Skylight Installation and Replacement in Andover, MA
A lot of the colonials off Lowell Street and out toward the Tewksbury line went up in the late 1980s and 1990s with a skylight over the kitchen or a bonus room above the garage. Most of those are still the original units, sitting under oak and white pine on roofs that are now due for their first tear-off.
That timing matters, because there are two different jobs here. Replacing an existing skylight, usually while the roof is already open, is the common one. Cutting a new opening into a roof that has never had one is a bigger decision and a bigger bill. Couture’s Construction is a family-owned roofing company based in Methuen, BBB accredited with an A+ rating, and we plan and price those two jobs separately.
Skylight Installation and Replacement in Andover
Most homeowners call us for one of two reasons.
The first is an old unit that has started to act its age. A twenty-year-old acrylic bubble over a kitchen fogs up, drips condensation onto the counter on cold mornings, and yellows until it lets in more glare than light. The frame is often sound. The problem is thin acrylic with no real thermal break, sitting over a warm, humid room. A modern unit with laminated, low-E glass stops the sweating and cuts the heat you lose through the opening.
The second is a room that never gets decent light. A north-facing family room, a stairwell, a bathroom with no window. Here the question is whether to cut a new opening, and that is worth thinking through before anyone picks up a saw.
Either way, you are choosing between a few types:
Deck-mounted
units fasten straight to the roof deck and use a matched step-flashing kit. This is what goes on most pitched roofs now. It sits low, looks clean and handles snow well.
Curb-mounted
units sit on a raised wood frame built on the roof. They are the right call on low-slope sections, generally below about 3 in 12, and a lot of older installs already have them.
Fixed
units let in light and nothing else. Fine over a high cathedral ceiling you will never reach.
Manual or electric venting
units open to let heat and steam out. They earn their keep in kitchens and bathrooms.
Solar-powered venting
units run off a small panel, need no wiring to the house, and close on their own when the rain sensor gets wet.
What Andover roofs and homes are working with
The subdivisions built through the 1990s and early 2000s are all hitting twenty to twenty-five years on their original architectural shingles at about the same time. The skylights went in with those roofs, so they are wearing out together. Many of these houses have a cathedral ceiling in the family room and a finished bonus room over the garage with knee walls and sloped ceilings, which is exactly where the skylights were put. Tree cover is heavy, especially on lots that back onto conservation land or the Harold Parker State Forest side of town. Needles and leaves pack in on the uphill side of the unit, hold water, and wear out that shingle course long before the rest of the roof. North-facing slopes stay shaded and hold snow, so ice dams build up below the skylight.
The older housing is a different job. In Shawsheen Village and the streets near downtown you see steeper roofs, older framing and board sheathing instead of plywood. Before a new opening goes on a street-facing slope of an older house, it is worth checking with the town whether any historic review applies. A rear slope is usually the simpler place for it anyway. Across the wider area, from the triple-deckers in Methuen and Haverhill to the post-war capes, the low-slope rear additions are where a deck-mounted unit is most likely to be the wrong choice for the pitch.
How we assess it
Nobody gets a recommendation until someone has looked at the roof and the attic. Derek or one of our crew leads will check:
- The flashing on the existing unit. A proper step-flashing kit, or tar smeared over the joint.
- The shingle course around the frame or curb, especially on the uphill side.
- The deck around the opening from underneath. Soft plywood, dark staining or loose sheathing means that section gets replaced.
- The attic side. Insulation around the light shaft, signs of condensation, and whether the rafter bays still vent from soffit to ridge.
- For a new cut-in, which rafters the opening would cross, what runs through that ceiling (wiring, ductwork, a bath fan), and whether the room below lines up with a sensible spot on the roof.
- The roof as a whole. If it has five years left, we will tell you, because that changes the answer.
What the job involves
Replacement
We strip the shingles around the unit, pull the old skylight and flashing, repair the deck at the opening if it needs it, and set the new unit. Ice and water shield wraps up the sides and across the top, the step-flashing kit goes on, and we shingle back in. If the new unit matches the rough opening, the interior usually stays as it is. On a full roof replacement in Andover, all of this fits inside the reroof. The shingles are already off, the deck is exposed, and the new underlayment and flashing tie in as one system.
New cut-in
We lay out the opening from inside and out, cut the deck, and frame headers between the rafters. Ventilation gets rerouted so the bays above and below the opening still breathe. Then the unit, ice and water shield, flashing and shingles. Inside, a new opening means a light shaft through the attic, drywall and paint. That interior work is part of the conversation at the estimate, and we settle who handles what before anything is scheduled.
The skylight installation and replacement page covers unit types in more detail. Water already coming in around an existing skylight is a separate job, covered under skylight repair and waterproofing.
What it costs
Most skylight jobs we price fall between {PRICE_LOW} and {PRICE_HIGH}. Where yours lands depends on:
- Unit type and size. Fixed is the least expensive, solar venting sits at the top.
- Deck-mounted or curb-mounted, and whether a new curb has to be built.
- Whether the roof is already open for a reroof.
- Pitch, height and access. A steep second-story slope takes more setup than a ranch.
- Deck repair around the opening if the plywood is soft.
- For a new cut-in, the framing, ventilation changes and interior shaft and finish.
Timing is the biggest factor. A skylight replaced during a reroof costs a great deal less than the same unit done on its own, because the tear-off, underlayment, staging and disposal are already paid for. If your roof is within a few years of replacement and the skylight is original, doing them together is almost always the better money.
You get a written range after the assessment, not a number over the phone.
How long it takes
- Replacement during a reroof: a few extra hours on the roofing job.
- Standalone replacement of one unit: usually a single day.
- New cut-in: opening to shingled and watertight is typically one day. The interior shaft and finish run on their own schedule after that.
We do not open a roof with rain in the forecast, and winter installs wait for a dry, workable day.
Common questions
Please reach us at [email protected] if you cannot find an answer to your question.
Can I replace a skylight without replacing the roof?
Yes. We shingle back in around the new unit. If the roof is near the end of its life, doing both together usually costs less overall.
Should I get a venting unit?
In a kitchen or bathroom, yes. Over a ceiling you cannot reach, fixed is fine.
Can I get rid of a skylight instead?
Yes. We frame and deck over the opening and shingle it in. The ceiling inside will need patching.
Will a new skylight cause ice dams?
Not if it is wrapped, flashed and vented correctly. Placement on a shaded north slope is something we look at closely.
Get an estimate
Call Couture’s Construction at 978-778-2856. Tell us whether you are replacing an existing skylight or thinking about a new opening, roughly how old the roof is, and which room you have in mind. We will set a time to come out, look at the roof and the attic, and go through the options for your Andover house before anything is quoted.