What the job costs in Ilford
About 1 × 2 m
Aluminium lantern, double glazed, fitted and glazed on a ready upstand
About 1.5 × 3 m
Mid-size lantern, solar-control glass options
2 × 4 m and over
Large lanterns, lifting gear on the day
Guide ranges for supply & fit. Your price is fixed in a written quote after we have seen photos or surveyed. Scaffold, access towers or a crane are priced separately if the job needs them, and building control fees, where a job needs them, are shown as their own line.
Fitting across Ilford and nearby
Distance is rarely the deciding factor. A roof in Manor Park, 1 mile from Ilford, gets the same survey, the same written quote and the same fitting process as one in IG1, E12 and IG2. What changes the price is the job itself: size of unit, roof type, access and lifting. Barking, around 2 miles out, is treated the same way.
Buying your own, or letting us supply
There are two ways to do this. Supply and fit means we source a roof lantern that suits your roof and install it, so one company answers for both the product choice and the fitting. Fit-only means you buy the unit and we install it. With fit-only, the product warranty stays with the maker or seller, and our written guarantee covers the fitting work. Both routes get the same checks on the opening, the upstand and the maker's instructions before anything is fixed.
On the day, we cover
- Roof membrane checked where it meets the lantern frame
- Glass lifted and laid into the frame by hand or with gear
- Frame assembled on the kerb in the maker's set order
- Following the build order — We assemble lanterns in exactly the sequence the instructions give.
- Upstand size and tolerance — We check the kerb against the lantern maker's figures before the kit is opened.
From arrival to clean-up
Morning first: the team arrives, introduces itself and walks through the job with you. Dust sheets go down in the room below and along the route in. Then the opening and upstand, or the flashing on a pitched roof, are checked against the unit's measurements. A roof lantern goes in, is fixed to the maker's pattern and sealed into the roof covering. Inside, the reveal is finished as quoted. Before leaving, the team clears debris and talks you through what was done. Most jobs of this type take one to two days.
Planning, building control and Ilford
In England, a new rooflight opening generally needs building regulations approval because the roof structure is altered and the glazing must meet energy rules: 2.2 W/m²K for a rooflight in an existing home, or 1.4 W/m²K (or WER Band B) for a roof window. Planning is often not needed on a house: permitted development covers rooflights that stand no more than 0.15 m proud of the roof slope and sit below the highest part of the roof. Flats, listed buildings and areas with an Article 4 direction are different, so we check your address first.
Getting a price from photos
Keep it simple. Two or three photos, outside and inside. Approximate sizes. What the roof is made of. Anything awkward about getting up there, such as a conservatory below, a narrow side path or no parking. If you bought the rooflight online, the link or model name. Then your postcode in or around IG1. That is enough for a first price.
Common questions in Ilford
What is included in the price?
The written quote lists it line by line. Typically that covers fitting labour, fixings, sealants, membrane or flashing materials, any upstand work, internal finishing if agreed, and taking away the waste. For supply and fit, the unit itself is included too. Scaffold, lifting gear and any third-party fees, where needed, are shown separately so you can see what each part of the job costs.
Do you offer trade rates for builders and roofers?
We carry out subcontract fitting for builders, roofers, extension companies and commercial contractors. Pricing is per job or per schedule of units, agreed in writing before we start. We can work to your programme, fit on your upstand or build our own, and leave the opening ready for the next trade. Send drawings or a unit schedule and we will come back with a trade quote.
Can you replace an old dome without redoing the whole roof?
Usually, yes. If the existing kerb is sound, level and tall enough, a new unit can often sit on it with a fresh seal to the roof covering. If the kerb is rotten or too low, we rebuild it and patch the covering around it rather than stripping the whole roof. This is checked at the survey and included in the written quote, so you know the full scope first.
Questions before you commit? Send them over with your Ilford postcode and we will answer them plainly, with a quote alongside.
