Step by Step: Replacing OEM skylights with new Custom Maxim Skylights

[dpandorf]

Originally Posted by 2dabeach

Bambi Bandit... Want to thank you for your detailed instruction on mounting the Maxim skylight. In your pictures of the installed skylight I can see a number of bronze colored screws on the top of the frame as well a some on the sides of the frame that were not caulked. I see that you caulked all of the screws you installed to mount the skylight down to the sides of the trailer installed frame but did not caulk the others. Just wanted to know why you did not caulk the other screws.

Thanks

I just got online and saw an update to this thread and wanted to respond to your question since I've also installed the Maxim's on my stream too.

The link below is to a PDF from the Maxim website and shows a diagram of how the skylight is put together. The only screws that could allow water into the trailer are those that Bambi has caulked horizontally into the side of the curb that sticks up from the roof of the trailer. The other screws are those that hold the skylight in the frame itself.

Maxim skylights

Plus I've posted a photo of the curb mount image:

[silverbacksurfer]

I have been waiting all year for the summer, no rain, to start this job in between camp trips. I built some scaffolding with 2 8' a ladders. Just got the old skylight off calling Maxium to order.Fun stuff worked just like the step by step instruction from Bambi bandit. Thanks . Will let you know how it turned out when I get the new skylight.

[silverbacksurfer]

Originally Posted by dpandorf

I ordered mine last Wednesday and they shipped today and delivery is this Wednesday. Shipping is not cheap as they will not use FedEx ground. You'll need a commercial address to ship to. I'm using a friends contractor's office which is just up the road from where I live.

Just talked to Liz @ Maxim they will ship to a residential address.

[tkowalyk]

I just ordered my Maxim Skylight today!!

Stoked and ready to get the unit installed. I went for a bronze, clear, clear (dome, dome, flat) skylight, with a Bronze powder coat frame.

Thanks to Bambi Bandit for the step by step instructions. We developed a small leak at the skylight, and when I went to investigate, it was clear the the unit had been over-torqued and virtually every screw attachment was cracked.

I scraped off the old curb caulk, re-sealed the curb, and am waiting for the replacement unit.

The folks at Maxim were very helpful and immediately knew what I needed for the AS.

I will post a picture of the finished product.

[craftsman]

Once you replace the cheap and poorly installed Airstream OEM skylights, replace the water pump,fix the cabinets, caulk the leaks, touch up the corrosion, replace the tires and install a working brake actuator, These Airstream aren't to bad. One day the quality may even equal the price they charge. I installed my Maxim skylight about 4 months ago. .

[Ag&Au]

Originally Posted by craftsman

Once you replace the cheap and poorly installed Airstream OEM skylights, replace the water pump,fix the cabinets, caulk the leaks, touch up the corrosion, replace the tires and install a working brake actuator, These Airstream aren't to bad. One day the quality may even equal the price they charge. I installed my Maxim skylight about 4 months ago. .

I'm Glad they put cheap ones on as incentive to upgrade.

Since we did it ourselves, we know our Maxims are installed correctly.

Ken

[Wingeezer]

Originally Posted by silverbacksurfer

Just talked to Liz @ Maxim they will ship to a residential address.

I see that they have offices in both Florida and Texas. Do you know where Liz is located?


I think I'd like to put these on my trailer. One of the skylights started leaking on our last trip and when I went topside I found what many others have found - the skylight flanges were cracked at just about every screw hole. I gooped it up for now and stopped the leak, but of course I would like a better fix. I was surprised at how flimsy the original skylights are.

We will be travelling to the southwest this winter and i wondered if I could order them and pick them up at their Dallas-Fort Worth office - or maybe even have them installed there.

I emailed twice with no reply at all so I guess I need to phone.


Brian

[Ag&Au]

Originally Posted by Wingeezer

I see that they have offices in both Florida and Texas. Do you know where Liz is located?


I think I'd like to put these on my trailer. One of the skylights started leaking on our last trip and when I went topside I found what many others have found - the skylight flanges were cracked at just about every screw hole. I gooped it up for now and stopped the leak, but of course I would like a better fix. I was surprised at how flimsy the original skylights are.

We will be travelling to the southwest this winter and i wondered if I could order them and pick them up at their Dallas-Fort Worth office - or maybe even have them installed there.

I emailed twice with no reply at all so I guess I need to phone.


Brian

Hi Brian,

Both Liz Ibarra and David Thornton are in DFW. I dealt with David.

