If your electric rooflight is stuck open in the rain, deal with it from inside. Protect the floor and anything below with buckets and towels, isolate the power to the unit at the consumer unit or its fused spur, and keep off the roof. Do not climb up to it and do not force the sash by hand, because forcing a jammed unit bends the actuator or snaps a chain and turns a fault into a certain replacement. Once the immediate mess is contained, the unit needs assessing to find why it stuck.
The safe sequence, from inside
- Protect the room. Move furniture, electricals and anything that matters out from under the opening. Put buckets or a large container under the drip, lay towels to catch splash, and get a bowl under any run that is tracking along a beam or the ceiling line.
- Isolate the power. Turn off the circuit feeding the rooflight at the fused connection unit near the opening, or at the consumer unit if you are not sure which spur it is. This stops the unit trying to drive against a jam and removes any electrical risk from water near the control gear.
- Catch water away from the electrics. If water is running towards the control unit or a light fitting, contain it and keep it clear of them. Do not touch wet electrical parts.
- Leave the sash where it is. Once the power is off, the unit will hold its position. Do not try to pull it shut.
- Ventilate the damp. Once the rain eases, open a window elsewhere to help the room dry, and lift wet floor coverings if you safely can.
Two things not to do, whatever the weather. Do not go onto the roof. A wet roof is dangerous, and there is nothing you can safely do up there that is worth the risk. And do not force the sash by hand against a jammed actuator. It feels like the obvious move and it is the one that reliably breaks something, bending the arm or snapping a chain link, which takes a possible fix off the table.
Why forcing the sash makes it worse
The actuator drives the sash through a chain or a screw spindle. When it jams, on grit, salt, a failed motor or a tripped cut-out, that drive is under load. Pushing or pulling the sash by hand adds force in a direction the mechanism is not built to take, and the weakest part gives: a chain link deforms, the spindle arm bends, or the drive gears strip. A unit that might have been freed and set going, or at least driven closed once for weathertightness, is then a definite replacement. The mechanism side of this is on the failed opening mechanism page.
If it stuck during a power cut
A mains unit that was open when the power failed will stay open until the supply returns, because it cannot be driven without power. If the power is simply out, the unit will usually close on its own once it comes back, assuming the mechanism itself is sound. Contain the water from inside and wait. Do not go up to it. The full picture on power-cut behaviour, including battery backup and manual override, is on the electric rooflight in a power cut answer. If your unit has a manual release you were shown at handover, and you can reach it safely from inside, that is the one exception.
What happens when we assess it
Once the room is contained, the unit needs looking at to find why it stuck. Common causes are a jammed or failed actuator, a tripped safety cut-out on a labouring motor, a control fault, or a sash binding in hardened seals. We check the mechanism, the controls and the seals, and tell you honestly what has happened. We do not repair failed units. If the actuator has gone, or the controls are obsolete, or the frame has been strained by sitting open, the honest answer is replacement, which renews the seals, flashing, controls and warranty together. If it is a simple control glitch on a current, supported system, we will say that too.
If the unit would not respond before it stuck, the rooflight not responding to the remote answer covers the checks, and if the controls are the dead end, the obsolete controls page explains why. The wider service is on the electric skylight installation page.
Common questions
My electric rooflight is stuck open in the rain. What do I do right now?
Work from inside. Move anything that matters out from under the opening, put buckets and towels down to catch the water, and isolate the power to the unit at its fused spur or the consumer unit. Do not climb onto the roof, and do not force the sash by hand, because forcing a jammed unit bends the actuator or snaps a chain and makes it a certain replacement. Once the water is contained, get the unit assessed.
Can I just pull it closed by hand?
No, unless your model has a manual release you were shown at handover and you can reach it safely from inside. Otherwise, pulling a jammed sash against its actuator loads the mechanism in a direction it is not built for and breaks the weakest part, a chain link or the spindle arm. That turns a possible fix into a definite replacement. Isolate the power, contain the water, and leave the sash where it is.
Will you repair the unit that stuck?
We do not repair failed units. We assess why it stuck, and if it is a jammed or failed actuator, obsolete controls, or a frame strained by sitting open, the honest answer is replacement, which renews the seals, flashing, controls and warranty in one go. If it is a simple control glitch on a current, supported system, we will tell you that plainly rather than sell you a new unit you do not need.
Get it assessed and quoted
Once the room is safe and contained, tell us the make and model from the data plate on the sash edge and what the unit was doing before it stuck. We assess it, tell you honestly what has failed, and give you one written price for the replacement if that is the answer, fixed after survey with a 10-year workmanship guarantee.
Request a fixed quote to replace a stuck-open rooflight across Ipswich, Suffolk and north Essex.
Thinking about this job? We survey across Ipswich, Suffolk and north Essex and give you a fixed price before any work starts, with a 10-year workmanship guarantee.