How to Repair an Acrylic Skylight
Acrylic skylights are a safe way to add additional lighting into a space. Their biggest advantage is that they do much better than glass when it comes to the potential for breakage. However, because acrylic is not as hard as glass, it tends to scratch easier. Unlike glass, cracks in acrylic can be repaired with acrylic solvent cement. Scratched acrylic skylights can be polished out, giving them a "new" look. Skylights are expensive to replace, and very few professionals repair them, opting for replacement instead. Using a few tools and inexpensive glues, acrylic skylights can be repaired easily. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Mild dish-washing detergent
- Acrylic solvent cement
- Squeeze bottle applicator
- Acrylic buffing compound
- 100 percent cotton rags
- Exterior caulking
- Caulking gun
- Painter's masking tape
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Instructions
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Most skylights are made from acrylic. Wash the outside skylight using a mild dish-washing detergent and water. Once the skylight is cleaned, determine where the damage is. Cracks tend to form in corners or other areas of stress, such as holes drilled for screws. Scratches tend to form across the center of the skylight, due to falling debris.
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Buff the outside of the skylight with an acrylic polishing compound to remove light scratches from the surface, and help expose any cracks than need to be glued. Apply a small amount of the buffing compound to the skylight's surface. Using a 100 percent cotton rag, rub the compound over and around the scratches. After buffing, wipe off any residual compound left on the surface. Using painter's masking tape, tape off the areas around any cracks to avoid spilling cement on the skylights surface, which can scar the acrylic.
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Skylights come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Fill the squeeze bottle applicator with acrylic solvent cement. Fill up the applicator to the half-way point. Squeeze the bottle until the cement is near the bottle's top. Slightly release the finger pressure on the bottle. This creates a vacuum, which keeps the cement from pouring out when the bottle is inverted. Place the needle against the crack and squeeze a thin bead of cement into the gap, following the crack. Repeat the process for any additional cracks.
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Remove the painter's masking tape. After the cement has dried for 24 hours, buff any residual cement off with the acrylic buffing compound. Wash the skylight one final time. Check the caulking around the base of the skylight for damage. Roofs get extremely hot during the summer months, which can cause the caulking to separate from space between the skylight and the frame that holds it to the roof. Water can leak through this tiny gap. Run a fresh bead of caulking around this joint. If the old caulking is beyond patching, pull the old caulking up and apply a fresh bead in its place. Let it dry, check to make sure the caulking has sealed around the joint and the project is complete.
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Tips & Warnings
Products, like household window cleaners should be avoided when washing the skylight, because they contain either alcohol or ammonia, both of which can damage acrylic over time.
Tape old plastic bags around areas being cemented to avoid spilling the solvent cement on to the surface of the skylight. Don't use paper because the solvent cement can bleed through the surface and damage the acrylic.
Always use caution when working on a roof. If the area is hard to reach, call a professional. Safety is rule number one.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit skylight image by Scott Williams from Fotolia.com outdoor skylight image by Scott Williams from Fotolia.com corinthian skylights image by Pix by Marti from Fotolia.com
