Once upon a time in the 1980s, bubble skylights experienced a boom in popularity. While a novelty for the time, old bubble skylights are sorely outdated in today's roof window industry.
Many homeowners with bubble skylights, however, can be hesitant to replace them, citing costs and installation time as their main worries.
With a VELUX Skylight, those worries can easily be put to rest.
Take, for example, this new family, in a new home with a dingy, old bubble skylight:
Replacing an Old Bubble Skylight from VELUX USA on Vimeo.
Their bubble issues aren't uncommon: the plastic was discolored from years under the sun; trapped shower condensation caused mildew stains in the light well; and to top it all off, it started leaking.
Luckily, they called VELUX skylight installer, Mike Townsend, owner of Natural Home Lite in Charlotte, N.C.
Mike was able to explain that the benefits of replacing a bubble skylight with a VELUX Solar Powered "Fresh Air" Skylight far outweigh trying to repair it, especially since it appeared the bubble had already been repaired once before.
"The new VELUX skylight has a much better performance than those old bubble skylights," Townsend said. "The glass is insulated to prevent heat from passing through to the room, and you can add blinds for light control. Plus, you can open the skylight to bring in fresh air and allow moist air from the shower to escape."
A Simple Replacement
Bubble skylights are famously easy to replace, especially with VELUX products. As an installer, all you have to do is remove the old bubble skylight and replace it with a new VELUX skylight. Then, install the all-weather underlayment and VELUX engineered step flashing to assure the skylight will be weather-tight. Finish it off by re-installing the roofing material removed during the installation process.
Naturally, the time of the project will vary with how many replacements are required, but it shouldn't take long at all. For example, the replacement job in the video was done in a single morning.
And, even if it's a replacement, if you install one of VELUX's solar-powered skylights in place of the bubble, your customer becomes eligible for a 30% federal tax credit on product and installation.
