Cheap DIY: Replacing an old plastic skylight with Sun-Tek glass skylight for under $200

Описание: Replacing a ~33 year old leaking plastic skylight with a new glass skylight (double insulated, argon filled, Low E coated).

This was a HUGE upgrade for the finished space over our garage. The old plastic skylights are notoriously prone to leaking, and even with higher quality skylights, the flashing has to be 100% perfect or you're virtually guaranteed to have leaks. This self-flashed unit eliminates a lot of the cost and guesswork and makes for a much easier DIY replacement.

One of the key concepts here is "inexpensive and functional". When patching in (particularly very old) shingles, you can't ever get a complete color match. As a result, the finished work isn't perfect, and many roofers don't like that and might reject the job because their customers don't like it and place complaints. In our case, we needed to prevent the leaks first and foremost because of the structural and cosmetic damage they were causing. The 2x6" joist under one leak completely rotted out in a 2 foot section, I had to sister on another to reinforce it. The water leaking in the finished space was damaging the slotted pine ceilings (which thankfully stood up to far more damage than drywall would have tolerated). If we waited until we can replace the entire roof, far more damage will happen.

Short story, we were willing to accept a cosmetically imperfect job for now to inexpensively fix the leaking, while at the same time getting a massive upgrade in looks and performance. I think a lot of other people are too, depending on their situation. That's why I love DIY videos that show how to do something right, but without ripping apart an entire house to do it.

Hope you find this video interesting!