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Window Replacement in Richmond, VA

Skylights in Richmond, VA

Richmond Expert Windows is a free referral line to a local installer for skylights: fixed deck-mounted units, venting skylights that open by crank, electric motor or solar power, curb-mounted units for low-slope roofs, and tubular skylights for halls and baths. The work covers new roof openings, swapping old acrylic domes for insulated glass, and replacing skylights while the roof is being redone. Every job runs on the same three parts: the flashing kit, the glass package and the light shaft down to the ceiling.

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Skylight Types for Richmond Roofs

Which skylight fits comes down to roof pitch, what's above the ceiling (an attic or a vaulted rafter bay), and whether you want air or just light.

Fixed rectangular skylight set into the sloped ceiling of a vaulted living room, white painted shaft, sky and branches visible

Fixed Deck-Mounted Skylights

A fixed deck-mounted skylight sits right on the roof sheathing, low to the shingles, and ties in with a step-flashing kit made for that unit. It's the most common choice for a pitched roof and, with nothing that opens, the simplest to keep dry. HomeGuide's national guide puts a fixed skylight at $1,500 to $4,000 installed. Under a vaulted ceiling the shaft is just the depth of the rafters. Under an attic, a framed and insulated shaft has to run down to the ceiling, and HomeGuide prices that version at $2,600 to $5,700.

Venting skylight tilted open in a sloped bathroom ceiling above a tiled shower

Venting Skylights: Manual, Electric and Solar-Powered

A venting skylight opens to let hot air out of the top of a room, which is the point of putting one in a bathroom or an upstairs room that holds heat. National installed prices from HomeGuide: manual crank $1,600 to $3,900, electric $2,500 to $4,600, solar-powered $2,400 to $4,700. Electric units need wiring, and an electrician's hookup adds $100 to $350. Solar units run off their own panel and remote, so no wire is pulled. Ask whether the unit has a rain sensor that closes it on its own. In a Richmond summer thunderstorm, that sensor matters more than the remote.

Curb-mounted skylight on a raised wood box with metal flashing on a low-slope roof over a rear addition

Curb-Mounted Units for Low-Slope Roofs

A curb-mounted skylight sits on a raised box built on the roof deck, with the roofing turned up the curb's sides. On a roof pitched under 3 in 12, Virginia's residential code requires a unit skylight to sit on a curb at least 4 inches above the roof surface, unless the maker's instructions call for something else. That's the rule to check on a near-flat rear addition or porch roof. HomeGuide puts a flat-roof skylight at $2,100 to $4,800 installed, more than on a pitched roof, because of the extra flashing and sealing. Many old skylights sit on site-built curbs. A new unit can be sized to the existing curb, or the curb can be rebuilt.

Round tubular skylight diffuser glowing in the ceiling of a windowless upstairs hallway

Tubular Skylights and Solar Tubes

A tubular skylight is a small dome on the roof feeding a mirrored tube to a round diffuser in the ceiling. HomeGuide lists them from 10 to 22 inches across, for roof pitches of 15 to 60 degrees, at $500 to $1,000 installed. A tube fits between rafters without cutting framing, so it's the usual answer for a windowless hall, closet or interior bath. You get daylight, not a view. Ask about a dimmer or a night-light kit if the tube serves a hallway you walk through after dark.

Roofer's gloved hands fitting new step flashing around a replacement skylight on a partly stripped asphalt-shingle roof

Replacing Skylights During a Reroof

InterNACHI's life-expectancy chart gives skylights 10 to 20 years, against 20 years for 3-tab shingles and 30 for architectural shingles. So a skylight is often due by the time the roof is. Replacing it with the shingles off means the new flashing kit laps properly into new underlayment, with no cutting into a newer roof later. HomeGuide puts a straight skylight replacement at $800 to $2,400, and 3 to 5 hours of work. Our view: if a roofer is quoting a reroof and your skylight is past ten years, get a skylight price on the same visit.

Gloved hands holding a tape measure across an old wood window opening with the sash removed, a clipboard on the sill

Why Richmond homeowners call Richmond Expert Windows

  • A single independent window contractor gets your request, never a lead auction
  • Every opening is measured on site before a number is put on paper
  • Ask for the quote in writing: unit series, glass package, install method
  • Homeowners pay nothing for the referral or the visit

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Skylight Glass and Energy Rules in Virginia

Skylights have their own lines in the Virginia Residential Code, separate from wall windows.

  • Energy

    For skylights in Richmond's climate zone, the state energy code caps the U-factor at 0.55, a looser limit than the one for wall windows. Check the NFRC label on the unit you're quoted against that number.

