Roof Replacement Case Studies: Removing Old Dome Skylights in Groton, CT

Saturday, March 4th, 2017 by Kevin Marr

Challenge

The owners here in Groton had a very old 3-tab roof that they knew was not going to last much longer. The roof was simple as far as it goes except for the porch which had five old dome skylights. The skylights were very old and the owners said they didn't care to keep them. They didn't want to replace the skylight but they didn't want them to leak when the got the new roof either.

Solution

Whenever you have old skylights but need a new roof you have few options. If the skylights are in good condition they can be reflashed with a skylight flashing kit. If the skylights are in a poor condition as the skylights in Groton were, then they need to be replaced or removed. The owners inquired if we could remove the skylights without replacing them. We told them we could and here is how. We removed the old skylight and put new 1/2" CDX plywood over the old openings. Then we were able to install new Ice and Water barrier 9 feet up the roof which covered the plywood over the porch completely. Above the Ice and Water, we installed Synthetic underlayment. Lastly came the Estate Grey Duration shingles with our Platinum Contractor 50-year Warranty and Workmanship coverage. The owners got a great roof without the cost of replacing and maintaining their porch skylights.