Fitting a skylight means cutting into the roof of a home somebody is living in. Done carelessly, it brings dust into every room, leaves the house open to the weather and ends with a team that has gone before the job feels finished. Done with care, it is a few well-ordered days and a room that is lighter at the end of them. Each step is written down below as we carry it out, so you know what to expect and can hold us to it.
The free survey
Everything starts with a visit to your home. We look at the roof from outside and from the loft where we can, and we look at the room below, because the room decides what the light is for. We measure up, check the rafter size and spacing, note the roof covering and think about how the work will be reached, whether from inside or from a tower or scaffold.
We also ask about you. Who is at home during the day, whether anyone works from home, where the children sleep, whether there are pets, and which rooms need to stay usable. These answers shape the day plan as much as the roof does. If the house is listed or in a conservation area, we talk that through too, and point you to our skylight planning permission guide if it is relevant.
The written quote and your day plan
After the survey you receive a written quote, laid out line by line: the product, access, structural work, weathering, inside finishing and Building Control. Our costs page explains each line. Alongside it comes a plan for each day of the fit, written for your home and the people in it.
The day plan tells you:
- which rooms we will be working in, and on which days
- when the roof will be opened, and when it will be closed again
- when any noisy or dusty work is expected
- when the Building Control inspection is likely to fall, where the work is notifiable
- who will be in your home, because the same team carries the job from first day to last
- when we expect to finish and hand over
If the weather or the roof itself changes the plan once we are under way, we tell you that day and give you the revised plan in writing.
Protecting your home before work starts
On the first morning, nothing is cut until the house is protected. We lay floor protection along the route from the door to the work area, including the stairs, and cover the floor of the room itself. Furniture that cannot be moved is wrapped, not just draped. Where the layout allows, we screen the work area off from the rest of the house to keep the dust in that one room. In carpeted rooms, shoes are covered or changed.
Outside, we protect paths, borders and anything under the work area, and we agree with you where materials and waste will sit so they are not in your way. If a scaffold or tower is needed, it goes up with the same care and comes down as soon as the roof work is done.
Each working day
Each day follows the plan. We arrive when we said we would, tell you what is happening that day and get on with it. Roof work is timed around the forecast, and we would rather move a day than open the roof in front of heavy rain.
At the end of every working day the roof is made safe. The opening is either glazed or closed with a fixed temporary cover, battened down so the wind cannot lift it. Your home is never left open to the weather overnight. Inside, we clean as we go and do a proper clean-down before we leave each evening, so dust is lifted that day rather than walked through the house.
What you can expect from us each day
- A word at the start of the day about what is happening
- Work kept to the rooms named in the plan
- The roof weathertight before we leave
- A clean-down of the work area and the route through the house
- A word at the end of the day about what comes next
The hidden work, done properly
Most of what decides how long a rooflight lasts is covered over by the time the decorating is done. Cut rafters need new trimmers to carry the load. The flashing has to be dressed into the roof covering, under and over the courses. On a flat roof, the upstand has to be insulated and high enough to keep water off the frame. The membrane and vapour control layer need sealing to the frame, and the insulation has to be brought tight around it so there is no cold gap.
We give these stages the same attention as the glass you will look at every day. We also photograph them as they go in, and the photographs are yours at handover. A buyer's surveyor, or you in some later year, can look at the pictures and see how the trimmers, upstands and flashings were built behind the plaster and under the lead.
Where the work is notifiable under Building Regulations, we handle the Building Control notification and arrange the inspections, so the people checking the work see it at the right stage.
Clearing up
When the fitting is finished, we clear up properly. All waste and offcuts go away with us. The floor protection comes up only once the dust has been dealt with, and we clean the room and the route through the house before we call the work complete. Furniture goes back where it was. The glass is cleaned inside and, where it can be reached safely, outside too.
The handover walk-through
The last part of the job is the handover, and we never skip it. We walk you through the finished work: how the window opens and locks, how any blinds or controls work, how to clean the glass safely and, for an electric rooflight, what the rain sensor does. We look at the finish together, room by room, and anything you are not happy with goes on a list that we put right before we call the job done.
You are then given your paperwork:
- the product details and the makers' warranties
- your 10-year workmanship guarantee, in writing
- the Building Control completion paperwork where the work was notifiable
- photographs of the hidden work
- care notes for the glass and frame
What the guarantee covers, and how to raise a claim if you ever need to, is set out on our guarantee page.
Starting with a survey
If this is how you would like your rooflight fitted, the first step is a free survey. Send us a few details through the enquiry form below or on WhatsApp, and we will arrange a time that suits you.