Skylight Repair & Replacement Vancouver WA
Leaking skylight? Fogged glass? Failed flashing? We repair and replace skylights throughout Vancouver WA and the Portland Metro Area. Honest recommendations, detailed inspections, and professional installation. 4.8 Rating, 700+ Reviews!
Schedule My Free Roof Inspection
Skylight Replacement in Vancouver WA and the Portland Metro
Most skylights in this area were installed between the mid-1980s and the early 2000s, which puts a lot of them at or past the end of their service life right now. The glass seal fails and the pane fogs. The flashing corrodes or was never installed correctly to begin with. Plastic domes on older units go brittle and yellow under UV exposure. Any one of those shows up inside the house as a stain on the drywall.
We replace skylights as a roofing job, not a window job, because that’s what it is. A skylight is only as watertight as the flashing and roofing material around it, so a new unit set into old flashing and tired shingles is a leak waiting to happen. Every replacement we do includes new flashing integrated with the surrounding roof: step flashing and counter flashing on shingle roofs, and properly formed pan and head flashing woven into the courses on tile roofs, where the curb detail is less forgiving and a bad install goes unnoticed for years.
We also check what’s underneath before anything new goes on. A skylight that’s been leaking quietly has usually been feeding water into the deck and framing around the curb, and that’s dry rot we need to find and replace before we close it up. Setting a new skylight over soft sheathing means doing the job twice.
And we tell people when they don’t need a replacement. If your skylight is fifteen years old with clear glass and the leak is coming from failed flashing or deteriorated shingles above it, that’s a repair, and we’ll say so. Our whole business is built on extending the life of what’s already on the roof.
4.8 Rating and 700+ Reviews
Serving Homeowners Since 2004
Free Skylight Inspections
Detailed Photo Documentation
Skylight Repairs & Replacements
Replacing an Existing Skylight
Replacing a skylight that’s already in the roof is a straightforward job when it’s done right. The opening exists, the framing exists, and the size is usually fixed. What varies is how much damage the old unit left behind.
Here’s what a replacement involves on a typical Vancouver or Portland home:
Removing the old unit. On a curb-mounted skylight, the unit lifts off the curb. On a deck-mounted skylight, shingles come up around the perimeter and the old flashing comes off with it. This is where we find out what’s actually been going on — a skylight that’s been leaking slowly for years has usually softened the wood around the opening.
Inspecting and repairing the curb, deck, and framing. Dry rot around a skylight opening is common here; our climate is unforgiving about slow leaks. We repair rotted decking, framing, and curbs before anything new goes in. Setting a new skylight on compromised wood guarantees you’ll be doing this again.
Setting the new unit. VELUX skylights install to a specific sequence with specific components. We follow it, because deviating from it voids the manufacturer’s installation coverage.
Flashing. New VELUX flashing kit matched to the unit and to your roofing material, with new underlayment beneath it. Never reused flashing, never caulk over old flashing.
New shingles around the opening. Where the flashing ties into the roof field, we replace the surrounding shingles so the new flashing integrates into sound material.
Interior reveal. On a like-for-like replacement the existing interior finish normally stays intact. If the old leak damaged drywall inside, we’ll point it out — that repair is usually better handled by a finish carpenter or painter who can match your ceiling texture.
Most single-skylight replacements are a one-day job. Multiple units, or significant dry rot repair, can push it to two.
Skylight Repair, Replacement & Installation Services
Skylight Leak Repair
Many skylight leaks can be repaired without replacing the entire unit. We identify the true source of the leak and recommend practical repair options whenever possible.
Skylight Replacement
New Skylight Installation
Skylight Flashing Repairs
Velux Skylight Installation
Roof & Skylight Inspections
Our inspections help homeowners understand the condition of both the skylight and the surrounding roofing system.
Why We Recommend Curb-Mounted Skylights
If you’re replacing a skylight, this is the one decision that will still be paying you back — or costing you — fifteen years from now. Most contractors don’t explain it.
Deck-mounted skylights attach directly to the roof deck. The unit’s frame sits low against the roof surface and a factory flashing kit wraps the perimeter, woven into the shingle courses. It’s a clean, low profile and it looks good.
Curb-mounted skylights sit on top of a framed wooden curb, typically four to six inches tall. The curb is flashed into the roof; the skylight drops onto the curb and fastens to it. This is the older, more common style on homes built here in the 1980s and 90s.
