Roofing Contractors in Wilmington: 5-Star Skylight and Flashing Skills
Coastal roofs live a harder life. Salt hangs in the air, spring squalls slam rain sideways, and summer sun bakes shingles until the oils rise and the edges curl. If you’ve owned a home in Wilmington for more than a few seasons, you’ve probably seen how quickly a tiny roof detail can become an expensive repair. Nowhere is that more obvious than around skylights and flashing. Those are the finesse points, the places where a roofer’s judgment and hands matter more than the brand stamped on the box.
I’ve spent years on roofs from the Cape Fear to Porter’s Neck, climbing into attics that smell like wet lumber and pulling back shingles to see what’s really going on. The best Wilmington roofers treat skylights and flashing like surgery, not carpentry. They slow down where water speeds up. They think about the next storm, not just the next inspection. If you’re searching for roofers near me or vetting roofing contractors for a skylight swap, this guide will help you read the craft in the details and understand where the 5-star work shows through.
Why skylights and flashing make or break a coastal roof
Roofs don’t usually fail in the middle of a field of shingles. They fail where materials meet - at chimneys, walls, valleys, and especially around skylight frames. Water looks for laps that run uphill, pinholes in sealant, nails too close to a cut edge, or a flange buried in tar. Add wind that drives rain sideways at 30 to 50 miles an hour and you have a stress test on every joint.
A skylight is basically a hole in your roof with a window in it. The only thing keeping water out is the combination of slope, shingle coursing, underlayment, and the flashing kit that steps and weaves with the roof. If any one of those elements is wrong by even a half inch, water finds the path and gravity does the rest. Wilmington’s climate squeezes these tolerances. UV cooks sealant faster, salt fog corrodes fasteners, and hurricane bands push uplift forces that pry at the weakest screw.
Roofers who finish a skylight install with a tube of goop and a prayer may get lucky through one season. Great roofing contractors in Wilmington build the water path in layers, use the right metals in the right places, and keep fasteners where the manuals and common sense agree.
What 5-star flashing actually looks like
Flashing is simple in theory. You place metal where water needs a bridge, then cover and step it so water never runs uphill. Most leaks happen when the details deviate from that simple idea. Here is how the best Wilmington roofers handle it.
They start with substrate. A clean, solid deck makes the rest possible. If the sheathing is spongy around a skylight cutout, they cut back to solid wood and replace it. You cannot nail flashing into punky OSB and expect it to survive another hurricane season.
They choose metal for the environment. Aluminum flashing is common, but near salt air it pits and loses paint quicker. Galvanized steel holds up well inland, yet it can rust where the coating gets nicked. Many 5-star roofers in Wilmington prefer stainless steel for critical lines - especially step flashing and chimney saddle pieces - and they use color-matched aluminum where corrosion risk is lower. They avoid copper next to aluminum when runoff can cause galvanic corrosion, unless they isolate the metals with butyl or membrane.
They step the flashing correctly. Around skylights and sidewalls, each shingle course gets its own piece of step flashing, lapped at least 3 inches, rising 4 inches above the shingle surface. The upper shingle always overlaps the vertical leg, never the other way. No continuous L flash where step flashing belongs. Tar is not a substitute for a missing step.
Trust Roofing & Restoration
Trust Roofing & Restoration is a GAF Certified Contractor (top 6% nationwide) serving Wilmington, NC and the Cape Fear Region. Specializing in storm damage restoration, roof replacement, and metal roofing for New Hanover, Brunswick, and Pender County homeowners. Call Wilmington's best roofer 910-538-5353
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They weave the head flashing. At the uphill side of a skylight, water is concentrated. A proper head flashing laps under the underlayment above and over the shingles below, often with a wide pan that directs water around the frame. Some manufacturers provide one-piece head flashings with foam diverters. Pros still add a small cricket for skylights wider than 2 feet, or any skylight placed below a valley that feeds a torrent in heavy rain.
They protect with membrane. Ice and water shield, even in coastal North Carolina, is a leak barrier that earns its keep. The best installers run it 6 to 9 inches inside the skylight rough opening on all sides, then up the curb, then over the curb top, all before the flashing kit goes on. They use membrane to seal cut valley lines, chimney shoulders, and dead valleys near dormers. They don’t rely on it alone, though. Membrane backs up the flashing; it doesn’t replace it.
They hide the nails. Nails never go through exposed flashing surfaces and never through the lower legs where water can find the shaft. Step flashing gets fastened high, through the shingle, not through the metal face. Head flashings often get their fasteners hidden under the next course of shingles or within the side legs where counter flashing will cover.
