Trim around a skylight?

[Poptart26]

Hiya everybody

Recently I saw a new skylight put it. There was some water damage around the old trim so that all went out. As for the new skylight, well.....as you can see, there is some space between it and the drywall.

Should I look into putting new trim in the area, or could there have been a better job getting my skylight to fit?

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Trim would be the easiest, and cleanest way to conceal the gap. You could mud it, but it would take more time and make more of a mess.

 

[vinny11950]

Trim would be the easiest, like Matt said. It is hard to tell how big the gap is, but if it is not too big you may try silicone or some type of high performance caulk. That gap should be air sealed tight or else it could cause many different issues down the line. Even if the gap is too big for silicone alone, go to Home depot, in the HVAC aisle, they have backer rod foam of different sizes. Find the size that fits the gap snug, lay a generous bead of silicone in the gap, then stuff the rod foam in there, working it in so it is recessed from the surface. Let it set for a few hours, and then apply another round of silicone to fill the front of the gap, and make it smooth and even with the other surfaces (a wet finger does a good job of smoothing out silicone - make sure to have paper towels on hand). Also make sure you buy paintable silicone or else the paint will not stick.

If you have access to the attic on the back side of the skylight frame/trim, try to apply a few inches of insulation so the cold doesn't condense the moisture in the winter.

Good luck.

 

[semipro]

Consider PVC trim. Its waterproof, doesn't need paint, and supposedly won't degrade in the sunlight.