Skylight installation
Skylight installation across Somerset County
It is in our name, and our second office is in the county. We install and replace VELUX skylights as part of the roof system, with the flashing woven into the shingles and underlayment rather than caulked on top of them.
VELUX installs · Warren office, in the county · Done standalone or during a reroof
Why the timing matters more here than the unit does
Ninety percent of the homes on the Somerset County tax list were built more than twenty five years ago, and just under half went up before 1980. That is the single most useful fact about putting a skylight into a roof in this county, and almost nobody raises it before quoting.
A skylight is a hole cut in a roof. Cutting one into a covering that has five years left means opening that roof again, around a brand new unit, before the unit is broken in. Done during a replacement instead, the flashing integrates with new shingles, the added cost per skylight drops because the roof is already open, and the skylight and the roof stay on one clock and one warranty.
So the first thing we do is look at the roof you have, free, and tell you which situation you are in. Sometimes the answer is that your covering is good for another decade and we should just get on with the skylight.
Two counties in one, for skylights too
It is really two counties for a roofer. On the ridges and hilltops the wind gets an uninterrupted run at a roof edge, so the failures are lifted shingles, ridge caps and flashing that has worked loose over years of gusts. Down in the river valleys under mature canopy the roof never gets a chance to dry out, so the failures are moss on north slopes, leaf mat in valleys that stays wet, and limb strikes after a storm rolls up the corridor. The same roof age means two different things depending on which half of the county it is in.
For a skylight that means placement is decided differently depending on where you are. Under the canopy along the Millstone and the Raritan branches, the unit has to sit clear of the water pathways that already collect leaf debris. Up on the ridges, the pressure is on the flashing and the head seal instead. Either way the unit goes where the roof can carry it, not where the light looks best on the plan.
Unit types, the brands we fit and what a skylight costs are all on the main skylight installation page. If yours is already leaking, that is a different job and it has its own page: skylight repair.
Somerset County towns
Each of these has a page covering what we actually see on roofs there, and we cover the rest of the county's twenty one municipalities too.
Skylight installation in Somerset County
Which Somerset County towns do you install skylights in?
All of them. We have town pages for Montgomery, Hillsborough, Bridgewater, Warren, Bernards, Branchburg and Franklin Township, and we work across the rest of the county too, including Watchung, Green Brook, Somerville, Raritan, Manville, Bedminster and Far Hills. Our Warren office is in the county.
Do I need a permit to put a skylight in?
For a new one, normally yes. Cutting an opening in a roof means working on the structure, which is a different thing from replacing a roof covering and is not covered by the ordinary maintenance exemption. Swapping an existing unit for a new one in the same opening normally does not need one. We confirm it with your township before the job rather than guessing, and we handle the filing.
My roof is twenty five years old. Should I add skylights now or wait?
Wait, and do both together. Ninety percent of Somerset County homes are past twenty five years, so this comes up constantly. Adding a skylight to a roof that is near the end means opening a new roof again in a few years. If your covering is close to done, the skylight belongs in the replacement, where the flashing integrates with new shingles and the whole thing sits on one clock.
We have heavy tree cover. Does that rule a skylight out?
No, but it changes where it goes. On the shaded slopes along the Millstone and the Raritan branches, valleys hold leaf debris and north faces grow moss, and a skylight sitting just below a valley that dams water is asking for trouble. Placement is planned around the water pathways and the rafters, not around where the light would be nicest on a sunny afternoon.
What about the ridge towns, where it is windy?
The same care, aimed at a different problem. On exposed slopes in Warren, Bernards and Montgomery the pressure is on the flashing and the seal at the head of the unit rather than on drainage. A factory flashing kit woven into the shingle courses handles it; caulk on top of the shingles does not, which is why so many skylight leaks trace back to the install.
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Thinking about skylights in Somerset County?
Tell us the room and we will tell you what is possible, what it costs, and whether your roof timing makes this the right moment.