Recent skylight work
Astoria is attached and semi-attached brick, two and three family houses on flat roofs with a low parapet, block after block from Ditmars down to Broadway. The top floor is where the owner usually lives and it is the floor with the dark hallway, the windowless bath and the bedroom at the back that only gets light from an airshaft. That is the skylight call we get most from Astoria.
A flat roof means a curb mounted unit set on an insulated curb and flashed into the roof membrane. Most of the old skylights we replace here are 1970s and 1980s acrylic domes on a curb that has been roofed over three or four times, and the curb is what decides the job. Replacement on a curb that is still sound starts at $2,079 installed. A brand new opening over a hallway or a bath, framed, curbed and finished inside, starts at $3,500.
Astoria also has the six story prewar apartment buildings around 30th Avenue and Ditmars, and top floor owners who want a skylight in a bedroom or a kitchen. On those the roof warranty and the building's own rules come before the skylight question, and we have done enough of them to walk you through the paperwork.
Leaking skylight in Astoria? Start with a professional assessment from New York's original skylight specialists. Skylights are all we have done since 2005: licensed and insured (LIC# 2084179), VELUX Trained & Approved, an official VELUX dealer, 4.8 stars on Google, and a 10-Year No Leak Warranty on every unit we install. Roofers and handymen do skylights on the side; we are the specialists the roofers call. Water dripping from the skylight, a stain on the ceiling under it, a drip that only shows up in a heavy rain: none of that tells you what actually failed. We come out, find the real cause, and give you a straight answer and a price for the right fix, which is usually a new unit. Active leaks go to the front of the schedule.
A curb mounted unit on a proper insulated curb. Almost every house between Ditmars and Broadway has a flat roof, and a deck mounted unit meant for a pitched roof does not belong on it. We see leaks in Astoria that come down to exactly that mistake, and the fix is the right unit on a curb that is built to height.
If you own the house, yes, and it is one of the most common jobs we do here. A hallway or bath skylight on a flat roof is a one day job in most cases. If you rent, the owner has to sign off first.
Yes. We install both acrylic domes and glass, and on a house roof we steer people to glass because it stays clear, it is quieter in rain and it insulates better. The first thing we check is the curb underneath, because if that is what failed a new dome or new glass will leak the same way.
Replacing a unit in an existing opening on a sound curb generally does not, and cutting a new opening through the roof deck generally does. Astoria has no landmark districts to speak of, so the Landmarks step that comes up in Brooklyn does not apply here. Our NYC permits page has the detail.
Active leaks go to the front of the schedule. Our shop is in Brooklyn and Astoria is a straight run up the BQE, so an assessment is usually within days, not weeks. Call (718) 646-7053, tell us what you are seeing, and send a photo if you can.
All of it: Ditmars, Steinway, the blocks around 30th Avenue and Broadway, Astoria Heights and down to the waterfront. That is 11102, 11103, 11105 and 11106. We also cover the new buildings along the East River.
Long Island City · Forest Hills · Ridgewood · Jackson Heights · Sunnyside
We cover every part of the borough. See skylights in Queens, our published prices, or NYC permits and landmark rules. Serving 11102, 11103, 11105 and 11106.