They leave clean lines. You can see quality from the ground even without binoculars. Flashing that sits flat, screws aligned, sealant only where recommended, no smeared tar at the edges. And the shingles around it lie without bumps or tenting, which means the cuts and deck were true.
Choosing roofing contractors who can handle skylights without drama
People call asking for the best Wilmington roofers like they are ordering from a menu. Names matter less than the traits and habits you can verify. A roofer’s attitude around skylights tells you a lot about how they approach the rest of your roof.
Ask who actually performs the work. Many roofing contractors sub out skylight installs to a specialist. That can be fine if the partnership is tight, the manufacturer’s specs are followed, and warranties align. What you want is consistency, not a bidding war that pairs a good shingle crew with a rookie window installer.
Confirm manufacturer alignment. Skylights are not generic. Velux, Fakro, and Wasco all have flashing kits by roof pitch and material. The right kit for a 5:12 architectural shingle roof is different from the kit for a 10:12 standing seam metal roof. A pro will ask your roof pitch before quoting, and they will specify the kit code, not a vague “standard flashing.”
Look at warranty stack. A 10 to 25 year materials warranty is common for skylights and flashing kits, but workmanship is where many projects fall short. The best roofers wilmington residents recommend put their name on a workmanship warranty of 5 to 10 years for leak repairs at penetrations, including skylights and chimneys. If the workmanship warranty is less than 2 years, you are taking more risk than you need to.
Inspect a recent job. Ask to see a skylight install less than a year old. Stand uphill from the glass and look for how the head flashing meets the shingles. You should see clean steps, a visible head pan, and no exposed nail heads. If the roofer hedges or can only show stock photos, keep looking.
Get specifics on underlayment and fasteners. Stainless or coated screws in coastal zones, membrane lap widths, and how they deal with high nails matter. A contractor who answers in practical detail has done the work, not just the sales pitch.
The Wilmington roof, weather, and water triangle
I’ve watched a south-facing skylight leak only during nor’easters that drove rain with a weird curl around a dormer. We tore into a half-dozen shingles and found the step flashing in good shape, but the head flashing left a 1-inch gap at the foam diverter. Dry in normal rain, wet in lateral wind. If you live around Bradley Creek or near the Intracoastal, you’ve felt those winds that push water behind every lap.
This region’s weather shapes materials and methods. Summer thunderstorms dump inches in an hour. Tropical systems bring long, soaking wind that hunts for capillary paths. Nights cool off enough to condense moisture in attics, and that condensation finds unsealed fastener penetrations. I’ve measured shingles at 160 degrees on a July afternoon; under that heat, asphalt loosens and sealant slumps. That is why we don’t bank on surface caulk to solve design problems around skylights. We build the water path with gravity in mind, then reinforce it for wind.
Salt adds complications. Fasteners with cheap plating bloom rust in a year near the water. The stain telegraphs downhill and customers think the skylight leaks, when the real issue is a corroding nail head wicking water through the shingle. On houses within a mile or two of the coast, I recommend upping the fastener grade and choosing flashing metals with better corrosion resistance. It costs a little more now and saves dozens of headaches later.
Skylight choices that play well with shingle roofs
Skylights used to be guilty until proven innocent. Old acrylic domes yellowed and cracked, and they relied on caulk around a plastic flange. Modern units fix most of those issues, but only if they’re installed properly and matched to roof pitch and material.
On a typical Wilmington shingle roof between 4:12 and 9:12, a deck-mounted skylight with a manufacturer-provided flashing kit is a sweet spot for performance and cost. Curb-mounted units are useful when you’re replacing an existing curb, especially on low-slope roofs down to about 3:12 where a taller curb keeps water moving. For slopes below 3:12, most skylight manufacturers advise against standard kits. That is a sign to redesign the opening or change the roof structure, not a cue to grab more sealant.
Glass matters. Tempered over laminated is a good combination for impact resistance and safety. In hail and hurricane zones, laminated inner panes keep shards from falling into the room and maintain a barrier if the outer pane breaks. Low-E coatings help reduce heat gain. During a roof replacement in Ogden last summer, we swapped a 20-year-old skylight for a new laminated low-E model. The homeowner’s attic temperature dropped roughly 8 to 10 degrees on clear afternoons, just from better glass and a tight flashing system.
Ventilating skylights are popular in coastal humidity, but they add a moving part and another seal. Manual, solar, or wired electric versions work well, yet they demand extra diligence around the frame. A 5-star installer tests the venting function restoration roofing contractor GAF-certified wilmington after shingle work and again after the first rain, then returns to recheck fasteners a week later as the roof settles.
