Solar tubes & skylights · Tri-Cities
Solar tube and skylight installation from a Richland roofing crew.
Black Diamond can install 10-inch and 14-inch tubes to light up your house. A roofer cuts the hole, so a roofer should seal it.
Chapter 01
Daylight without a full skylight
Black Diamond's own words say it best: "we can install 10-inch and 14-inch tubes to light up your house." That is the whole pitch, and it is a good one.
A solar tube is a small dome on the roof, a reflective tube through the attic, and a diffuser in the ceiling. Sunlight goes down the tube and spreads into the room below. It brings daylight into spaces a window never reaches, like a hallway, a closet, a laundry room or a kitchen with no outside wall.
The two sizes give you a choice. The 10-inch tube suits a smaller room. The 14-inch tube moves more light for a bigger one. Ask the crew which fits which room.
Two solar tube domes on a shingle roof and two lit ceilings, a kitchen and a hallway
Where they go in a house
A customer review on Black Diamond's site puts it plainly: "I had Josh and his crew install a solar tube in my kitchen and I can't believe how much light I have now!" That is from Marcela R., who also said the company would be doing her roof the same year.
The photo collage on this page shows two tube domes on a shingle roof and two finished ceilings, a kitchen and a hallway. Those are the rooms where a tube earns its keep: places that stay dim in the middle of the day.
If a room sits under attic space, a tube can usually reach it. If you are not sure, call the office at (509) 943-ROOF and describe the room. The crew works across Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and the rest of the Tri-Cities.
Chapter 03
Flashing is the whole job
The dome is the easy part. The flashing where the tube meets the shingles keeps your ceiling dry.
A solar tube dome sits on a flashed curb set into the shingle field. Water runs down the roof and has to go around that curb, not under it. If the flashing is lapped wrong, or the shingles are cut sloppily around it, the leak shows up months later as a stain on the very ceiling you wanted to brighten.
That is why this work belongs with a roofer. Black Diamond is a licensed roofing contractor, so cutting and sealing a roof is the daily job, not a side task. The same crew that lays your shingles knows how water behaves on them.
Skylights alongside a re-roof
Skylights are part of the same trade. Teresa C., another customer review on Black Diamond's site, hired the company to replace the roof on a newly purchased home, and a skylight installation was part of that job.
She also described a bump. The skylight installation technician's flight home was cancelled, which delayed the install by a day. Black Diamond was "very apologetic and kept in constant communication" about when the finish work would happen. She said she would hire them again.
If your roof is due for replacement anyway, that is a natural moment to add a tube or a skylight, because the shingles are already coming up. Ask about it when you book your free estimate.
Black Diamond Roofing & Construction. Licensed, bonded and insured, WA L&I BLACKDR972PC. Call (509) 943-ROOF.
Thinking about a tube and a new roof together? Read about roof replacement, see how financing works, or send the crew a note about your house in Richland or anywhere in the Tri-Cities.