Decatur Roof Pros provides professional skylights in Decatur, IL for residential and commercial properties across Macon County and the middle Sangamon valley. A skylight is the one thing on a roof that cannot be nested. Every other detail on a recover can be worked around by setting new courses into the old butt lines, but a skylight has to be dealt with directly, and that decides more recover jobs than people expect.
The geometry is the issue. Laying a second covering raises the finished shingle plane by roughly the thickness of a shingle, and the existing curb and flashing were set to the old one. What was a correct upstand becomes marginally short, the head flashing that used to shed onto the surface now sits slightly below it, and water that was being thrown clear starts being held. Small numbers, but water is not impressed by small numbers.
There is no sealant answer to that and we will not pretend otherwise. Either the unit is pulled and reset on a curb built to the new height with a proper step and head flashing kit, or the recover stops short of honest. On a job where the skylight is old and the seal has already failed, the reset is frequently more than half the reason to just strip the roof instead.
Which leads to the recommendation we make more often in Decatur than we would anywhere with higher house values. Sometimes the right answer is to take the skylight out. If the unit is thirty years old, the shaft is fogged, the room below has another window and the owner is not attached to it, framing the opening closed and sheathing over it is cheap, permanent and eliminates the leak forever.
We say that out loud because nobody makes money from it, which is precisely why you should hear it from somebody. A deleted skylight has no maintenance, no seal to fail and no flashing to get wrong on the next roof, and on a house at this end of the market that is a real gain rather than a consolation. Ask a roofer what he thinks about it and watch whether he hesitates.
Where the skylight stays, we set curb-mounted units standing proud of the finished plane, flash them with the manufacturer's own kit rather than a shop-made substitute, run self-adhered membrane up the curb before the metal goes on, and finish the interior shaft so the job does not end at the ceiling line. Finished properly, the room below reads as intentional rather than patched.
Our licensed and insured team brings the right materials and equipment to every job — layer count established by lifting a tab at the rake and again at an eave, nesting a new course into the butt line of the covering below it, fasteners long enough to reach three quarters of an inch into the deck, bridging across a first layer instead of nesting into its exposure, beveled feathering strips nailed down to flatten a raised course, board sheathing overlaid with panel stock once the coverings come off — and backs the work with a written workmanship warranty. We serve Decatur and nearby communities including Mount Zion, Forsyth, Argenta, Maroa.
What We Handle
Everything our skylights in Decatur covers
One crew, one point of contact, and the full range of skylights work in Decatur, IL. If it is on this list we do it in house rather than handing it to a subcontractor:
- skylight installation Decatur IL
- skylight replacement
- leaking skylight repair
- curb mounted skylight
- deck mounted skylight
- skylight flashing kit
- skylight during reroof
- remove and close skylight
- solar tube installation
- skylight shaft drywall
- skylight condensation
Not sure which one describes your situation? Describe it in plain words and we will sort it out — or browse the rest of our Decatur services.
Materials, equipment and how we do skylights
The difference between skylights that lasts and skylights that gets redone in three years is almost always preparation and materials, not the finish you see on day one. We work with layer count established by lifting a tab at the rake and again at an eave, nesting a new course into the butt line of the covering below it, fasteners long enough to reach three quarters of an inch into the deck, bridging across a first layer instead of nesting into its exposure, spec them to the job instead of to the invoice, and write the material grades into the free estimate so you know exactly what you are buying.
Every Decatur job runs the same way: site walk and measurements, written scope and fixed price, protection of the surrounding area, then the work itself with a daily clean-up. Years of roofing work in Macon County and the middle Sangamon valley means we have already met whatever your property is going to throw at us — awkward access, older construction, an HOA with opinions.
Where we do skylights outside Decatur
Decatur Roof Pros covers Decatur and the surrounding communities of Macon County and the middle Sangamon valley. Crews run out to the same nearby cities every week, so an out-of-town job does not mean an out-of-town price.
- Skylights in Mount Zion, IL — Macon County, population 6,019
- Skylights in Forsyth, IL — Macon County, population 3,734
- Skylights in Argenta, IL — Macon County, population 913
- Skylights in Maroa, IL — Macon County, population 1,577
- Skylights in Warrensburg, IL — Macon County, population 1,110
- Skylights in Blue Mound, IL — Macon County, population 1,133
Start on the Decatur Roof Pros homepage for a free estimate, or call (844) 511-2320 and describe the job.
Why Decatur Chooses Decatur Roof Pros
- ✓We count the coverings on your roof before we price it, at a rake and again at an eave, and the number goes on the estimate. Nobody can quote a Decatur roof honestly without it, and most bids you will collect never mention yours at all.
- ✓At two applications we stop offering choices. The residential code the city adopted forbids a third, so there is one lawful job and one price, and we show you the doubled courses we found rather than asking you to take our word for it.
- ✓At one application we will quote the nail-over, which a lot of companies in this market refuse to put on paper because it is the smaller sale and the harder thing to be proud of.
- ✓Fastener length is a written line rather than a shop habit. A shingle going over an existing covering needs a longer nail to reach wood, and short nails on a re-cover are the failure we pull off houses here more than any other.
The standards behind skylights
Quality here is not a matter of opinion — it is written down. The skylights work we do in Decatur follows published industry standards: NRCA publishes the Roofing Manual, the industry's reference for details and slope minimums, and Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association sets the shingle application and ventilation guidance the warranties reference. If a contractor cannot tell you which standard a detail comes from, that is worth asking about before you sign.
Every skylights project in Decatur gets the same attention, whether it is a single room or a full commercial job. We show up on schedule, keep the site clean, and stand behind the work — the estimate is free and there is no pressure.
Ready to get started? Call (844) 511-2320 for a free skylights free estimate in Decatur, or request a quote and we'll get right back to you.