Where skylights go wrong, and how pros in Wilmington avoid it
I keep a mental catalog of mistakes I’ve seen around skylights and flashing, and the fixes that last. A few stand out.
Weeping corners at the downhill flange. Often caused by overdriven nails that warp the flange or by missing step flashing where the shingle course meets the lower corners. The solution is to relieve the stress by backing out the offending nail, add a small corner saddle under the shingle, and reseat the lower pan with the right fastener torque. Done once, done right.
Leaks that appear in the hallway but start uphill of a skylight. Water finds a path along rafters and drips at the first cutout it meets, which is often a skylight opening. Homeowners understandably blame the window, but the source might be a split boot at a plumbing vent or a lifted shingle six feet above. Good roofing contractors trace the water path with a moisture meter and check above the obvious.
Condensation mistaken for leaks. In winter, warm moist air rises and condenses on the cooler glass or frame, then drips. Airtight drywall returns and proper insulation around the skylight shaft reduce this. I’ve blown in an extra R-13 around curb walls and stopped what the homeowner was convinced was a flashing failure.
Flat roofs, pitched parts. Some older beach bungalows use curbs on near-flat roofs with modified bitumen around them. Shingle-style step flashing does not work there. You need wide welded base flashings, counter flashing that can move with thermal expansion, and sometimes a small cricket to push ponding water away. The repair toolkit changes by roof type, and the best wilmington roofers know how to switch techniques.
What a thoughtful inspection looks like after a storm
A summer squall rolls through, you notice a stain growing near the skylight, and your gut tightens. Smart roofers approach the call with a checklist that starts outside and ends in the attic. I work the uphill side first, gently lifting shingles with a flat bar to peer at step flashings without bending them out of shape. I look for nail pops within 6 inches of any flashing leg, then check the head pan for dents or new sealant fractures.
Inside the attic, a flashlight catches mineral trails and the dull sheen of wet wood fibers. If the stain is recent, you can often feel cooler damp air near the leak. I map that line back to daylight. Sometimes I find insulation jammed hard against the underside of a deck around the opening, which traps moisture and tricks best roofers wilmington nc you into thinking the leak is larger than it is.
Repair plans balance disturbance and certainty. If a step flashing looks questionable on one side, I replace the entire side, not just the suspect piece, to re-establish the lap sequence. When the flashing kit is obsolete or butchered by a previous tar job, I recommend a full skylight replacement with new flashing. It saves labor and frustration trying to nurse a compromised system.
Pricing that makes sense for Wilmington
People ask for a number, and the honest answer is a range with real drivers. For a single deck-mounted skylight replacement with a factory flashing kit on a typical shingle roof, labor and materials in Wilmington often fall between $1,200 and $2,400 per unit, depending on size, shaft finishing, and roof pitch. Add interior drywall repairs and painting, and you might see another $300 to $800. Creating a new opening with framing, drywall shaft, and trim can run $2,500 to $5,000 per unit, again driven by ceiling height and structural work.
Repairs to flashing alone can be modest if caught early. Replacing step flashing along one side and reseating the head pan might land between $350 and $750. Once deck rot sets in, budget for sheathing repairs at $4 to $7 per square foot of replacement area, plus labor. If you are near the beach and choose stainless steel flashings, add a few hundred dollars for materials but take comfort that you will not be repeating the job for corrosion.
Good roofing contractors price skylight work with transparency: itemized skylight unit, flashing kit model, membrane square footage, and interior work if included. When you compare estimates from roofers wilmington homeowners rate highly, the details should line up even if the totals differ.
When to replace the skylight during a re-roof
This one is simple. If your roof is coming off and the skylight is older than 12 to 15 years, replace it while the shingles are off. Mismatched life cycles cost more. You do not want to cut back a brand new roof in five years because the old skylight seal failed. During a full roof replacement, swapping skylights is quicker, cleaner, and often cheaper by a few hundred dollars per unit because you avoid redundant labor.
Anecdotally, I worked a full tear-off in Masonboro where the homeowner loved the old skylight. Clear view, no leaks. We opened the roof and found the butyl seal around the glass beads already failing. The unit would have lasted one or two more summers. We replaced it that day and saved a likely leak call during the next tropical storm.
Shingle brands, warranties, and what they don’t cover
Homeowners sometimes believe a roof system warranty covers skylight leaks. Most shingle manufacturer warranties exclude leaks at penetrations unless installed by certified crews using every branded component. Even then, workmanship is the hinge. Roofing contractors who are certified by shingle makers can offer extended system warranties, but read the fine print. Penetration leaks usually fall under the roofer’s workmanship warranty, while the skylight itself carries the manufacturer’s glass and seal warranties.
