Skylights in a Metal Roof: A VELUX Project in Westerly

Setting a skylight into a metal roof is a different job than setting one into shingles — the flashing has to work with the panels and their raised seams, not against them. This Westerly home got VELUX skylights integrated into its metal roof the right way, bringing daylight in while keeping the metal roof’s watertight integrity intact. Pinnacle roofs go on fast — often as a one-day roof replacement — and flexible financing keeps a project like this within reach, with plans as low as 0% interest for 18 months.

A Westerly home had VELUX fixed skylights installed into its metal roof, flashed to work with the panels and seams so the openings stay watertight on a metal surface. This project is in Westerly, Rhode Island using VELUX skylights.

Scope of Work

The work integrated the skylights into a metal roof surface, where the flashing details differ from a shingle roof. Each VELUX skylight was set and flashed so water is carried around the unit and back onto the metal panels, with the flashing worked to the panel profile and seams rather than lapped into shingle courses. Ice-and-water membrane backed the curb as a secondary barrier. On a metal roof, the connection between the skylight and the panels is everything, and detailing it correctly is what lets the roof gain daylight without giving up the watertightness that makes a metal roof last.

What We Installed (And Why)

A metal roof and a shingle roof shed water differently, and a skylight has to respect that. On a shingle roof, a skylight’s flashing is woven into the overlapping courses. On a metal roof, there are no courses — there are long panels with raised seams that channel water down the roof — so the skylight flashing has to be detailed to work with those panels: carrying water around the unit and back onto the metal, sealing to the panel profile, and never blocking the paths the seams create for drainage. Done wrong, a skylight becomes a dam on a metal roof, trapping water where the panels meant to carry it away. Done right, the metal roof simply routes water around the skylight and on down as it always did. The VELUX units here are flashed and detailed for the metal surface, with ice-and-water membrane backing the curb as a secondary barrier, so the openings are watertight and the metal roof keeps the long, low-maintenance service life it is prized for. Metal roofs are chosen for durability and for shedding snow and rain cleanly, and integrating skylights without compromising that takes an installer who understands both the skylight and the metal roof. The payoff for this Westerly home is daylight brought into the rooms below through a roof built to last decades, with the skylight openings detailed so they last right along with it.

Project Photo Gallery

The Westerly home with VELUX skylights in its metal roof

Good To Know: Can you put a skylight in a metal roof?

Yes, and it is done regularly, but it has to be flashed differently than a skylight in a shingle roof. A shingle roof sheds water through overlapping courses, and a skylight there is woven into those courses. A metal roof sheds water down long panels with raised seams that act as channels, so a skylight in a metal roof has to be flashed to work with the panels: carrying water around the unit and back onto the metal, sealing to the panel profile, and keeping the seam drainage paths clear. The risk on a metal roof is turning the skylight into a dam — if the flashing blocks the panels’ drainage or is sealed with the wrong approach, water backs up where the roof meant to carry it away. Detailed correctly, though, the metal roof simply routes water around the skylight as it does around any other penetration, and the opening stays watertight. It is also important to back the curb with ice-and-water membrane as a secondary barrier and to use flashing suited to the specific metal profile. Because metal roofs are chosen for their long, low-maintenance service life, the skylight has to be integrated without compromising that — which is why it belongs with an installer who understands both skylights and metal roofing. On this Westerly home, flashing the VELUX skylights into the metal roof the right way brought daylight in without giving up the roof’s watertightness.

Why This Approach Works

A metal roof sheds water down seamed panels, not overlapping courses, so a skylight in it must be flashed to work with the panels — carrying water around the unit and keeping the seam drainage clear. Detailed correctly, the metal roof routes water around the skylight and stays watertight.

Why Pinnacle

Skylights in a metal roof reward a contractor who understands both the skylight and the metal roof, detailing the flashing to the panels so the opening lasts as long as the roof. Pinnacle installs as a VELUX 5-Star Skylight Specialist, to the manufacturer’s specification. We’ve served Rhode Island since 2012, hold a 5.0-star Google rating across 100+ reviews and an A+ BBB rating — see our full credentials.

Westerly, Rhode Island

Westerly, Rhode Island’s southwestern shore town, sees plenty of metal roofs on its coastal and country homes, chosen for the way they shed weather and last through salt air. Adding skylights to those metal roofs without compromising their watertightness is a specialized job well suited to how Westerly homes are built. VELUX skylights flashed correctly into a metal roof bring daylight in while keeping the roof’s long life intact. Explore our work across Westerly roofing services.