Winters can be very hard on roofs, therefore there are lots of reasons a person may need to call in a residential roofing company for repair jobs. However, one feature more than any other seems to cause problems in the winter: skylights. Skylights can be a beautiful addition to a home, and a wonderful way to add natural light – but they tend to fare poorly in cold and wet conditions.
Unless properly maintained, skylights can be a source of leaks in the winter or even cause ice dams to form. Here’s what you need to know to prevent this!
Tips for Maintaining Your Skylight in The Winter
- Get regular inspections
If you have a skylight, you should have a Collingwood roofing company inspect it at least once a year. In particular, you want to make sure the seals and flashing are all in tip-top shape. Even minor defects can turn into major problems over the course of a particularly harsh winter like we’re having this year.
- Lower the humidity level below the skylight
If the room below the skylight is humid, that moisture will rise with the heat and collect on the skylight. It might even freeze, particularly around the edges of the frame. The material expansion this causes can quickly damage the seal, causing leaks to form around the edges of the skylight.
*PRO TIP: A dehumidifier in the room below can usually help prevent this.
- Add ice and water shielding
This is a slightly pricier upgrade, but it can pay off in the long run. If your roof around the skylight doesn’t have ice and water shielding below the shingles, a roofing contractor can add it. This won’t prevent all possible problems, but it will add another layer of protection to prevent water from making its way into your home.
- Rake your roof to prevent ice dams
Ice dams form when snow on top of a roof melts, flows down to the edges, then refreezes. Unfortunately, skylights are a leading cause of this. Glass will never be as well insulated as the rest of your roof and will inevitably cause snow to melt. If safe to do so, raking snow away from your skylight to stop melting and runoff is one of the few ways to prevent it. At Ainger Roofing we take safety very seriously, all of our roofers have their Working at Heights training and can safely help maintain your roof and skylight, call us today to see how!
Ainger Roofing is the residential roofing company that Collingwood has trusted for over 25 years. Click here to schedule a skylight inspection!