We recommend curb-mounted whenever the roof allows it, and the reason is the mismatch between how long roofs last and how long skylights last.
A quality asphalt roof in this climate lasts 20 to 30 years. A skylight lasts about 15 to 20. Those numbers don’t line up, and they never will.
With a curb-mounted skylight, that mismatch doesn’t cost you anything. When the unit fails, the curb and its flashing stay right where they are. We lift the old skylight off the curb and set a new one down. Your roof isn’t touched. No shingles come up, no flashing is disturbed, no new seam gets cut into a roof that’s still doing its job.
With a deck-mounted skylight, every replacement is a roofing job. The flashing is integrated into the shingle field, so replacing the unit means pulling shingles, removing the flashing, installing a new flashing kit, and reshingling around it — on a roof that may have ten good years left. You’re paying for roof work you didn’t need, and you’re introducing a repaired seam into otherwise undisturbed roofing.
Do that math over the life of a house and deck-mounted skylights cost real money in avoidable labor.
When deck-mounted still makes sense: if you already have deck-mounted units and the roof is being replaced at the same time, replacing like for like is reasonable. And on some roof configurations the curb height creates a problem worth avoiding. We’ll tell you if yours is one.
When we’d convert you to curb-mounted: if you have deck-mounted units and you’re getting a new roof anyway, that’s the moment to switch. The roof is already open, the labor is already happening, and you’ll never have to open it again for a skylight.
VELUX makes both. The FCM fixed and VCM/VCS venting units are curb-mounted, and they qualify for the same 10-year No Leak installation warranty as the deck-mounted line when installed with the correct VELUX flashing kit.
Why Skylights Leak
Many homeowners assume a leaking skylight means the skylight itself has failed.
In reality, that’s often not the case.
A skylight is only one part of a larger roofing system. Water can enter through flashing, roofing materials, transitions, or drainage pathways and eventually appear around the skylight opening.
Common causes of skylight leaks include:
Failed Flashing
Flashing creates a waterproof transition between the skylight and roofing materials. When flashing fails, water can enter the roof system.
Improper Installation
Incorrect flashing details, shortcuts during installation, or poor roofing integration can lead to future leaks.
Aging Roofing Materials
In many cases, roofing materials surrounding the skylight fail before the skylight itself.
Seal Failure
Older skylights may develop failed seals that allow moisture intrusion or fogging between panes of glass.
Storm Damage
High winds, falling branches, and severe weather can damage skylights and surrounding roofing components.
Blocked Drainage
Leaves, moss, and debris can trap water around skylights and contribute to leak development.
Because skylight leaks can originate from several sources, a professional inspection is often the fastest way to identify the true problem.
Reflashing and Shingle Work Around the Skylight
When we replace a skylight on an existing roof, the flashing around it is usually as old as the roof itself — original 1990s metal, corroded, or sealed up with caulk by someone who came before us. We replace it.
That means a new VELUX flashing kit sized to the unit and the roofing material, new underlayment beneath it, and new shingles in the field surrounding the opening so the flashing integrates into sound material. Tying a new flashing kit into brittle twenty-year-old shingles is one of the most reliable ways to be back on that roof in three years.
Flashing is a system, not a part — head flashing, sill flashing, step flashing up both sides, and an underlayment layer underneath all of it. Each piece has to lap correctly over the one below and integrate with the shingle courses. When one component is reused, out of sequence, or substituted, water finds the gap.
The shortcuts we find constantly on roofs in this area:
- A new skylight set into the original flashing
- Sealant used as the primary water barrier instead of a supplement
- Step flashing omitted entirely along the sides
- Head flashing run over the shingles instead of tucked under
- New unit installed with no attention to the underlayment layer
Caulk is not flashing. Sealant lasts a few years; correctly installed flashing lasts decades.
Here’s the part that matters long-term. Once a curb-mounted skylight is set on a properly flashed curb, that flashing is good for the life of the roof. The next time the skylight needs replacing — fifteen or twenty years out — the curb and flashing stay put and only the unit comes off. You pay for the flashing work once.
In these situations, targeted repairs can often restore performance and extend the life of the skylight.
When Skylight Replacement Makes Sense
Replacement is often the better long-term investment when:
- The skylight is 15-20+ years old
- Glass has become fogged
- Multiple repairs have already been attempted
- Significant frame deterioration exists
- Energy efficiency has declined
- The roof is being replaced
Our goal is always to help homeowners make the decision that provides the best long-term value—not the largest project.
