Skylight

In a middle rowhouse, we don't get very much natural light and so it can be a little depressing, but a skylight is a great way to get around this.

David really wanted to add a skylight, but he knew that this project was a little over his head. Lucky for us, David's brother-in-law, Geo has his own roofing business (ERG Roofing) and so he graciously volunteered his time and installed the skylight for us.

Before.

The location for the skylight was a tricky one at the top of our stairs. The boys probably should have used scaffolding, but instead they leaned a ladder on the stairs which is a little dangerous.

Making the first cut.

David's brother-in-law cut a hole in the drywall on the inside first through the attic. Then he used a level inside the hole and made a small cut in each corner so that he could match it up on the outside. Outside on the roof, he connected dots and made the cut. There were several layers of roof to cut through. There was an original metal roof that was completely rotted. There were also layers of shingles, rubber and tar.

Cut on the outside.

We found out that we have one of those old-school satellites on top of our roof. I have no idea how we will ever get rid of this, but perhaps we can use it to communicate with the aliens. 

Seriously, how did this even get up here?

David scored and found a brand new skylight on craigslist at a discount. Geo built a wood box frame for the skylight and then placed the window on top and screwed it into the wood frame. 

Checking to see if the frame is the correct size.

The frame was placed over the hole in the roof. 

Attaching the frame to the roof.

Geo used a blow torch to melt rubber and covered the wood frame. He added two layers to prevent leaks. David said that this will outlast our current roof. 

Finsihed skylight on the outside.

Geo installed drywall to the studs on the inside of the hole to finish the project. 

Light shining in.

Check out this video of some of the work which shows the old roofs and cool blow torch shots.

The skylight definitely brightens up our house! Geo did a great job with this project so if you ever need some roof repair let me know and I can refer you to him!

Finished skylight.