Bringing daylight in: skylight installation in Vancouver, WA

Vancouver winters are long and gray, and many homes have rooms that never get direct light. Skylights solve that by pulling daylight from overhead, which is brighter than light from a wall window of the same size. A well-placed skylight can light a whole kitchen or stairwell on an overcast day. The trick is putting it where it brings in light without adding heat, glare or a leak risk.

Installing a skylight is roofing and framing work together. We open the roof, frame the opening between or across rafters, build the light shaft down to the ceiling, and set the unit with the manufacturer's flashing kit woven into the shingles. Getting that flashing right is the whole job, because a skylight that is not flashed properly will leak in the first steady rain.

Skylight types and where each works

Fixed skylights are the most common. They do not open, so they have fewer parts to wear out and seal tighter. Venting skylights open with a crank or a small motor and can let steam out of a bathroom or heat out of an upstairs room in summer. Many venting units have a rain sensor that closes them automatically when the first drops hit, which matters a lot here, where showers come in fast even in spring.

Sun tunnels, also called tubular skylights, are a different product. A small dome on the roof feeds a reflective tube down to a round ceiling diffuser. They fit between rafters, need no framing changes and work well in hallways, closets and small bathrooms. They do not give you a view of the sky, but for pure light in a tight space they cost far less than a full skylight and shaft.

What goes into a proper install

The flashing system is what keeps a skylight dry. We use the manufacturer's step-flashing kit for the unit, which interlocks with each course of shingles, and we add a self-adhering underlayment collar around the opening before the flashing goes on. That gives two layers of protection. Inside, we frame and drywall the shaft, insulate around it and leave it ready for paint. Insulating the shaft walls matters, since a cold shaft is where condensation collects in winter.

• Cutting and framing the roof opening
• Headers and doubled rafters where needed
• Self-adhering underlayment collar
• Manufacturer step-flashing kit
• Insulated, drywalled light shaft
• Ceiling finish ready for paint

Placement, size and heat

Where the skylight goes on the roof changes how it behaves. A north-facing skylight gives soft, even light all day with little heat gain, which suits kitchens and offices. A south or west-facing one brings in more light but also more summer heat, which can make an upstairs bedroom warm in August. Low-E glass and an add-on shade help, and we talk through placement before cutting anything. Trees count too: a big fir to the south can shade a skylight for half the year.

Size matters too. A skylight that is too big for the room can feel harsh and leak heat in winter. A common rule is to keep the glass to a small fraction of the floor area below, and to use a splayed shaft, wider at the ceiling than at the roof, to spread light further without a bigger hole in the roof. A splayed shaft also looks more finished from below and reduces the bright-spot effect on a cloudy day.

Adding a skylight during a reroof

The best time to add a skylight is when the roof is being replaced. The shingles are already off, the flashing can be integrated with brand-new underlayment, and the cost of the roofing part of the job drops. If you are planning a reroof in the next few years, it is worth deciding on skylights before the new shingles go on. We can frame the openings, set the units and finish the shafts in the same project, so the roof is only opened once and every piece of flashing goes under new shingles.