Skylight dome repair?

[trs80]

I have about a 8' x 4' skylight with opaque white plastic dome. It has 3 cracks radiating out to about 1'. its intact, just cracked. Probably the wind blew a pine cone into it.

How can I go about repairing it? The dome is not viewed from inside the house as there is a colored glass inset in the ceiling. I was thinking contact cement and laying a flexible membrane over the cracked area that would withstand the weather and UV. I visited Lowes but saw nothing like that. It would be great if the membrane was translucent but not critical. Any hints appreciated on how to go about this repair. thanks!

[hallerb]

t has 3

=BF=BDProbably the

i would replace the entire skylight, since a failure could do a lot of damage. how old is the skylight? did you know plastic gets brittle with age?

you could try to find a replacement dome, if you know who made the skylight.

[RicodJour]

There's really nothing you can do that will repair it to where it will be as strong as it was before. It's a big skylight and I can understand why you're trying to keep from having to replace it. You could try some of this:

won't last forever, but it'll delay the inevitable.

R

[dpb]

...

Since isn't visible from interior, the eventual UV coloring won't make much difference. I'd try either a super-glue or very low viscosity epoxy to the cracks first to try to stabilize them a little before the film (which was what I was going to suggest, too, btw :) ).

Unlikely to hold for very long if it's so brittle a pine cone caused the crack, however, I'd guess.

Finding the original manufacturer and seeing if there is replacement would be the next step altho as spare/repair parts, it might be as expensive as the whole thing...

--

[Norminn]

It isn't exactly a "repair", but how about clear silicone caulk? It should keep it from leaking, and would not be very apparent. Provided you can get to the skylight, smoosh some into the crack and wipe surface clean. I used sil. caulk to fill a seam between two patterned glass panels; with the patterned glass, the seam is almost invisible. It would, at least, keep the skylight from leaking. Maybe. :o)

We had a big skylight similar to yours that blew out in a hurricane - the framed landed in the top of a palm tree. Our condo roof had been rather neglected, and the wood around the skylight had rotted. Replacement, with new frame, was around $10K. About 5' x 15'.

Your skylight could possibly be loose in the framework, allowing it to move a bit from the wind?

[hallerb]

if its expensive and result of storm is it covered bby homeowners insurance/

[trs80]

[Clot]

You've had good advice from other posters. If the dome is aged, sunlight has done it's best. Ditch it and replace.

[trs80]

I went up to skylight this evening and layed a .05 thick coat of silicon over the cracks and .5" on either side. Figured Id do that until a more permanent solution. While I was there I found the mfr and contact info.....Bristolite. They happen to be in the same city as I so I sent them an email with a photo to see about a curb mounted replacement. thanks again

[beecrofter]

Use clear silicone if it will stick to the plastic. Were it mine I would drill holes about 1/8" in diameter at the ends of the cracks to provide stress relief and prevent the cracks from propagating farther. Watch out for organic solvents as they degrade many plastics.

[Norminn]

Right .... I thought the price worth mentioning, as well as the underlying cause of our skylight taking flight. It was pretty awesome to watch the thing lift up and slam down again in 70mph wind - hubby was chasing a trash container down the street when the skylight let go.

There was a duck or similar bird out on our channel at the time - we could go out into our atrium and watch him. Whitecaps on our channel, wind strong enough to move one of the pilings a boat was moored to, but the silly bird stayed in the same place for at least an hour - must have been paddling like heck.

[Jimmie D]

MAybe nearly as expensive as a new one but a lot less dificult to install. My brother replaced the dome in his a couple of years ago and managed to get a kit. It came with the glass, new gaskets and bits and pieces of hardware. Also the new glass was supposed to be new and improved UV resistant and shouldnt crack. Jimmie

[Frank]

If it is acrylic, there are acrylic repair kits that may work. They consist of acrylic polymer in acrylic monomer and peroxide cure. Cannot give you a source. If normal weathering and aging, you're better to replace the whole unit.