What Is Skylight Flashing and the VELUX No-Leak Warranty?
A skylight warranty is a flashing story: VELUX states that 'VELUX flashing is required to create a weathertight seal around deck- and curb-mount Skylight Systems, as well as to qualify for our 10-year installation warranty.' The headline terms, in the manufacturer's words: 'VELUX Skylight Systems carry a 10-year installation warranty, plus 20 years on glass, 10 years on product, and 5 years on shades and controls' — with the glass coverage specifically 'backed by a 20-year warranty against seal failure.' The mechanism is why the flashing condition exists. VELUX flashing kits 'are designed to shed water without relying on sealants that can break down over time' — water is directed by overlapping metal geometry rather than by caulk, which is the failure mode behind most skylight leaks. The system has three layers of water protection: a deck seal or gasket between skylight and roof, adhesive underlayment as secondary protection, and flashing as the outer layer — the kits are matched to the roofing material (EDL for shingles and shakes, EDM for metal roofing, EDW for tile, ECB/ECL/ECW for curb-mount applications). On the pro site the condition is stated commercially too: 'Skylight flashing kits must be purchased with skylights and installed properly to benefit from our industry leading warranty.' On branding, be precise: the current site's live page is titled 'No Leak Skylights' and says VELUX is 'the only skylight manufacturer with an industry-leading, unrivaled 10-year product and installation warranty,' with the installation warranty covering leaks from proper skylight and flashing installations 'regardless of who installed it.' The older 'No Leak Promise' phrasing is not on the live site — two legacy pages carrying it now return 404. Sun Tunnel skylights carry their own 10-year warranty on installation, materials, and workmanship.
Important Distinction
Note: The phrase 'No Leak Promise' does not appear on the current VELUX site; the live page is titled 'No Leak Skylights' and the warranty pages brand it as the industry-leading warranty. The four warranty numbers cover different things — 10-year installation, 20-year glass seal, 10-year product, 5-year shades and controls — and quoting one as if it were the whole warranty misstates the coverage. VELUX's hail clause is real but the harvested quote is cut mid-sentence, so it is not reproduced as a complete vendor sentence here.
Also Known As
These are the search terms and phrases that commonly refer to this topic, so you can find it however you describe it.
How Skylight Flashing and the VELUX No-Leak Warranty Relates to Other Topics
Most skylight leaks are flashing failures, not glass failures — which is exactly why VELUX conditions its 10-year installation warranty on its own flashing kit being installed.
Skylight flashing kits apply the general flashing principle — shed water by overlapping geometry, never rely on sealant — to one specific roof penetration.
VELUX's shingle-roof kits (EDL, ECL) are step flashing systems: pieces interweave with the roofing material course by course for proper water drainage.
A leak that appears at a skylight is a defined warranty scenario: VELUX's installation warranty covers leaks from defects in materials or workmanship when the system was installed with its required flashing.
Diagnosing a wet skylight means separating three failure modes the warranty treats differently: flashing leaks, glass seal failure, and condensation that is not a leak at all.
The VELUX warranty stack (10-year installation, 20-year glass, 10-year product, 5-year shades) is a worked example of reading warranty tiers by what each actually covers.
The middle of VELUX's three water-protection layers is adhesive underlayment — secondary protection between the deck seal and the flashing, the same defense-in-depth logic as the roof's own underlayment.
Related To Skylight Flashing and the VELUX No-Leak Warranty
Every VELUX Skylight System is warranted as a system: VELUX flashing is required to create the weathertight seal and to qualify for the 10-year installation warranty.
Questions about Skylight Flashing and the VELUX No-Leak Warranty?
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