Q & A - Solar Tubes

When is the best time to install solar tubes?

What advice can you give on Solar Tubes installed at the time the roof is re-done or after?  Kindly, Della

Good question - Installing a tubular skylight during the roofing process is difficult because both the skylight and roofing must be done at the same time. This means two different companies. Example.  The flashing needs to be spotted and a hole cut out but the roofing needs to be installed with the flashing for things to work correctly.

If you spot the flashing and install the tubes before the shingles, the skylight tubes will become dislodged when the shingles get installed because of the lifting and moving the flashing around. This means someone must fix it, and who do you blame? The best way to do this is to have the flashing for the skylight spotted in the proper place and the hole cut out by the skylight installer and then the flashing installed by the roofer when he shingles that area of the roof. Then later when the flashing is in place and cannot move around, the tube and rest of the skylight can be installed. That means two trips for the skylight contractor. Most skylight contractors that do tube skylights want to get-R-done in one trip after the roof is in place.

So to answer the question. Have the roofer do both jobs. Most roofers have done the tubular skylights since these types of skylights have been around for years. This way if anything goes wrong, and it leaks, there only one person to blame and roof warranty issues will not be a problem.

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