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!

On Mar 10, 12:33�am, "trs80" wrote:
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!

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.

On Mar 10, 1:33 am, "trs80" wrote:
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!

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:
http://www.redpathaghort.com/accesso...peciality.html
It won't last forever, but it'll delay the inevitable.

R

RicodJour wrote:
On Mar 10, 1:33 am, "trs80" wrote:
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.
....
could try some of this:
http://www.redpathaghort.com/accesso...peciality.html
....

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...

--

trs80 wrote:

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!




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. )

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?

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

those are all really good tips. Maybe a film and/or silicon repair while I
work out the dome replacement. I wold be no trouble to replace...if I can
find one the right size.
thanks again
"RicodJour" wrote in message
...
On Mar 10, 1:33 am, "trs80" wrote:
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!

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:
http://www.redpathaghort.com/accesso...peciality.html
It won't last forever, but it'll delay the inevitable.

R

trs80 wrote:
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!

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

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

"trs80" wrote in message
...
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!

On Mar 10, 1:33*am, "trs80" wrote:
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!

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.

wrote:

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


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.

trs80 wrote:
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!


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.