Corrugated Metal Roof - Leaking Skylight Repair

Meshnasty

Meshnasty

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Apr 19, 2018
Messages
151
What is the proper way to fix my leaking skylights?

I went up and replaced all the screws with new screws which have an EDMP washer with the clutch on my drill low. It was getting dark so I'm sure some got slightly overtightened but it reduced the amount of skylights leaking from six to three. The ones that are still leaking were leaking at the same spot prior to the screw swap out.

I'm very tempted to just pull the screws on the ones that still leak, shoot silicone into the existing holes, put a screw back in and goop silicone on the top but that's just going to leak again eventually. Two of them are over the insulated side of our shop as so I'd like to have a real solution. I'm not opposed to removing the sky lights if they are going to keep leaking but they are nice during the day.

I will add that many of the existing screw holes did not appear to be predrilled so that could have been tearing the washer. My only thing to discredit that is then I would expect there to be more leaks throughout.

Short story long I just want to get it taken care the right away opposed to everything else we find from the previous owner. Thanks in advance.
E6EB89CE-8665-4ED4-85CD-0AF939C2C757.jpegIMG_4933.jpeg
 
That corrugated material is bad news.....so is the silicone. Both can fail in 3-5 years on a roof.

There are specially designed sealants for roofing that are much better than Silicone. Dicor and Sikaflex makes some that might work for you but I would consider replacing that corrugated material with a curb, flashing and tempered glass Velux setup.
 
I wouldnt be surprised if the translucent panels have cracks around the screw holes, which would be why they leak. Did you replace with a bigger screw/cone washer, or the same size? Id try a bigger gasget first. If that doesnt work, get a tube of roof sealant for plastics/metal and try that. Id personally would just replace the panels. They do tend to get brittle with age.
 
I wouldn't shoot silicone in the existing screw holes and drive screws back in them. I would pull the screws and fill those holes with Through The Roof sealant. Then I would drill new holes 1.5 to 2 inches from the old holes and install brand new 1/4 EPDM washer screws. The smaller surface area of a 1/4 screw will seal better in the u shape of that corregated roof panel.

This is just a bandaid approach to temporarily fix your current issue, but its better than shooting silicone into the wxisting holes. That corregated stuff is always a problem long term.

Sent from my SM-G990U using Tapatalk
 
I put a metal roof on and have a sky light. Due to expand/vontract it ultimately started to leak. Buddy told me to use metal backed roof repair tape 10-15 yrs ago. Leak has not come back.
 
If the skylite panels are fiberglass (it looks like they are), the panels themselves can develop hairline cracks around the screws in about 10 years. You could replace the panels with newer plastic panels which are not that inexpensive.
 
Screws in the valleys or ridges? If in the valleys nothing will keep them from leaking long term.
 
IDVortex said:
Most suppliers want screws in valleys. Ive never installed a screw in the ridge unless I was installing ridge.
Click to expand...
You must have different suppliers than I do, or it’s for installations that don’t need to be water tight. I could take 5 minutes and come up with 5 installation manuals that all show screws through the tops of the ridges.

Here’s the very first one I pulled up:
IMG_1056.jpegIMG_1055.png
 
Here’s the second one I pulled up:
IMG_1058.jpeg

I could keep wasting time pulling more up, but it shouldn’t take long for anyone to google the installation manual for the brand of their choice, which will definitely show where to put the screws and seal things to be water tight.
 
TaperPin said:
You must have different suppliers than I do, or it’s for installations that don’t need to be water tight. I could take 5 minutes and come up with 5 installation manuals that all show screws through the tops of the ridges.

Here’s the very first one I pulled up:
View attachment 950049View attachment 950050
Click to expand...
Dont get a hernia researching this now
My quick response was to corrugated. Though im quite certain the poly panels ive installed the manufacturer required things in the valley. Ill have to see if I can pull up that order and see.
 
IDVortex said:
Dont get a hernia researching this now
My quick response was to corrugated. Though im quite certain the poly panels ive installed the manufacturer required things in the valley. Ill have to see if I can pull up that order and see.
Click to expand...
Everything in construction has an installation manual.
 
Thanks everyone!

What I'm planning to do is get a Sika product or similar and seal the leaking the screws (which I will replace with screws with larger gaskets) for now.

I really just need to stop the leaking until we do something permanent. It does sound like those are notorious for failures so I'm leaning towards eliminating them next spring instead of replacing. We need to add lights in there anyways as the only one on the non-insulated side is right over the OHD so anytime you open it at night you loose the majority of your light.

I don't have picture of the outside of the panels but the shop was built around 2011 so they are old. I didn't see any cracks but I was in a hurry to get done before it was completely dark ou. They are clearly discolored though and sit in full sun for 3/4 of the day until afternoon. So I'm sure that doesn't help them.
 
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