Skylight and rooflight costs in Exeter

The product

A standard roof window is made in volume and priced accordingly. A made-to-measure aluminium lantern or a walk-on unit is built to order, with specification choices in glass, frame finish and opening gear.

Size

Larger units cost more to make, and they also need more people and lifting gear to fit.

Roof type and access

Slate, tile, a single-ply flat roof and a thatch edge each need different flashing or upstand work. A roof with awkward access, or a rooflight over a stairwell, takes longer to reach and make safe.

Scaffolding

Many jobs need an access tower or scaffold, and on a taller house or a roof lantern installation it can be a real line in the quote.

Structural work

Opening a roof means trimming rafters or forming a kerb, and sometimes adding steelwork or a new trimmer. A like-for-like replacement is usually simpler than a new opening.

Lining depth and finish

A deep roof build needs a longer lining, and a splayed lining takes more forming than a straight one. Lime plaster on an old ceiling costs more than board and tape on a plasterboard one. This is the part most quotes leave vague, and the part we record in the finish schedule.

Building Control and making good

Notification, plus decorating the ceiling around the opening, are part of the job, not extras added later.

These figures cover the unit and the fitting. They do not usually include scaffolding, structural steelwork or a full decorative finish inside, which depend on the house. Treat them as a way to judge whether a figure you have been given is in the right territory, not as a quote.

Roof window

The lower end is a standard-size unit replacing a like-for-like window in an easy-access roof. The upper end is a larger unit, a new opening in a tiled or slate roof, or a window with upgraded glazing and flashing for a loft room.

Flat rooflight

A small fixed unit on an existing upstand sits at the bottom. A larger opening unit, or one that needs a new upstand and roofing work around it, sits towards the top.

Roof lantern

This is the widest range, because lanterns are made to measure. A modest lantern on a ready kerb is a different job from a large lantern over an extension, with a kerb, structural support and a plastered lining forming the opening.

Sun tunnel

The tunnel length and the roof it passes through decide the price. A short, straight run through a pitched roof is the simple end, and a longer run through a loft with bends is the complicated one.

Conservation rooflight

Slim steel or aluminium frames, often with glazing bars, cost more than a plain roof window of the same size, and the price rises with the care the roof covering needs.

Walk-on rooflight

The glass build-up and the structure beneath it are the main costs. A unit that will take foot traffic is engineered to a loading specification, and that shows in the price.

Several costs sit outside a supply-and-fit figure, and a fair comparison keeps them separate. Scaffolding is one, because it depends on the height and shape of the house. Steelwork or a new structural trimmer is another, and so is any work to a flat roof covering beyond the immediate upstand.

A full decorative finish inside is a third. Some quotes include only the basic reveal and leave plastering and painting for you to arrange. We set out what is included in the finish schedule, line by line, so you are never guessing.

Replacing a rooflight in an existing opening is normally cheaper than forming a new one, because the roof has already been cut and the ceiling already has a hole in the right place. The saving is smaller if the old lining is poor, or the new unit is a different size and the opening must be altered.

Fitting a new sealed glass unit into a frame that is still sound costs less again, but it only suits a frame in good condition. We explain the options on the misted and failed rooflights page.

Two quotes at the same price can describe very different jobs. Ask each one what happens inside: who forms the lining, whether plaster is included, whether the room is left ready to paint. If the quote is silent on the inside, you may be paying a second trade later.

Our quotes are written and agreed before work starts, with the finish schedule alongside. For a real figure, send photos through the quote form, and read how quotes work for the steps that follow.

Two homes with the same rooflight on the same day can receive very different quotes, and the difference is rarely greed. It usually reflects what each installer has assumed about the ceiling, the access and the finish. A quote written from a phone call has to guess, and it guesses either high, to be safe, or low, to win the job.

That is why we survey first. Once we have seen the ceiling and measured the build between the ceiling and the roof covering, the quote describes your house and not an average one. If a figure changes after the survey, the written quote says why.

• Is scaffolding included, and if not, what is the allowance?
• Who forms the lining, and who plasters and paints it?
• Is the Building Control notification included in the price?
• What is the guarantee on the workmanship, and what does it cover?

The answers tell you more about the real price than the headline figure does.

Finally, remember that the cheapest part of a rooflight is often the glass itself. Labour, access and finishing make up much of the bill, which is why a larger unit does not always cost proportionally more than a small one.

If you are still choosing between types, the services overview sets out which suits which room. For the largest items, see roof lantern installation, and for rooflights you can stand on, walk-on rooflights.