Recent skylight work
Ridgewood is row after row of yellow brick, the two and three family houses and the six family walk-ups built a century ago, and most of it sits inside one of the largest groups of landmark districts in the city. The roofs are flat. The skylight that matters most here is the one over the stair in a walk-up: a hundred year old glass and steel unit at the top of the bulkhead that lights every landing, and that has usually been leaking on and off for decades.
That stair skylight is often a required smoke vent as well as a light, so replacing it is not a patch job. We rebuild the curb, set a new unit sized to the opening, and give the building a skylight that stops leaking and still does what the code needs it to do. On the two and three family houses the job is the more familiar one: a curb mounted glass unit over the top floor hallway or kitchen, from $2,079 installed on a sound curb, or a new opening from $3,500.
Because so much of Ridgewood is landmarked, the first question is whether the skylight will be visible from the street. On a flat roof behind a parapet it usually is not, and Landmarks treats a skylight as a rooftop addition judged on visibility. We look at the roof and tell you before anything is ordered.
Leaking skylight in Ridgewood? 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.
There is a good chance it is. Ridgewood has several historic districts covering the yellow brick blocks between Fresh Pond Road, Forest Avenue and the Brooklyn line. If a skylight would be visible from the street Landmarks reviews it first. A unit set flat on the roof behind the parapet usually is not visible, and we check that on the roof before you commit.
Sealing a hundred year old steel and glass unit buys a season at best. The frame has rusted, the putty has gone, and the curb under it has been roofed over more times than anyone remembers. We rebuild the curb and set a new unit sized to the opening. If it is the building's smoke vent we size and specify it so it still is.
The owner. Tenants call us often and we are glad to look, but the order and the payment come from the owner. We work around tenants on occupied buildings and schedule the roof work so nobody is without a stair light overnight.
A replacement in an existing opening on a sound curb is $2,079 installed. A new opening over a hallway or a kitchen, framed, curbed and finished, starts at $3,500. The stair skylights on the walk-ups are quoted after a visit because the curb rebuild is most of the job.
Yes. Ridgewood and Bushwick share the same blocks and the same roofs, and we work both sides of the county line every week. Our shop is in Brooklyn and Ridgewood is one of the closest parts of Queens to us.
All of it: the blocks around Fresh Pond Road, Forest Avenue, Myrtle Avenue and Seneca Avenue, up to Glendale and Middle Village. That is 11385.
Astoria · Long Island City · Forest Hills · Jackson Heights · Sunnyside
We cover every part of the borough. See skylights in Queens, our published prices, or NYC permits and landmark rules. Serving 11385.