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Guide

The Best Skylights, Ranked on What the Warranty Covers

Three glass brands and two tubular ones, ordered by what each manufacturer commits to in writing. Not how they look in a showroom. Skylights fail at the flashing years later, and the warranty is the only part of this you can hold anyone to by then.

The short version

Why this page scores warranties and nothing else

There are plenty of skylight roundups that rate the glazing and the glass coatings. This one does not, for a reason worth two paragraphs.

A skylight rarely fails as a window. It fails at the joint between the window and the roof, which is flashing work rather than glazing. So the question that predicts your experience is not which unit has the better coating. It is who is still on the hook when water appears on the ceiling, and for how long.

  1. Full cover on the glass seal

    Counted at face value, in years. This is the term most brands lead with.

  2. Prorated or single-peril cover, at half credit

    A term that pays a quarter of the claim in year nineteen, or that covers hail and nothing else, is worth something. It is not worth the same as full cover.

  3. Cover on the installation

    Years the manufacturer will stand behind the fitting, not just the unit. Only one brand here offers it at all.

Those three numbers make the score, and the sorting happens in code so nobody can nudge it later. Every figure came off the manufacturer's own warranty page or a warranty document it authored. Where two of a manufacturer's own documents disagree the card says so, and where we could not confirm a term at all the card says that rather than repeating a number from a review site. We install skylights, so read this knowing that.

The table

Three glass brands, by published warranty

Highest score first. The installation column is the one that separates them.

BrandGlass seal, full coverOther glass coverInstallationScore
VELUX20 yearsNone10 years30
Fakro10 years20 years prorated or single perilNot covered20
Sun-Tek10 years10 years prorated or single perilNot covered15

VELUX terms from the VELUX USA warranty and its No Leak Promise. Fakro from the Fakro USA skylight warranty, with the conflicting Canadian document noted below. Sun-Tek from its limited warranty as published with the unit. Warranty terms read 17 October 2026.

In detail

What each brand actually promises

The scores are close between second and third. The small print is where they separate, so that is what these cover.

1. VELUX, the only one that warrants the installation

20 years full glass cover Plus 10 years on the installation. Warranty score 30.

VELUX calls its deck and curb mounted range the No Leak Skylight, and the warranty is why that name is more than marketing: twenty years on the glass seal, ten on the product, ten on the installation itself, five on blinds and controls. The installation cover is the unusual part. Every other brand here warrants the unit and leaves whoever fitted it to answer for the flashing.

The catch. It is the most expensive of the three glass brands, and the installation warranty only means something if the installer is in the program. Ask before you buy, not after.

2. Fakro, best laminated glass cover against hail

10 years full glass cover No installation cover. Warranty score 20.

Ten years on the unit and the flashing against defects in material and workmanship, ten years on the glass seal, and twenty years on laminated panes specifically against hail breakage. That hail term is the longest single-peril cover on this list and it is a sensible thing to care about in central North Carolina.

The catch. The US and Canadian warranty documents disagree with each other on the glass seal, ten years on the current US page against twenty on the Canadian one. We have scored it on the US figure because that is the document that governs a Raleigh purchase. Get the term for your exact model in writing.

3. Sun-Tek, the budget glass unit, with the catch in the small print

10 years full glass cover No installation cover. Warranty score 15.

Twenty years on glass-series units made after 1998, which sounds like VELUX until you read how it steps down. Full material cover runs for the first ten years, then 75 percent in years eleven to thirteen, 50 percent in years fourteen to sixteen, and 25 percent through to year twenty. Priced below the other two.

The catch. Glass breakage and condensation damage are both excluded, and the domed polycarbonate units are a different product on a five year term. A twenty year warranty that pays a quarter of the claim in year nineteen is a ten year warranty with a tail.

Tubular

When there is no room for a real skylight

Neither of these is a window. They are a dome, a reflective tube and a ceiling diffuser, and they go where a skylight cannot. We could not verify either warranty from the manufacturer, which is why they sit outside the scored table.

Solatube, the brightest option for a room with no roof access

Warranty not confirmed No term found in a document Solatube authored.

Tubular daylighting rather than a window: a dome on the roof, a reflective tube through the attic, a diffuser in the ceiling. It is the answer for an interior bathroom or a hallway where there is no straight run to the roof deck for a real skylight, and it needs no framing work.

The catch. Published warranty terms we could not confirm from Solatube's own documents, so we are not quoting a figure. Secondary sources say ten years. Ask for it in writing.

Natural Light, the long warranty claim on this list, unverified

Warranty not confirmed A 25 year term appears in roundups, not in a manufacturer document.

The other established tubular brand, and the one most often fitted as a cheaper alternative to Solatube on the same job.

The catch. A twenty-five year term appears in secondary roundups for the thirteen inch unit and we could not find it in a document Natural Light authored. Treat it as a question to ask rather than a fact to rely on.

The Carolina part

What decides this on a Triangle roof

Two local conditions matter more than anything on the spec sheet.

The first is hail. Central North Carolina gets enough of it that laminated glass is worth specifying, and it is the reason Fakro's twenty year hail term on laminated panes is a real advantage rather than a line item. If you have already had one hail claim on the roof, weight that heavily.

The second is heat. A skylight is a hole in the insulated envelope, and on a south or west slope an unshaded fixed unit will make the room under it uncomfortable by mid afternoon in July. A vented unit lets the hot air out, and a blind lets you shut the whole thing down. That is a specification decision, and it is much cheaper made now than regretted later.

On timing: if the roof is within a few years of replacement, wait and do both together. The flashing is part of the roof. Fitting a skylight into a roof you are about to tear off means paying for the same flashing twice, and our lifespan guide will help you work out where yours is.

Skylight flashing on a Raleigh roof
Questions

Skylight questions

What is the best skylight brand?

VELUX, on the warranty. It is the only brand here that covers the installation as well as the unit, ten years on the work and twenty on the glass seal, and the flashing is where skylights actually fail. Fakro is the better buy if hail is your worry, because its laminated glass carries twenty years against hail breakage specifically. Sun-Tek is the cheapest and the warranty steps down after year ten.

Do skylights still leak?

A properly flashed modern skylight does not leak because it is a skylight. It leaks because of how it met the roof. That is why the installation warranty matters more than the glass warranty, and why site-made flashing is worth asking about before anyone starts work.

How much does a skylight cost installed?

Nationally, a fixed unit runs $500 to $2,500 installed, a manual vented one $800 to $3,500, an electric vented one $1,500 to $5,000 or more, and a tubular unit $500 to $1,500. Most of the spread is labor and access, not the glass. Our guide to skylight types breaks the four options down by what they cost here.

Should I replace the skylight when I replace the roof?

Almost always, yes. The flashing is part of the roof, so a new roof around an old skylight means either reusing flashing that has already had one life or cutting new flashing into a finished roof later. Doing both at once costs less than doing them a few years apart, and there is one company responsible if it ever leaks.

Deck mounted or curb mounted?

Deck mounted sits lower and sheds water better, and it is the right choice on most pitched shingle roofs. Curb mounted sits on a built-up frame and is what you use on a low slope, on a flat roof, or where an existing curb is already there and sound. Deck mounted takes longer to fit.

Can you put a skylight anywhere?

No. It has to land between the rafters or the opening needs reframing, and it needs a clear run from the roof deck to the ceiling, which an attic full of ductwork often does not give you. Where there is no clear run, a tubular unit will usually get light into the room anyway.

Keep reading

Related guides and calculators

Skylights are a flashing job more than a glass job.

Roof replacement

The right time to deal with a skylight is while the shingles are off.

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