How We Price and Quote

There are two figures in this trade and they do different jobs.

The first is an indicative range, which we will give by email from a description and a photograph. It is free, it takes an hour or two, and it exists so you can find out whether you are in the right postcode before anyone visits.

The second is a fixed written price after a survey. It is itemised, it states what is unit, what is labour, what is scaffold and what is the Building Control fee, and it does not move afterwards. If we have got something wrong at survey, that is our problem rather than a variation on your invoice.

What actually moves the number

How We Price and Quote by Castle Skylights in Colchester & Essex

Not usually the size of the glass, which is what most people expect.

Whether the opening exists. Reusing a sound opening is the cheapest job in this trade. Forming a new one, or rebuilding a failed kerb, is a different order of work.
Structure. A steel over a wide opening has to be designed, supplied and installed, and it is often more than the rooflight.
Access. A single storey flat roof reached from a tower costs nothing extra. Second storey, or anything over a fragile roof, usually needs scaffold, and scaffold is a real line rather than a rounding error.
Glass specification. Solar control, triple glazing and acoustic laminates all move the unit price.
What is found when the old unit comes out. Soft timber has to be replaced. We flag it as a possibility at quotation rather than as a surprise afterwards.

What moves the number, and when it is known
Driver	Effect	Known at
Whether the opening already exists	The single biggest one. Reusing a sound opening is the cheapest job in this trade	Survey
Structure over a wide opening	A designed steel is often more than the rooflight itself	Survey, with an engineer where needed
Access	A single storey flat roof off a tower adds nothing. Second storey or a fragile roof means scaffold, which is a real line	Survey
Glass specification	Solar control, triple glazing and acoustic laminate all move the unit price	Your decision, at quotation
Kerb condition on a replacement	A failed kerb is a rebuild, not an adjustment	Survey. This is why we will not price a flat roof replacement over the phone
Decayed timber found on opening up	Flagged as a possibility at quotation with an indication, never sprung afterwards	Only on opening up, which is why we say so in advance
Building Control fee	A stated line on the quotation where the work is notifiable	Quotation

We publish no price list, because the honest figure comes from the survey and not from a table. What we can set out is what actually drives it, and at which point in the job each one becomes known, so nothing on the final price is a surprise.

What we will not do

How We Price and Quote, daylight pouring into a Colchester home

Give a fixed price over the phone for a flat roof replacement. The kerb decides that job, and a price given without seeing it is a guess with a number attached to it.

What things actually cost

How We Price and Quote on a Essex flat-roof extension

Rooflight quotations vary more than almost any other trade, and the variation is genuine rather than dishonest. The same phrase covers a like for like swap into a sound opening and a new structural opening in a roof that needs a steel. This page sets out where the money goes so you can read a quotation properly.

The four things that move every price

Whether the opening already exists. The single biggest factor. Reusing a sound opening makes it the cheapest job in this trade. Forming a new opening means cutting and trimming structure, and altering an existing one sits between the two.

Access. Frequently the biggest surprise on a quotation and nothing to do with the rooflight. Single storey reachable from a tower costs nothing extra. A second storey, a front elevation over a road, or a property with no off street parking generally means scaffold, which is a real line rather than a rounding error.

The product. Stock size against obsolete against made to measure, then the glass specification on top. Solar control, acoustic laminate, obscure and triple glazing are each a step up.

What is found. Decayed timber around an old opening has to be cut out and replaced. On a unit that has been failing for years it is a real possibility rather than a remote one, and an honest quotation names a contingency rather than pretending it cannot happen.

The one reliable way to spend less

Do several at once. Access is a fixed cost shared across everything done in the same visit, so two windows replaced together are meaningfully cheaper than two replaced a year apart.

This matters more than it sounds, because units fitted at the same time fail at about the same time. If two of three are misted, the third is not far behind, and doing it while the scaffold is up costs a fraction of doing it separately later.

What should be itemised

Eight lines. The unit, with manufacturer, model, size code and glazing specification. The flashing kit and which profile. The insulation collar, which is a separate order line and is the one most often omitted. Access, and who provides it. Making good, to what standard, and whether decoration is included. Disposal. Building Control where the work is notifiable. And a stated contingency for decayed timber.

A quotation that says roof window supplied and fitted and gives one number is not comparable with anything. Ask for the breakdown before comparing, not after.

Where cheap quotations save money

Usually in three places, none of them visible when the job is finished. A universal flashing kit rather than the correct profile for the covering. No insulation collar. And making good that stops at the plasterboard rather than including the plastering and decoration.

The fourth, on replacements, is forcing a modern unit into an old opening and packing the difference rather than adapting the opening properly. It survives about a year.

What we do

An indicative range by email, from a photograph, free and without an appointment, so you know whether the project is viable before anybody visits. Then a fixed written itemised price after survey, which does not move unless the job changes or something is found that we told you might be found.

We would rather lose a job on an honest number than win it on one that grows. If a quotation you have received is a long way below the others, the questions on this page will usually show you why.