Skylight and rooflight costs in Stockport

A photo shows the shape of a roof. It does not show what the timbers are like under the covering, how the felt or membrane is laid, where the cables and pipes run in the loft, or how the ceiling below is built. Those are the things that decide how long a job takes and what it needs, so we price from a visit. The survey is free, and it happens in your home with the room itself in view.

A picture on WhatsApp 07880 284133 is still worth sending. It lets us come with the right questions and, for a replacement, can tell us which maker and range is up there already. It just is not enough to price from.

Some things change the price whatever you are fitting. A new opening involves cutting into the covering, trimming and supporting the timbers around the hole and weathering it in, where a same-size swap reuses a lot of that work. Access matters: a single-storey extension you can reach off a ladder is a different day's work from a three-storey Victorian roof that needs scaffolding. The inside finish varies from a neat plaster reveal to a full lined shaft. And the unit itself varies with size, glazing, the way it opens and any blind or motor chosen with it.

Paperwork can change the picture, and the survey shows which papers your job needs. Where the work is notifiable, we handle the Building Regulations notification with the council's building control team or a registered building control approver. Fees for that, or for a planning application where one is needed, are set by whoever deals with it, and the survey tells us which applies. The answers index has a short cost page for each product, and the sections below point you to the right one.

On a pitched roof, the covering is the first question. Slate, plain tile and deep-profile tile need different flashing kits, and the way the window sits in the roof can change the kit again. Then comes how it opens: centre-pivot, top-hung, manual, with a control rod, or electric or solar. A blind is a separate purchase made for the window's size code and maker. On a replacement, how much of the old lining and flashing can stay is settled on the roof. The roof window cost answer and the VELUX window cost answer go into each of these in more detail.

Underneath every flat rooflight is an upstand, so the first thing that moves the price is whether that upstand comes with the unit or is built on site, and how it meets the felt, EPDM or GRP covering around it. Fixed, hinged and sliding units differ, and so does the glass. The flat roof skylight cost answer takes these one by one.

A roof lantern brings its own set: the size of the frame, the number of glazing bars, the frame colour, the glass and the kerb it stands on. A lantern on an existing roof can also raise a planning question, set out in the note below. See the roof lantern cost answer.

Walk-on glass is a different product again. The panel is built to carry a load, and its size, the grip finish on the top surface and how it is supported all change what the job involves. Our answer on walk-on rooflight cost goes through the choices.

With an electric rooflight, the power is the main extra question. A mains motor needs a cable route from a suitable supply to the window, while a solar unit carries its own panel and needs none. Whether a rain sensor is wanted, and whether the chosen maker offers one on that model, also counts. The electric rooflight cost answer goes through the options.

For energy-efficient units, the glazing build-up is what changes: double or triple glass, the coatings, the gas fill and the frame. Any new or replacement rooflight should meet the Part L figure for its type, so the choice is about how far beyond that you want to go and what suits the room. The energy-efficient rooflight cost answer covers it.

The extras that make a rooflight easy to live with are worth deciding at the survey rather than after the fitting. A window above head height needs a way to open it: a control rod, a manual winder or a motor, depending on the maker and model. A bedroom may want a blackout blind, a kitchen something lighter, a bathroom one suited to steam. Each of these changes the job a little, and some are easier to plan in from the start than to add later, particularly where a cable has to run to a motor.

So when we price a job, the way the room is used is part of it. Tell us who opens the window, whether the room has to be dark for sleep and whether small children live there, and the quote reflects the rooflight you will actually live with, not a bare unit you then have to adapt. Our page on daily use, product by product helps if you are not sure yet.

Conservation units are slim, lie low in the roof and some carry a central glazing bar. Their price turns on the size, the frame material and finish, the glass, and how carefully the slates or tiles have to be worked around them. In England, any alteration or extension of a listed building that would affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest needs listed building consent, whether or not planning permission is also needed. Allow time for that before any order goes in. The conservation rooflight cost answer has more.

A sun tunnel's price depends on the run from roof to ceiling: rigid tube or flexible, how long, how many bends, and what the dome and flashing have to suit on top. The diffuser needs a neat hole in the ceiling of the room below. See the sun tunnel cost answer.

For a misted rooflight or roof window, the first question is whether a new sealed glass unit can go into the frame or whether the whole unit is better replaced. That depends on the maker, the age of the window and the state of the frame, and it is settled at survey. The misted rooflight cost answer and the skylight replacement cost answer explain both routes.