Skylights are hailed for their ability to keep your room bright, heated and shining.
With all this light and heat, however, skylights may heat your room too much to the point you can hardly bear with.
This is the because of the “Greenhouse Effect” and it can cause discomfort.
In a nutshell, light penetrates to your room through the skylights. You can imagine how hot your room will get. Not to mention how it will make things in your room fade and break down.
Having weighed these pros and cons of a skylight, can you paint your skylights?
Is painting your skylight worth the price? It goes without saying that painting your skylights is an ultimate choice for restoring your room’s cool environment and maintaining healthy living. It is a way to mitigate the cons associated with skylights and make a great deal of difference.
Well, we have compiled an exclusive report on why you need to paint your skylights. How exactly you need to do it is a question we’ve also answered in this article.
Painting Over Your Skylight
Painting over your skylight is an ideal way to block the heat from penetrating your room.
It is a simple task that will stop light from getting through making your room cooler and more comfortable.
While some people find scraping the pain of a daunting task, this is a sacrifice worth daring.
How to Paint Skylights Vaults
Vaulted skylights may prove difficult to paint.
This owes to their dome shape feature.
They have a rounded surface that is usually made of acrylic or polycarbonate material.
A proper choice of paints for a vaulted skylight is, therefore, a requisite. You’ll also need the following for your painting:
- Drop cloth
- A ladder
- An appropriate paint for acrylic/polycarbonate surfaces
- Paint sprayer/roller
- Lint-free cotton
- Paint thinner
Here’s How to Do It Effectively.
1. Choose the right paint
Polycarbonate/acrylic material is a special material and you’ll need to use liquisol paints.
Faskolor hobby paint is also another ideal option.
These paints do not need a primer making it way too cheap to paint your vaulted skylights.
2. Get A Drop Cloth
Ensure that you have a drop cloth on the floor of your working surface just below the skylight you want to paint.
Needless to say, this will keep your room clean and tidy during and after the task. Your ladder should be placed just below the skylight you are working on.
3. Sanding
If your window was painted previously, you’ll need to sand it gently. To clear off any dust that accumulates in the event of sanding, use a tack cloth.
A lint-free cotton cloth would be appropriate for wiping your vault window clean. If your window is old, use an ammonia-based cleaner. It is recommended to paint thinner if it is a new window.
Using a roller or a paint sprayer, apply a coat of paint on the inside of the window.
Before you add the second coat, it is recommended to allow the first coat to dry first.
Precautions
- Work with care when using the ladder. Make sure it is set firm
- Make sure you are working in a well-ventilated room especially if you are applying a strong paint
Related: What Can Be Done With The Ceiling After Removing The Skylight?
What Color Do You Use To Paint A Skylight Opening?
Well, choosing the color for your skylight opening is a step to reconsider. You don’t want to create unwarranted attention and eyesores in your rooms.
So it is highly recommended to use the ceiling color. This will help you create a matching blend and people won’t easily realize it.
Using a different color makes your skylight appear like a tunnel which is not so good for anyone.
It is also important to note that the choice of color you chose for your skylight depends on the size of the skylight itself.
If it is a long shaft, white would be appropriate. As we mentioned earlier, use the room color of your manufactured home if it is a large opening. You can also paint the skylight frame to match the color of the walls.
Related: Is It Better To Paint Your Home Yourself Or Just Hire Someone To Do It?
Handling Paint Peeling Around Skylight
When you detect any paint peeling on your skylight, it is time to scrutinize the entire skylight. This is especially true because there may be massive peeling elsewhere on your skylight.
There’s more than meets the eye.
Paint peeling can be as a result of leakages occurring due to wrong sealing procedures on your manufactured home.
It can also occur due to condensation brought about by retention of moisture. Water is usually to blame for this effect.
What you’ll need:
- A clean cloth
- Caulking gun
- Ladder
- Roofing caulk
- Rope
- Scraper
- Fine-grit sanding block
- Waterproof interior caulk
Before repainting your skylight, it is a prudent idea to eliminate these leakages first. Or you could plunge into recurring repairs that will cost you a lot. Sealing the skylight will require you to use a caulk.
Using a caulking gun, carefully apply the caulk on the perimeter of the skylight. To monitor condensation, adding more ventilation will make a great deal of difference.
You could bring in more fans for this purpose just in case you realize you need more ventilation.
Once you are done with rectifying these leakages, you need to clear the peeling paint and apply a primer to prevent potential leakages in the future.
A Stain-blocking primer is usually used in such a case. A scraper will do a fine job in removing peeling paint. Ensure that you remove only the loose paint. You don’t need to force it out.
Repair any part of the ceiling where you removed the texture.
Depending on the manufacturer’s recommendation, you’ll need to allow the texture to dry.
Afterwards, apply caulks on gaps within the perimeter of the skylight.
Interior caulk is used here. Not roofing caulk. Excess caulk is wiped from the ceiling using a damp cloth after which it is allowed to dry to completion.
Care needs to be taken when filling the larger gaps. Use expandable foam insulation.
Apply a blocking primer and allow it to dry to completion. You can as well apply a coat the second time.
Finally, paint the area using a paint color that matches the surrounding area. To prevent any brush marks, use a roller. It will blend the colors of the paint well and remove any trails.
Important Tip: To aid in ventilation, you can open the windows
How Do You Paint AROUND The Skylight?
When painting around the perimeter of the skylight, it is important to do so with extreme care.
First, you don’t want to make the skylight glass dirty.
So it is recommended that you wipe it clean. Use the colour of the paint that matches the surrounding area of the skylight.
It is like you are masking the entire area of the skylight and using a paint colour that blends with the surrounding area is just a hint to get it done.
There are special paints for this purpose.
Some will require you to apply a primer on the area others don’t. The big deal of difference is making sure that it is an appropriate paint that will not peel off soon.
You need something that will last and won’t call for frequent repairs.
While trying as much as possible to achieve a cool environment in the living rooms and other rooms of your manufactured home, ensuring a striking appeal is key.
How Do You Paint INSIDE A Skylight?
Just like the outside and the surrounding regions of your skylight, the inside of it has to be painted with a colour that blends well with the colour of the ceiling.
Needless to say, you will require something like a cloth below the working area to collect any drop of paint and dirt. This is way too important in maintaining your room in tidy and proper conditions during and after the painting.
If colors don’t match, your painted skylight will become an eyesore created unwarranted attention on anyone who visits your home.
You don’t want to have hollow tunnels above you and so you have to use a matching color. The choice of paints for the inside part of your skylight vary.
Using the right instruments as mentioned in some steps above is key to a successful job.
Some manufacturers have painted with a light color to allow some light through them. This is also a great way of keeping your room lightly heated if you feel so.
Some special solar reflective paints have proven more effective.
They are also designed to reject and reflect UV and infrared radiation. These benefits make painting skylights a worthwhile experience for your manufactured homes.
Downsides of Skylight Paints
People have been painting skylights for quite some time to prevent light from penetrating the rooms and causing overheating.
These conventional paints, however, have some negatives. Firstly, most of them are not designed for polycarbonate or glass material.
When such paints are applied to these materials, they peel off creating a bad look in a short while. This is why you have to be careful with choosing the right paints for skylights materials.
