Replace or reseal skylight

[scarecrow56]

As I said in my earlier post, we bought a used camper. It had a few problems. Nothing major but one is the lap sealant on the skylight has cracked pretty much all the way around and water came in. Question is, better to just reseal the old lap sealant or replace the whole skylight. One is a $20 fix, the other around $150. The 2015 skylight is still in good shape just yellow a bit but no cracks as far as I can tell. Wadda ya think? Thanks

[campigloo]

I would go Huntindogs route. Once you get the old sealant loose the hard part is done.

[Huntindog]

I am in AZ which gets a lot of sun. My skylight cracked in about 5 years. It was only 20.00 or so for the part.

You are in FL which also gets a lot of sun. You skylight is yellowing, which means the degradation process is well underway. I recommend replacing it, and be be done with it for awhile.

Your money, your choice.

[The_ugly_duckli]

I also renovated a old 2006 camper. I found that after many years of sun exposure all the plastic parts on the roof became brittle. So, I replaced all the plastic components with new ones. So if it were me and were planning on using the camper for some time, I would replace the sky light with a new one. Really not much more work than repairing and resealing the old one.

[colliehauler]

Is it a true skylight or a clear vent? If a vent skylight they are extremely cheaply built. I took my cheap vent out and replaced with a fantastic fan.

[RobWNY]

You can also try one of the headlight restore kits on the skylight if the yellowing is bothersome.

[scarecrow56]

Thanks all, Im gonna just reseal the crack if its not too bad and get on with it! Clean and protect the roof while im at it

[MFL]

Without a picture, showing "cracked all the way around", it is hard to say if all old sealant should be removed. In any case, no sense to replace skylight, unless badly sun damaged (brittle). It takes a lot of product, to reseal a sky light, and towing before sealant cures, can cause roof flex, that may loosen/lift a little, on a new complete reseal. If not badly cracked/opened up, edge of skylight visible, I'd consider a good cleanup on old sealant, just adding new sealant covering cracks.

Jerry

[GrandpaKip]

As above. I had to do the same. I used Eternabond to seal it.

[gbopp]

IB853347201 wrote:
Remove, clean away old sealant, inspect skylight and if ok, reseal and reinstall...

X2. There's no point replacing a good skylight just becsuse it's a little yellow.

[IB853347201]

Remove, clean away old sealant, inspect skylight and if ok, reseal and reinstall...