Leaking Skylights and Fogged Glass
These are the two problems that bring most people to this page, and they have completely different causes.
A leaking skylight is usually not a failed skylight. Water shows up around the opening, so the skylight gets blamed — but in most of the leaks we diagnose, the unit itself is intact and the water is entering somewhere else. Common actual sources:
- Failed or improperly installed flashing at the skylight perimeter
- Deteriorated shingles above the skylight, with water traveling down the deck and appearing at the first obstruction
- Moss and debris damming water on the uphill side of the curb — extremely common here, and completely preventable
- Nail pops or damaged shingles higher up the slope
- Condensation being mistaken for a leak, which happens more than people expect in bathrooms and kitchens
That last one matters. If moisture around your skylight is worst on cold mornings and there’s no correlation with rainfall, you may have a ventilation problem rather than a roofing problem. Warm humid air hits cold glass and condenses. The fix is ventilation and humidity control, not a new skylight, and we’ll tell you that before we sell you anything.
Fogged glass is different. When you see haze, moisture, or a mineral film trapped between the panes, the insulated glass seal has failed. The argon or air fill between the panes is gone and the unit has lost most of its insulating value along with its clarity.
This one can’t be repaired. The glass unit is sealed at the factory and there’s no field fix — anyone offering to defog it is selling you a cosmetic treatment that doesn’t restore the seal or the R-value. Fogged glass means replacement.
The upside: if your fogged unit is a VELUX under twenty years old, the glass seal may still be covered under the manufacturer’s 20-year warranty. We can look up the unit by its data plate on the frame and find out before you pay for anything.
The VELUX Warranty
We install VELUX because the warranty behind it is the strongest in the category, and because it covers the part that usually fails.
10 years — No Leak installation warranty. This is the one that matters. VELUX warrants the installation itself against leaks, not just the product. It applies to deck-mounted units and to curb-mounted units installed with the correct VELUX flashing kit — which is what we use, every time. Most manufacturers cover their product and leave installation entirely to the contractor. VELUX stands behind both.
20 years — glass seal. Covers seal failure that causes fogging or film between the panes. This is the failure mode that ends most skylights’ useful lives, and it’s covered for two decades.
10 years — product. Covers defects in materials and workmanship in the skylight and flashing itself.
10 years — hail, on laminated glass. Laminated double- and triple-pane VELUX glass is warranted against hail breakage, with the storm verified through the National Weather Service.
5 years — blinds, shades, and controls. Covers manual operators, solar and electric motors, rain sensors, and accessories.
On top of the manufacturer coverage, our own workmanship stands behind the job. We install to VELUX specification so the No Leak coverage stays intact — which it doesn’t if the flashing kit is substituted, the sequence is wrong, or the unit is set into reused components.
Register your unit after installation. The data plate on the frame has the product ID you’ll need if you ever file a claim.
Signs Your Skylight Needs Attention
Skylight problems often start small before becoming larger and more expensive.
Watch for these warning signs:
Water Stains
Brown stains around the skylight opening may indicate moisture intrusion.
Drafts
A properly functioning skylight should not create noticeable drafts.
Condensation
Excessive condensation can indicate seal failure or ventilation issues.
Fogged Glass
Moisture trapped between glass panes is often a sign that the insulated glass seal has failed.
Peeling Paint
Paint bubbling or drywall damage around the skylight opening often indicates water intrusion.
Mold or Mildew
Persistent moisture can contribute to mold growth and indoor air quality concerns. Addressing these issues early often helps avoid larger repairs later.
We Replace Skylights — We Don't Cut In New Ones
If you want to add a skylight where there isn’t one now, we’re not the right call, and we’d rather say so up front than take the job and hand you a bad result.
Cutting a new opening isn’t primarily a roofing problem. It’s a framing and interior finish problem. The rafters have to be cut and headed off correctly. A light shaft has to be framed through the attic. Then the interior needs sheetrock, taping, a texture that matches the rest of the ceiling, and paint that blends. Getting the placement right so the shaft lands where you actually want the light is a decision made from inside the room, not from the roof.
That’s general contractor work. A GC can coordinate the framing, the drywall, the texture match, and the paint as one job with one point of accountability. We’d only be doing one piece of it.
What we do is replace skylights that are already there — leaking, fogged, or aged out — and do the roofing side of it properly. If you’re working with a GC on a new opening and they need a roofing contractor for the flashing and shingle integration, we’re happy to talk
When to Replace Your Skylights With Your Roof
If you’re within a few years of a roof replacement and your skylights are 15+ years old, replace them together. Not because it’s a bigger sale — because doing it separately costs you more.
