Skylights for Koreatown homes and buildings
Koreatown is one of the densest parts of Los Angeles, and most of its skylights sit on flat roofs: 1920s brick and stucco apartment buildings, courtyard buildings, older houses divided into units, and the shops and restaurants along Wilshire, Western and Vermont. A lot of those skylights are decades old. When one leaks, cracks or turns cloudy, we repair or replace it, and we add new ones where a dark stairwell, hallway or top-floor unit needs daylight.
What we work on here
Apartment and courtyard buildings. Many 1920s and 1930s buildings were designed with skylights over stairwells and central halls. The originals were often wired glass in a metal frame; later ones are acrylic domes on wood curbs. Both wear out. Common problems are cracked or crazed domes, rusted frames, rotted curbs and failed flashing where the curb meets the roof. On multi-unit buildings we work with owners and property managers, and we can schedule around tenants.
Older houses on the side streets. Between Wilshire and Olympic, and in neighboring areas like Wilshire Park and Country Club Park, there are still 1910s and 1920s houses, many with Craftsman or Spanish details. Center hallways and interior bathrooms in these houses are dark, and a skylight or a sun tunnel fixes that without changing the street view.
Shops and restaurants. Flat-roof commercial buildings along the main corridors often have older domes over dining rooms, salons and back-of-house areas. See our commercial skylights page for replacement, safety screens and smoke vents.
Flat-roof skylights: what makes them last
On a flat roof, the skylight sits on a curb, and the roofing has to wrap the curb and be sealed at the top. Most flat-roof skylight leaks come from that joint, or from a curb that’s too short for the water that sits on the roof after rain. When we replace a skylight, we check the curb, and if it’s rotted we rebuild it rather than setting a new unit on bad wood.
Pico-Union, just south
Pico-Union, between Koreatown and the 10, has some of the oldest housing in the city. There are Victorian and early 1900s houses, bungalow courts and many small apartment buildings, and part of the neighborhood is a Historic Preservation Overlay Zone. If your building is in the HPOZ, visible exterior changes may need review by City Planning. A skylight on a flat roof behind a parapet usually can’t be seen from the street. We check the address before quoting.
Permits
Koreatown and Pico-Union are in the City of Los Angeles, so permits go through LADBS. A new skylight opening needs a permit; cutting a rafter or joist adds structural review. On multi-unit buildings, we prepare the documentation the permit needs. Same-opening repairs, like re-flashing or resealing, generally don’t need one.
Koreatown skylight FAQ
Can you replace an old dome without redoing the roof?
Usually. If the curb is sound, a new dome or glass unit goes on the same curb and the roofing around it is patched in. See dome replacement.
Our building’s stairwell skylight leaks. Is it the skylight or the roof?
It could be either. Our guide to why skylights leak explains how to tell. We’ll check both when we come out.
Do you work with property managers?
Yes. We can quote, schedule access and invoice through your management company.
What does it cost?
A standard dome replacement is roughly $600 to $1,200; a new opening is roughly $4,000. Our cost guide explains what changes the number.
Call us at (213) 334-3947 for a free Koreatown or Pico-Union skylight estimate.
Nearby areas: Mid-City · Downtown LA · Silver Lake, Echo Park & Los Feliz · West Hollywood
Related reading: Skylight repair · Skylight replacement · What it costs · All service areas