A 5-star roofer will put both in writing: their workmanship coverage on flashing and installation, and the skylight maker’s warranty on the unit. They will list how long they will respond to leaks, typically within 24 to 72 hours after notification, which matters when storms stack up.
The quiet discipline of counter flashing and wall transitions
Skylights grab attention, but wall lines and chimneys are where flashing discipline shines. On a chimney, the counter flashing is cut into the mortar joint, not glued to the face. That reglet cut is shallow, clean, and sealed with a flexible sealant, not cement. The step flashing at the sides climbs course by course, and a cricket sits on the uphill side for chimneys wider than 24 inches. If you don’t see a cricket, your chimney shoulders are taking a bath every storm.
At sidewalls, I like to see a continuous kickout diverter at the base where the roof meets the wall. Without a kickout, water feeds the siding and the sheathing rots. It’s a small piece of bent metal that prevents thousands in repairs. Wilmington homes with fiber cement or vinyl siding hide damage for years until trim goes soft. The best wilmington roofers never omit kickouts, and they shape them to throw water well clear of the wall.
A short homeowner checklist before you call
Take photos of the stain location inside and the skylight or flashing area outside, including the roof slope above it. Note when the leak appears: during vertical rain, wind-driven storms, or only after long soakers. Check for condensation by wiping the glass and frame edges on cool mornings to rule out indoor humidity. Peek in the attic with a flashlight right after rain, and feel for damp insulation around the opening. Gather skylight brand and model from the frame label if visible, or measure the visible glass size.
Bringing these details to any of the best roofing contractors saves time and can reduce diagnostic costs. Good roofers appreciate an observant homeowner. It helps them cut past guesses and get to the repair with fewer trips.
A few stories from local roofs
A townhouse near downtown had twin skylights that leaked only on northerly winds. Another contractor had layered new shingles over old step flashing, doubling the metal thickness and lifting the shingle course just enough to break the water lap. We stripped back five courses, replaced the step flashing with stainless pieces, lowered the profile, and the leak ended. Total repair time was four hours. The key was respecting the thickness stack.
In a beach-adjacent neighborhood, a homeowner installed a solar vented skylight themselves with the right kit but forgot the head pan underlayment tie-in. It passed light rain and failed spectacularly in a thunderstorm. We reworked the uphill laps and added a small site-built cricket from scrap stainless and ice and water shield. That skylight has seen two hurricane seasons without a drop inside since.
A chimney job in Castle Hayne told another lesson. The step flashing was fine, but the counter flashing was just surface-glued. It held a few seasons, then the glue let go, and wind lifted the lower edges. We cut a proper reglet, set new counter flashing in stainless, and used a high-grade polyurethane sealant in the joint. The homeowner noticed the biggest difference in the sound: no more ticking noise when wind fluttered the loose metal. That sound is often your early warning.
How to read online reviews with a roofer’s eye
Searches for roofers near me bring up pages of names with stars beside them. Stars help, but the stories beneath those ratings are what you want. Look for mentions of leak callbacks and how quickly they were handled. Check whether the company name shows up across different neighborhoods, not just one subdivision. Read how they talk about troubleshooting. A contractor who thanks customers for patience during a rain delay and explains the steps they took to diagnose a tough leak shows humility and process.
Beware of reviews that only mention speed and price. Skylight and flashing work should not be rushed. The best wilmington roofers talk about protecting landscaping, cleaning metal filings off shingles so they don’t rust-stain, and scheduling around weather windows. Those are small, telling details. Roofers Wilmington 5-star ratings mean more when the comments mention specific technical wins, like replacing kickout flashings or rebuilding a cricket, not just “fixed my roof fast.”
Final thoughts from a ladder and a rain jacket
Skylights and flashing are where a roofer earns trust. They are also where a homeowner gets peace of mind that the next storm won’t leave towels on the floor. If you choose roofing contractors who treat these details with patience and respect, you stack the odds in your favor for the long, wet summers we live with here.
Ask better questions, watch for the little choices in metal and membrane, and expect clear communication. Whether you’re replacing an old dome with a modern laminated unit or chasing down a stubborn wind-driven leak, the craft is in the laps, the lines, and the willingness to come back after the first rain to check the work. That is the quiet difference you feel when you hire a true professional, and it is the reason their 5-star reputation lasts longer than the storm cycle.