a fair bit of time and care. Using the proper equipment (Glazing Suction Cups) and enough staff allows the job to go efficiently and safely.

The old curbs had a lot of open spaces with loose insulation just stuffed inside that got damaged from the years of leaking.

Although the roofing was in good condition, the top of the curb (frame work that supports a skylight) had sustained a lot of damage. Quite often this is not obvious until the skylight is dismantled. In this case, after years of leaking, a lot of damage had occurred to the top sections of the curb and to some of the insulation. These items or parts of the skylight quite often need to be repaired and/or replaced.

Leaving an issue with the skylight unattended has costs to the inside as well. Continued exposure to water caues drywall damage and possibly damage and rot to the exterior framing of the tunnel. That could lead to mold and structural weakening.

Some skylight installers might try to lift big skylights by hand risking injury to themselves and damage to a customer's property. Doing the job right means using professional equipment for the job.

Because Velux has the ability of manufacturing larger domes than most manufacturers, we were able to provide our client with a skylight that had no separation beams (No joints to fail). This solution provides a worry-free solution with more daylight and is more cost effective than doing a new sloped glazing glass system.

People often ask about the difference between domes and glass skylights; sealed glass units are more energy efficient than double domes, so they keep out the heat better in the summer and keep in the heat better in winter. Dome skylights can be made to a very large size as a single piece so they are more cost effective, and (because of the curvature of the acrylic) they bring in more light than a glass skylight.

43 Riviera Drive, Unit 10
Markham, ON, L3R 5J6

(416) 540-4232

case study
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