One survey, one written price, and that price is what you pay.
Mid-job price increases are not bad luck. They are the consequence of a quote given without anyone looking at the roof properly. So we look at the roof properly, and then we hold the number.
Request your quote
Or email info@apexskylightsipswich.co.uk. Both reach the same place. We reply within one working day.
What to have ready
A two-line message is fine and we will work with it. But the more of this you can include, the more useful our first reply is, and the closer it will be to the final figure.
- Rough dimensions. The opening size you want, or the existing unit size if you are replacing. Pace it out if you have to. Approximate genuinely is fine at this stage.
- Roof type and covering. Flat or pitched. Pitched: concrete interlocking tile, natural slate, or deep-profile pantile, which is everywhere in Suffolk and needs a different flashing kit. Flat: EPDM, GRP, single-ply or built-up felt.
- New opening or replacement. The single biggest factor in the price. A like-for-like swap can be a third of the cost of cutting a new hole.
- Photographs. One of the roof from outside, one from inside looking at the ceiling or the existing unit. Worth more than any amount of description, and they let us spot problems early.
- Access notes. Side gate width, whether a scaffold lorry can get within reach, whether there is a conservatory or fragile roof underneath, whether parking is restricted. Access is the biggest swing on domestic pricing and it is the thing most quotes get wrong.
- Your postcode. It sets the exposure band, which decides whether coastal specification applies and what it adds. See areas we cover.
- Orientation, if you know it. Which way the roof faces drives the glazing specification. South or west means solar control glass.
- Timing. Urgent, tied to a builder’s programme, or budgeting for next year. All three are fine, they just change what we do next.
How the process runs
- Enquiry. You send the above, or as much of it as you have. We reply within one working day with a first view: which product suits, roughly where it sits in the published price ranges, and any flags we can see from the photographs.
- Survey. On the roof, free, no obligation, usually 30 to 45 minutes. We check the structure and whether it will carry what you want, the fall of the roof, the condition of the covering, the orientation for glazing specification, the exposure band, and the access. If there is bad news it surfaces here.
- Fixed quote. One written price, itemised, with the glazing specification and U-value stated on it. Scaffolding, structural engineering, Building Control fees and electrical work are shown separately rather than buried. You can take that document to another installer and compare it line by line, which is the point.
- Order. If you go ahead, a deposit covers the unit, because it is made to your surveyed size and cannot be resold. Lead time is typically two to five weeks depending on product, finish and whether marine-specification coating is involved.
- Installation. Nothing is opened until the unit is physically in stock. Access goes up, usually the working day before. The roof is watertight by the end of day one, every time, with or without the unit on it, and it is never left open overnight.
- Handover. We hose test the completed installation, walk you round the detail rather than just the finished look, and hand over the guarantee documentation, the glazing specification and the manufacturer’s warranty in writing.
The survey confirms the exact figure, and that figure is then fixed. It does not move unless you change the specification. If the survey turns up rotten decking, a covering at the end of its life, or structure that will not carry the lantern you had in mind, you hear it while walking away still costs you nothing.
If your rooflight is leaking now
Put it in the first line of your message and it moves to the front of the queue for a survey. Active water ingress compounds: it wets the timber inside the upstand, then the insulation, then the plasterboard, and each week the eventual job gets bigger.
What to do meanwhile. Get something under it to catch the water. Move anything electrical out from underneath. Take a photograph from inside if you can do it safely, and note whether the water appears during heavy rain, which points to a leak, or on cold clear nights, which usually points to condensation instead. Do not go up on a wet roof.
What we will not do is reseal it. We do not offer repairs or patching on anything, and the arithmetic behind that is on the FAQ page. A reseal buys twelve to eighteen months and leaves the wet timber where it is. We survey quickly and replace properly.
What is included in the price
- Survey, structure and fall checked, exposure band confirmed
- The unit, made to your surveyed size, in the specification written on the quote
- New insulated upstand where the job needs one, 150mm minimum, 200mm on exposed coastal sites
- Correct flashing kit for your actual covering, and all fixings, 316L stainless on coastal work
- Internal reveal formed and plastered where the opening is new
- Hose test on completion and a walk round the detail
- 10-year workmanship guarantee in writing, transferable if you sell
- Waste removal
Shown separately, never hidden: scaffolding beyond a tower, structural engineer’s fees, steels and ring beams, Building Control fees, decoration, and electrical work by a qualified electrician.
Before you send it
Worth two minutes if you have them. The costs page publishes real 2026 ranges by size and type, so you can sanity check any quote including ours. The services page covers all nine things we install if you are not sure which one you need. The guides library goes into the technical decisions properly.
Then send the form above, and we will get a survey date in the diary.
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.