Skylight Installers in Columbus, OH

Skylight installation in Columbus, OH earns its keep in the gray months. Central Ohio winters are short on daylight, and a well-placed skylight brings more usable light into a kitchen or bath than a wall of bulbs — provided it is flashed like part of the roof rather than dropped in as an afterthought.

Replacement vs. new installation

Replacing an existing skylight is the more common job: units from past decades fog between panes, weep condensation, or leak at flashing that has aged out. Modern units are better in every dimension — glazing, seals, flashing kits — and a swap during reroofing costs a fraction of doing it later. A brand-new opening is a bigger project: framing the curb, tying into the roof plane, and finishing the light shaft inside. Both are jobs where the flashing kit and the installer matter more than the brand on the glass.

Skylights and Columbus weather

Three local realities shape the choice. Winter condensation: warm indoor air meeting cold glass drips unless the unit is double-glazed and properly insulated at the shaft. Snow load: skylight glass is rated for it, but the flashing has to shed meltwater through freeze-thaw cycles for weeks at a time. And hail: impact-rated glazing exists and is the sensible spec here, for the same reason it is sensible on the shingles around it.

Why skylights leak — and why they do not have to

Almost every “leaking skylight” is one of three things: a failed flashing detail, condensation being mistaken for a leak, or a unit installed with sealant where step flashing belonged. Manufacturer flashing kits, installed to the letter on an underlayment that laps correctly, produce skylights that stay dry for the life of the roof. Sealant-first installs produce callbacks.

Skylight questions

Should skylights be replaced when the roof is replaced?

Almost always yes, if they are more than a few years old. The flashing integrates with the new roof anyway, the incremental cost is small, and nobody wants to open a two-season-old roof to swap a failed unit.

Do skylights make rooms hot in summer?

Older single-pane units did. Modern low-E glazing rejects most of the solar heat, and north- or east-facing placement moderates the rest. Vented units can also exhaust hot air at the ceiling.

Fixed or vented?

Fixed costs less and cannot be left open in a storm. Vented earns its premium in bathrooms and kitchens, where dumping moist air at the highest point of the room is exactly what the space needs. Skylight work rides along naturally with roof replacement, and a suspicious drip around one is a job for roof repair first. Everything else lives under roofing services.