Recent skylight work
New York Skylight Installers replaces, installs and supplies skylights in Manhattan brownstones, rowhouses and lofts. Official VELUX dealer, LIC# 2084179, skylights only since 2005.
The side streets between Central Park West and Riverside Drive are lined with brownstone and limestone rowhouses from the 1880s and 1890s, four and five stories, flat roofs, and a stair skylight at the top of the well that has been there since the house was built. In a house that is only twenty feet wide with windows front and back, that one skylight is most of the daylight the middle floors get. When it fogs, leaks or gets painted over, the whole stair goes dark.
Most of these houses have been cut into two or three apartments at some point, and the stair skylight is the one thing every tenant shares. We schedule around the people living there, cover the stair, and the house is closed up by the end of the day. Where the top floor is under a mansard, the answer is usually a roof window in the slope rather than a skylight in a flat roof, and it opens for air and egress.
Almost all of it is landmarked. The Upper West Side and Central Park West historic districts cover most of these blocks. A stair skylight cannot be seen from the street, so the LPC step is a staff level Certificate of No Effect, days rather than months, and we build it into the schedule. Replacement on the existing curb is $2,079 installed, a new opening is $3,500, and a top floor bedroom under a pitched mansard takes a roof window from $904.
Leaking skylight on the Upper West Side? 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.
If the house is inside the Upper West Side or Central Park West historic district, yes, before the DOB permit. A stair skylight is not visible from the street, so it is a staff level Certificate of No Effect rather than a public hearing. We prepare it as part of the job and it usually clears in days.
Yes. A replacement on the existing curb is one day of work from the roof and the top of the stair. We cover the stair, keep the dust down, and the house is weathertight by the end of the day. We agree the date with you and the tenant ahead of time.
Yes. A venting VELUX unit on the existing curb lets heat out of the top of the stair in summer, which is the main complaint in a five story rowhouse. Rain sensors close it automatically. Replacement on a sound curb is $2,079 installed.
Through the house for standard sizes, or hoisted to the roof for larger and multi unit jobs. We have hoisted 400 pound units onto Manhattan roofs. We tell you which it is at the assessment so there are no surprises on the day.
A roof window. It sits in the pitched slope, opens for egress and air, and reads as a window from inside. Roof windows start at $904 installed. On a landmarked mansard visible from the street the LPC review is stricter, and we tell you that before you commit.
One day for a replacement on the existing curb, including flashing and interior trim. A new opening through the roof is usually two days. The house is weathertight every night.
Upper East Side · Harlem · West Village · Chelsea · Tribeca
We cover every part of the borough. See skylights in Manhattan, our published prices, or NYC permits and landmark rules. Serving 10023, 10024 and 10025.