Here is his info:

DAVID THORNTON | Maxim Industries, Inc.

1630 Terre Colony Court | Dallas, TEXAS
888-222-4898 toll free |214-905-2021 local |214-905-2024 fax |(+44)020-7096-8920 intl



Liz usually answers the phone. Her email is Liz@maximskylights.com.
Surprisingly David email is David@maximskylights.com.

I am 99% sure they do no installations.

There are great to deal with.

Regards,

Ken

[wxbuoy]

Kevin,

Thanks for the great instructions. I was up on the roof today to replace the a/c cover and wondered what I was going to do about the skylight mess!! Thanks again!

[Woosch]

Great post. Thank you.

[nickmeloy]

Originally Posted by Wingeezer

I see that they have offices in both Florida and Texas. Do you know where Liz is located?

The Florida location is a warehouse that services the building industry. You will want to work with the Texas location.

Nick Meloy
10/2/2010

[Gavin]

Today I completed the job of replacing both skylights on my 2005 Classic. Your instructions and photos were excellent. I followed them to the letter and am very satisfied with the results.

[TSchleff]

Originally Posted by Gavin

Today I completed the job of replacing both skylights on my 2005 Classic. Your instructions and photos were excellent. I followed them to the letter and am very satisfied with the results.

Gavin ...

I see that you have the same model of trailer that I do, and at the end of last year we noticed a couple drops of water from our skylight at the front of the camper. A couple of questions for you.

1. What kind of caulk did you use?
2. How did you get up on the roof to do the repairs? Did you just use a step ladder?

[Ag&Au]

Originally Posted by TSchleff

Gavin ...

I see that you have the same model of trailer that I do, and at the end of last year we noticed a couple drops of water from our skylight at the front of the camper. A couple of questions for you.

1. What kind of caulk did you use?
2. How did you get up on the roof to do the repairs? Did you just use a step ladder?

Hi,

Kevin says in post #7 that he used 3M Marine 5200.

I used Sashco 10010 Big Stretch Gray Caulk

Sashco 10010 Big Stretch Gray Caulk - AZ Partsmaster


I am not sure how Kevin got onto the roof. When we replaced ours, we used a 12 foot step ladder and stepped carefully over to the roof while the bottom of the step ladder was held in place by another person.

There are many threads about getting onto the roof and how to behave once there.

Here are a couple.

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f478...roof-8178.html

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f478...ing-37397.html

Ken

[Steelegood]

Kevin:

Thanks for the information. We have an '05 classic and like most, we (luckily) found out the domes were over torqued, and had them replaced in warranty, will have to make another trip topside to see if they were "over screwed" (pun intended) also when it gets warmer. Why did you pick the Maxim skylights? I need to replace the fantastic fan in the lav., and I believe your information will be of great use, thanks

Regards, Terry

[Wingeezer]

Originally Posted by Gavin

Today I completed the job of replacing both skylights on my 2005 Classic. Your instructions and photos were excellent. I followed them to the letter and am very satisfied with the results.

Hi Gavin,

We have the same model AS as yours I believe - 2005 Classic 30 and so while I realize there is no guarantee, I would think our skylights "should" be the same size!

I do have a few dimensions of our skylights that I took last summer as I was thinking then about replacement. At the time I took the dimensions, my thoughts were to probably just get new ones "in kind" from AS so I maybe didn't measure as accurately as I could have done and I didn't actually take detailed curb dimensions.

Now, our trailer is buried in snow and not a good time to go up on the roof!

We are planning to go to Arizona next month though and I was thinking about stopping at the Maxim place in Dallas, and if they are willing, have them go up top and measure what they need so there is no error and then if it wouldn't take too long, stay in the Dallas area for a few days while they make me up a set. I will call Dave in Dallas to see if this is practical.

From what Ken says, they won't install, but that's ok, at least I would know they are made properly and there would be no shipping cost.

If don't want to do that, maybe I can get back up on the roof when we get to Dallas and take some more measurements myself.

In the meanwhile, I am just wondering if you have any curb dimensions, length, width, thickness of curb & height of curb?

It might serve as a cross check on the measurements that I have.

From the measurements that I do have it looks as though the
curb outside dimensions of the two skylights on my trailer should be about:

16 7/8" x 24 1/2"

and

21 5/8" x 21 5/8"

The width of curb looks to be about 1", and I didn't have a figure for the height. (maybe you have?)


I took these measurements with the existing (cracked!) skylights still in place and just tried to measure back in under the skylight and subtract from the overall plastic skylight width in order to get the curb size, so my figures could be off a little I would hope no more than an eight on an inch or so!