  • Glazing materials

    Skylight glass must be laminated, fully tempered, heat-strengthened or wired glass, or an approved rigid plastic. Annealed glass, the ordinary kind, isn't on the list.

  • Screens below tempered glass

    Where the inner pane is fully tempered or heat-strengthened, the code wants a screen under it to catch broken glass, with exceptions for smaller tempered panes. A laminated inner pane needs no screen.

  • Curbs

    On roofs pitched under 3 in 12, a curb at least 4 inches tall, unless the maker says otherwise.

For U-factor and SHGC on the label, and how ENERGY STAR rates windows here, see our energy-efficient windows page. That page also covers why the old federal tax credit for skylights no longer applies.

Skylight Installation, Start to Finish

HomeGuide's national guide puts a new skylight at 1 to 3 days of work. A typical sequence:

  1. 1

    Plan from the attic

    The installer finds the rafters, wiring and ducts, and sizes the unit to the rafter spacing where possible so less framing gets cut.
  2. 2

    Cut and frame

    The roof opening is cut and framed with headers. Where a rafter has to be cut, the framing on each side gets reinforced, and that's structural work.
  3. 3

    Set and flash

    The unit goes on the deck or the curb, a membrane goes under it, and the kit's step flashing is woven in course by course with the head and sill pieces.
  4. 4

    Build the shaft

    Framed, insulated, drywalled and painted down to the ceiling.
  5. 5

    Finish and test

    Interior trim goes on, and a venting unit is opened, closed and checked with its rain sensor.

Skylight Quotes: What to Ask For

Two skylight quotes can differ by thousands of dollars for what sounds like the same unit. A written quote should spell out:

  • The flashing kit

    A kit made for that unit and roof type, not a bead of roofing cement around an old frame.

  • Underlayment around the opening

    Ask how the installer laps it into the existing roof and what membrane goes under the flashing.

  • Shaft insulation and air sealing

    One home inspector, Reuben Saltzman, writes that most skylight "leaks" he finds are condensation from shafts left uninsulated or open to the attic. With July dew points near 68°F in Richmond, an insulated, air-sealed shaft is worth paying for, especially over a shower.

  • Interior finish

    HomeGuide notes that plaster or wood ceilings cost more to finish than drywall. More than a quarter of Richmond homes date from before 1940, and plaster ceilings come with that.

  • Wiring

    Who runs power for an electric unit, and whether that's in the price.

  • Permits

    A like-for-like swap is one thing; cutting a new roof opening changes the framing. The permit note on our homepage explains the line.

See Skylight Repair in Richmond, VA when the unit you have is leaking, fogged or stuck and may only need fixing, not replacing.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to add a skylight in Richmond?
There's no published Richmond price. HomeGuide's national guide puts a new skylight at $1,600 to $4,200 installed and a replacement in an existing opening at $800 to $2,400. A tubular skylight runs $500 to $1,000. An attic shaft, a plaster ceiling, a low-slope roof or an electric venting unit moves the price up.
Do skylights leak?
A well-flashed skylight shouldn't. When one does, look first at the flashing and at whether the unit has outlived the shingles around it. Moisture on the shaft walls is often condensation, not a leak: warm, damp room air hitting a cold, poorly insulated shaft. A good installer checks which one it is before quoting a new unit.
Should I replace my skylight when I replace the roof?
Usually, yes, if the skylight is more than about ten years old. InterNACHI gives skylights a 10 to 20 year life, against 20 years for 3-tab shingles and 30 for architectural. Swapping the skylight during a reroof avoids cutting into new shingles later, and the new unit gets a fresh flashing kit.
What is the difference between a skylight and a solar tube?
A skylight is a framed glass unit in the roof with a drywall shaft down to the ceiling, and it shows sky. A solar tube is a small dome on the roof feeding a mirrored tube to a round diffuser in the ceiling. It brings in light without the view, costs far less and fits between rafters.
Can a skylight go on a low-slope or flat roof?
Yes, on a curb. Virginia's residential code requires a unit skylight on a roof pitched under 3 in 12 to sit on a curb at least 4 inches above the roof surface, unless the maker's instructions say otherwise. Domed or sloped glass helps water run off. Flat-roof installs take more flashing and cost more.
What glass do skylights need?
Virginia limits skylight glazing to laminated, fully tempered, heat-strengthened or wired glass, or approved rigid plastic. Tempered inner panes usually need a screen underneath to catch broken glass, while a laminated inner pane needs none. Ask which inner pane the unit you're quoted has.

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