Rant: The day my studio floor turned into a wading pool

I was in my 10x12 backyard studio in Tacoma last spring, finishing up some trim work, when a sudden downpour hit. I heard a weird dripping sound and turned to see water streaming in from the corner of the roof where the shed kit wall met my added skylight. I thought I had sealed it perfectly with silicone, but the wind-driven rain found a gap. Within twenty minutes, a puddle about three feet across had formed on the new vinyl plank floor. My heart sank. I grabbed every towel I owned and a wet-dry shop vac from the garage. It took me two hours to soak up the water and get a fan going to dry the subfloor. The real debate I have now is about fixes: should I rip out the skylight and re-flash the whole thing properly, which means opening up the roof again, or just go with a much bigger, more aggressive metal flashing cap over the existing joint? Has anyone else had a skylight leak and found a permanent fix that didn't cost a fortune?

2 comments

2 Comments

webb.stella7d ago

That bigger metal flashing cap sounds like a solid band-aid, but will it hold up in the next big windstorm? Ripping it out is a huge pain, but sometimes you just have to redo the job from the inside out. A proper ice and water shield under new flashing, sealed with the right roofing cement, is the only thing that ever feels permanent. Otherwise, you're just waiting for the next drip, right?

coleman.derek7d ago

Yeah, "waiting for the next drip" is basically the story of my home repair life.