Guide prices in Colchester
Up to 1 m²
Laminated walk-on unit with anti-slip finish, fitted level with the terrace
Up to 2 m²
Larger walk-on glazing
Large or bespoke
Big panes, structural calculations, lifting gear
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.
Is your address covered?
Distance is rarely the deciding factor. A roof in Sudbury, 13 miles from Colchester, gets the same survey, the same written quote and the same fitting process as one in CO1, CO2 and CO4. What changes the price is the job itself: size of unit, roof type, access and lifting. Clacton-on-Sea, around 13 miles out, is treated the same way.
Fit-only or supply and fit
Which works out better, buying your own or letting us supply? It depends on what you value. Buying your own gives you control of the product and what you pay for it. Letting us supply puts the whole job, unit and fitting, under one written quote. On a customer-supplied unit we still measure it against the opening, look at the upstand, and inspect the condition it arrived in. Warranty on the product sits with whoever sold it, while the fitting carries our own guarantee.
What the job includes
- Unit bedded and fixed so it sits level with the finished surface
- Drainage around the unit checked so water does not lie on the glass
- Protective film removed and the anti-slip surface left clean
- Non-fragile is not walk-on — We make sure the unit is genuinely designed for foot traffic.
- Structural calculations — We need structural calculations for the glass and its support before a walk-on job goes ahead.
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 walk-on rooflight 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 and building rules in England
Replacing a rooflight in an English home is a controlled fitting: it has to be self-certified by a scheme-registered installer or notified to building control. We are not registered with a competent person scheme, so replacements we fit are notified with a building notice, and the new unit has to meet current energy limits. Adding a new one usually means a building regulations application, because joists or rafters are trimmed. On the planning side, most house rooflights are permitted development if they project 0.15 m or less; on a side slope the glass must be obscured and fixed unless the opening part is over 1.7 m above the floor.
What to send for a quick quote
Each detail you send takes a question off our list. Photos inside and out show the opening and the ceiling. Rough measurements tell us the unit size. The roof covering tells us how it will be sealed in. Access notes tell us whether a tower or scaffold is needed. A product link, if you have one, lets us check it against the opening. Your postcode, CO1 or nearby, confirms travel.
Common questions in Colchester
Do you make good inside after fitting?
Yes, where the quote includes it. Internal finishing usually means lining the reveal with plasterboard, taping or skimming, and fitting trim where it meets the ceiling. Some people prefer their own plasterer or decorator to finish off, which is fine. The written quote spells out exactly where our work stops, so nobody is left guessing about who does what once the unit is in.
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.
Do you cover Colchester?
Yes. Fitters travel to addresses in Colchester and the surrounding districts, including CO1. We do not run an office there; the survey and the fitting happen at your property. A few island and remote postcodes are covered by arrangement; if yours is one, we confirm travel and dates before quoting.
Send a few photos and your CO1 postcode, and we will put together a written quote for the job.
