Why Your Skylight Leaks — and How to Fix It for Good

Water dripping from a skylight feels like the window failed. It almost never did.

Nine times out of ten, a leaking skylight is a flashing problem, not a glass problem. The metal flashing that seals the skylight to your roof is what keeps water out — and it’s what fails first, especially after a few Poconos winters of freeze-and-thaw.

The real causes of a skylight leak

The usual culprits: cracked or lifted flashing around the frame, dried-out sealant that’s gone brittle, or debris damming water above the skylight so it pools and finds a seam. On older units, the factory seal on the glass itself can finally give out — but that’s the exception, not the rule.

Why Poconos weather is so hard on skylights

Our freeze-thaw cycles are brutal on any seal. Water works into a tiny gap, freezes overnight, expands, and pries the gap wider — repeat that a hundred times a winter and last year’s watertight flashing starts to weep. Heavy snow sitting above a skylight makes it worse by holding meltwater right at the seam.

Can you DIY it?

A homeowner can sometimes buy time by clearing debris and re-sealing an obvious gap. But climbing onto a roof around a skylight is exactly where DIY jobs go wrong — both for your safety and because a smeared bead of caulk often traps water instead of shedding it. If the leak returns after one patch, the flashing needs to be redone properly, which is a roof repair job. The same flashing skills apply around chimneys, which is why our guide on chimney flashing repair covers the same failure points.

Reseal or replace?

If the skylight is under about 15 years old and the glass is intact, re-flashing and re-sealing is usually all it needs. If the unit is older, foggy between the panes, or you’re already planning a roof replacement, replacing the skylight at the same time is the smart, cheaper-in-the-long-run move — doing both at once means one setup, one flashing job, one bill.

Frequently asked questions

Why does my skylight only leak sometimes?
Wind-driven rain and melting snow hit the flashing differently than a straight-down shower. A leak that shows up only in storms or thaws almost always points to flashing, not the glass.

Is a leaking skylight an emergency?
If water is actively pouring in during a storm, yes — that’s what our emergency roofing line is for. A slow, occasional drip can wait for a scheduled repair, but don’t let it ride for months.

Stop the drip for good

We’ll find where the water is really getting in — not just where it’s dripping — and fix it right. Free inspection across Stroudsburg and the Poconos: (570) 426-3505.