Replacing a deck-mounted skylight requires opening up and rebuilding the shingle field around it. If your roof is already coming off, that work is already happening and the incremental cost of the new unit is far lower. Do it two years later on a new roof and you’re cutting into brand-new shingles.
A re-roof is also the right moment to convert deck-mounted units to curb-mounted, so every future skylight replacement stays off your roof entirely.
There’s also the warranty angle. A skylight replaced under an existing new roof creates a question about which warranty covers what if something leaks at that transition. Doing both at once puts everything under one installation.
If your roof has ten good years left and your skylight is failing now, replace the skylight now — and if it’s curb-mounted, we can do exactly that without touching the roof.
Energy-Efficient Modern Skylights
Modern skylights are far more energy efficient than older models.
Today’s skylights often include:
- Low-E glass coatings
- Improved insulation
- Better UV protection
- Enhanced weather resistance
- Improved condensation control
Many homeowners replacing older skylights notice improved comfort and reduced drafts while enjoying brighter interior spaces.
If your existing skylight is decades old, upgrading to a modern energy-efficient unit may provide benefits far beyond simply solving a leak.
Our Skylight Inspection
Every skylight job starts with an inspection, and the inspection is free.
We get on the roof and evaluate the skylight’s age, model, mounting style, and glass condition. We inspect the flashing system and the shingles surrounding the opening. We check the interior for staining, condensation patterns, and any sign the framing has been compromised. Where useful, we use drone photography for angles that are hard to document from the roof.
You get a photo report showing what we found and a clear explanation of the options — repair, replace, or in some cases, leave it alone and address the ventilation instead.
No pressure, no scare tactics. We’ve been doing this since 2004 with our own in-house crews. We’ve never subcontracted a job.
Roof Inspection
Skylight Assessment
Flashing Inspection
Interior Assessment
Drone Photography
Detailed Photo Report
Honest Solutions
Skylight Service Areas
We replace and repair skylights throughout Clark County and the greater Portland metro, including Vancouver, Camas, Ridgefield, Battle Ground, Washougal, Salmon Creek, Hazel Dell, Felida, Brush Prairie, Woodland, Portland, Gresham, Happy Valley, Milwaukie, Lake Oswego, Beaverton, Tigard, and West Linn.
Maintenance-First Philosophy
We believe in repairs when repairs make sense.
Honest Recommendations
No pressure. No scare tactics. Just practical advice.
Roofing Expertise
Because skylights integrate directly with roofing systems, roofing knowledge matters.
A+ BBB Rating
Detailed Documentation
We provide photo reports so homeowners understand exactly what we find.
Professional Crews
Respectful technicians, organized job sites, and thorough cleanup.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a fogged skylight be repaired?
No. Fogging between the panes means the insulated glass seal has failed, and there’s no field repair for a factory-sealed glass unit. The skylight needs to be replaced. If it’s a VELUX under 20 years old, the glass may still be covered under the manufacturer’s seal warranty — we can check the unit’s data plate before you spend anything.
How long do skylights last?
Many skylights last 15-25 years depending on the product, installation quality, and environmental exposure.
Should I replace my skylight when replacing my roof?
What causes skylights to leak?
Do you install Velux skylights?
How long does skylight replacement take?
Do you offer free inspections?
Do you install skylights where there isn't one now?
No. Cutting a new opening requires rafter framing, a light shaft, sheetrock, texture matching, and paint on the interior side. That’s general contractor work, and a GC can coordinate the whole job with one point of accountability. We replace and repair existing skylights.
Does a leaking skylight always need to be replaced?
No. Most skylight leaks we diagnose come from failed flashing, deteriorated shingles above the unit, or debris damming water at the curb — not from the skylight itself. If the unit is sound, a reflash and shingle repair usually solves it.
Schedule Your Free Skylight Inspection
Whether you’re dealing with a leaking skylight, fogged glass, damaged flashing, or considering a new skylight installation, our team can help.
Northwest Roof Maintenance proudly serves homeowners throughout Vancouver WA, Camas, Ridgefield, Battle Ground, Washougal, Salmon Creek, Hazel Dell, Felida, Woodland, and the Portland Metro Area.
Schedule your free skylight inspection today and get the answers you need to protect your home with confidence.
