Measuring skylights for replacement?

[Matt Meiser]

We need to replace a leaking sklyight and repair some sheeting damage from the leak. A neighbor who is a roofer is going to do the work for me, partially in exchange for me doing some tractor work for him. I need to get the skylight but am having trouble figuring out the best way to measure. I'd rather stay off the roof, especially since its raining and even then I'd just be measuring the outside trim. Inside the attic it would be difficult to get any kind of accurate measurement due to framing, insulation, and drywall. Inside the house I can measure the glass or the drywall. Theoretically the opening should be 1 or 1-1/4" different from the drywall but that assumes the drywall is against the opening and doesn't have any buildup of joint compound.

[Bob Lloyd]

Matt

Do you know the manufacturer of the skylight that you are replacing? If so, then it would be easy to look up which unit matches it. As to measuring the sheetrock, some manufacturers have a dado to receive the sheetrock, it is not fixed to the rough opening next to the skylight. It sounds as though you have a light shaft as you mentioned the attic. You should be able to measure it from there, you will have to pull back the insulation. If you are replacing the sheetrock anyway, remove it in advance and measure from inside the room.

Bob

[Brian Effinger]

Matt - I agree with Bob, that the manufacturer's name is a good place to start. If you know that, it will help to narrow it down. Also, skylights don't come in the array of sizes that regular casement or double hung windows do, so if you have a rough measurement from inside the house, it should be easy to get the correct size. In theory ;)

Brian

[Matt Meiser]

No manufacturer info that I can see at least. But Brian, you are right that there are only a few sizes so we got the closest one. I'll probably have to redo the trim around the top when they are done. Menards happens to stock the size we need and they are on sale this week so I have them sitting in the shop waiting for the shingles which have to be special ordered.

The drywall isn't damaged, but some sheeting just below one of them is bad (spongy if you step on it.) The shame is that the rest of the roof is in good shape. So we are going to have them do a repair, which will probably be visible because of fade, but it beats reroofing the whole house.

At least we get the tax credit on the Energy Star windows.

[Brian Effinger]

You should be fine Matt. And yeah, much less expensive to just do the repair, instead of the whole roof. I'd live with a little miss-match too.

Just out of curiosity, do you know what the pitch of the roof is? Manufacturers claim their products can go on a low pitched roof, but I never like doing it.

[Matt Meiser]

Somewhere around 5/12.