If you did have any dimensions, it might help to corroborate the figures that I have - or maybe convince me I need to get back up there and double check!


If you would prefer to reply off the forum, I'd really appreciate it if you could shoot me an email at bricon1@cogeco.ca

From what I see in the drawing that was posted on the forum, It seems as though Maxim give you nominally about 1/4" oversize all around when they manufacture these, so unless dimensions are way off here shouldn't be a problem.



Many thanks ................. Brian

[TSchleff]

Originally Posted by w7ts

Hi,


I used Sashco 10010 Big Stretch Gray Caulk

Sashco 10010 Big Stretch Gray Caulk - AZ Partsmaster


Ken

Ken ... Thanks for the idea about the caulk. I would think having a brand that would remain flexible would be a great idea of a trailer going down the road.

[Bambi_Bandit]

Originally Posted by Steelegood

Kevin:

Thanks for the information. We have an '05 classic and like most, we (luckily) found out the domes were over torqued, and had them replaced in warranty, will have to make another trip topside to see if they were "over screwed" (pun intended) also when it gets warmer. Why did you pick the Maxim skylights? I need to replace the fantastic fan in the lav., and I believe your information will be of great use, thanks

Regards, Terry

Hi Terry,

I selected initially selected Maxim as they were one a the few that would even talk to me about doing a custom skylight, even for an Airstream... Most laughed as soon as they heard my application and/or didn't even know what an Airstream was. I then decided on them after talking to David (the owner there) and his knowledge and guidance about what could and couldn't be done was phenomenal. After that call, I knew that the product I was ordering was backed by great customer service and knowledgeable folks.

The options for colors (tint) / materials / and thermal insulated layers are also offered by no other skylight manufacturer willing to make them for an RV that I am aware of....

Remember, these are residential / commercial grade hurricane rated units....traveling 65MPH on a regular basis sounds like hurricane winds to me. How many folks have had their "factory" skylights blow right off during transit (even with the new double stick tape material they use)?

I also have an tendency to over engineer things, and for something as critical as this, I wanted as much over-engineering as I could get. This things is WAY over-engineered and I have full confidence that I'll leak in a vent, window or seam before my skylights will ever leak.

Don't just take my word for it. I think since the time of my posting to now, Maxim has made about 60 replacement skylights for Airstreams. I'm sure others who have replaced theirs would chime in and share similar sentiments.

[nickmeloy]

Originally Posted by Wingeezer

Hi Gavin,

We have the same model AS as yours I believe - 2005 Classic 30 and so while I realize there is no guarantee, I would think our skylights "should" be the same size!

I do have a few dimensions of our skylights that I took last summer as I was thinking then about replacement. At the time I took the dimensions, my thoughts were to probably just get new ones "in kind" from AS so I maybe didn't measure as accurately as I could have done and I didn't actually take detailed curb dimensions.
......

In the meanwhile, I am just wondering if you have any curb dimensions, length, width, thickness of curb & height of curb?

It might serve as a cross check on the measurements that I have.

From the measurements that I do have it looks as though the
curb outside dimensions of the two skylights on my trailer should be about:

16 7/8" x 24 1/2"

and

21 5/8" x 21 5/8"

The width of curb looks to be about 1", and I didn't have a figure for the height. (maybe you have?)


I took these measurements with the existing (cracked!) skylights still in place and just tried to measure back in under the skylight and subtract from the overall plastic skylight width in order to get the curb size, so my figures could be off a little I would hope no more than an eight on an inch or so!


If you did have any dimensions, it might help to corroborate the figures that I have - or maybe convince me I need to get back up there and double check!


Many thanks ................. Brian

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +

The actual measurements on our 2006 model year 30 ft. Classic are:

Forward skylight opening: 22" x 22" outside dimensions
0.75" curb width
1.375" curb height

Aft skylight opening: 24.75" x 17" outside dimensions
0.75" curb width
1.375" curb height

The outside dimensions above would become the inside, or clearance, dimensions for theskylight assembly, with a small allowance added for fit purposes.

I doubt that Airstream closely controls these tolerances, so there is very likely considerable variation from trailer to trailer. The corner angles on my skylight openings were not exact 90 degree angles.

[Ag&Au]

This is the original drawing sent to me by Maxim before we discovered my 2010 curbs were larger. The skylight frame inside dimensions should be 1/4 inch larger than the curb outside dimensions.

Ken