Skylight Leak Repairs Melbourne
Skylight leak repairs across Melbourne.
A skylight is a hole deliberately cut in your roof, sealed with metalwork and rubber, so it is one of the most common places we are called to trace a leak. The good news is they are almost always fixable, as long as the real cause is found instead of smothered in silicone.
Skylight Leak Repairs in Melbourne
Find the real cause, not the silicone.
Failed flashing around the skylight
This is the most common cause by far. Flashing is the shaped metal that seals the join between the skylight and the surrounding roof, directing water back onto the roof and away from the opening. When it lifts, splits, corrodes or was never installed quite right, water gets in at the junction. The proper fix is to re-flash the skylight, not to seal over the symptom.
Perished seals and gaskets
Skylights rely on rubber seals and gaskets to keep water out around the glazing. Rubber perishes under years of Melbourne sun and heat, going hard and cracking, and once it does water finds its way past. On older skylights the seals are often simply at the end of their life, and the unit may be due for replacement rather than repair.
The silicone trap
When a skylight starts leaking, the common response is to smear silicone over the join. It might hold for a season, but silicone breaks down in UV, lifts at the edges, and then traps water behind it instead of shedding it, so the leak comes back worse. We very often find layers of old, failed silicone around a leaking skylight. Removing it and flashing the junction properly is the actual repair.
Sometimes it is not the skylight at all
Often the water enters at a nearby fault, a cracked tile, perished pointing or failed flashing higher up, then runs down the skylight shaft and drips out around the frame inside, looking exactly like a skylight leak. This is why tracing the true entry point matters so much, and why guessing leads to repairs that do not hold.
Condensation, which is not a leak
Not every drip around a skylight is a leak. In cold weather, warm moist air from the room below, especially in kitchens and bathrooms, hits the cool glass and condenses, then runs down the frame. It looks like a leak but it is condensation, and the fix is ventilation, not roofing. Part of our job is telling you which one you have, so you are not paying for the wrong solution.
How we fix it properly
We confirm the skylight is actually the source, strip away any old silicone and failed flashing, re-flash the junction with the right material for your roof, and replace perished seals or recommend replacing the unit if it is at end of life. Where practical we water-test the junction before we leave, so you know it is fixed.
How we fix a leaking skylight
Related services
Related reading
Signs of a skylight leak
What to look for around a skylight.
Skylight Leak FAQ
Questions about skylight leaks.
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