About Solent Skylights

We supply and fit roof windows, flat rooflights, roof lanterns, opening and electric rooflights, walk-on glass, conservation rooflights and sun tunnels for homes. We also replace rooflights that have misted, failed or simply had their day. Rooflights are the whole of the business, so on every job the rooflight has someone whose only concern is getting it right.

What makes us different is where we start. Most rooflights in and around Southampton go into a roof that somebody else is building: a rear extension, a loft conversion, a new flat roof. In those jobs the rooflight is a small item with a big effect on the programme. If its size is wrong, the kerb is rebuilt. If it is ordered late, the roof waits under a sheet. If it is fitted out of sequence, the roofer and the plasterer come back twice.

We exist to stop that happening. We plan the rooflight into the build from the first drawing, so the people around it can get on with their own work.

Sized before the roof is built

Your builder or architect gets the kerb, upstand and opening sizes for the exact unit, in writing, before the deck goes on or the rafters are cut. If the kerb is already built, we measure it against the maker's requirements and say plainly whether anything needs to change.

Ordered to the programme

We ask when the roof will be ready, take the maker's lead time and work back to an order date. The expected lead time is named in our quote, and the confirmed delivery date goes to you and your builder as soon as the maker gives it.

Fitted in step with the trades

We fit when the roofer has finished the covering around the kerb or opening, and before the plasterer boards the reveals. We talk to the electrician about cables for electric units and reveal lighting at first fix. Each trade finishes once.

Signed off and guaranteed

Every rooflight is fitted to current Building Regulations. Where the work is notifiable, we handle the Building Control notification. Our workmanship is covered for 10 years, and the terms are set out here.

Our working with your builder page explains the method in detail, with the kerb drawing, the order date and the trade sequence laid out step by step.

We are based in Southampton and cover the city and every town within 30 road miles of it. That takes in Eastleigh, Chandler's Ford, Totton and Hedge End close by, Romsey and Winchester to the north, the New Forest towns to the west, Fareham, Gosport and Portsmouth to the east, and out as far as Salisbury, Ringwood and Andover. Our areas page lists every town with its distance from the city.

That area holds a wide mix of houses: Victorian terraces in Portswood and Southsea, interwar semis across the city, post-war estates and bungalows, new developments with trussed roofs, and old cottages in the New Forest and the South Downs. The planning picture varies too, with two National Park Authorities and many conservation areas. We check the position for every address and tell you what we find.

Distance is measured by road from the centre of Southampton, because that is the distance we actually travel. A town that looks close on the map but sits across the water, or at the end of a long detour, is measured the way we would actually drive to it.

We are a service-area business with no public premises. We come to you for the survey, and to site for the work.

We would rather give you a clear answer than a quick one. If a rooflight is not the right thing for a room, we say so and suggest what would work better, whether that is a different unit, a sun tunnel or simply a different position. If something on your roof needs attention before a rooflight can go in, we tell you, and we agree who will deal with it.

Everything that matters goes in writing: the quote, the kerb sizes, the lead time, the delivery date and any change to any of them. You and your builder see the same information at the same time, so nobody is relaying messages or working from an old drawing.

We are happy to talk to your builder, roofer or architect directly, by phone, email or on site. On a busy build that saves you more time than anything else we do.

A builder running an extension has dozens of things to order and coordinate, and the rooflight is one of the few that is made to measure, has a long lead time and sits where three trades meet. It is easy for it to slip to the bottom of the list until the roof is ready and it suddenly becomes the most important item on site.

Taking it off the builder's list and putting it on ours means it gets the attention early that it otherwise gets late. We know the makers' kerb requirements, their lead times and their installation details because rooflights are all we do. Builders tend to welcome that, because it is one fewer thing to chase, and homeowners get a rooflight planned around the programme rather than chased at the end of it.

It also means we can be straightforward about the product. Because the rooflight is the whole of what we sell, we can recommend the one that suits your room, your roof and your budget, and fit it properly.

Send the form, message us on WhatsApp or email us with a line or two about the job. If you have drawings, attach them or tell us they exist. We reply to arrange a survey at a time that suits you, or, if your project is still on paper, to talk through the drawings first.

At the survey we look at the roof, the room and anything that will affect the work: the covering, the structure, the access and the planning position for your address. If your builder is on site, we are glad to meet them there. Afterwards you receive a written quote naming the unit, its glazing, the expected lead time, what we need from your builder and what is included.

There is no obligation and no pressure. If you go ahead, we confirm the order date against your programme, send the kerb or opening size to your builder, and keep you both informed until the rooflight is fitted and the paperwork is in your hands.

• Roof lanterns for kitchen and garden-room extensions
• Flat roof rooflights, framed and frameless
• Roof windows for lofts and pitched roofs
• VELUX windows, new and replacement
• Opening and electric rooflights for ventilation
• Energy efficient rooflights with triple glazing and warm edge spacers
• Replacement of misted and failed rooflights
• Walk-on rooflights for terraces and lightwells
• Conservation rooflights for older and listed roofs
• Sun tunnels for halls, landings and windowless rooms

We fit units from established rooflight and roof window makers, chosen for the roof and the room rather than from a single catalogue. The maker, the product name and the size code are written on the quote, so you, your builder and Building Control all know exactly what is going in. Each product comes with its maker's own cover, which sits alongside our workmanship cover, and we pass all the product paperwork to you at the end of the job.

Where a job calls for something less common, such as a long frameless rooflight, a walk-on panel over a basement or a conservation unit for a listed roof, we say which makers can supply it, what their lead times look like and what the kerb or structure needs, before you commit.

If you are planning a project and want the rooflight settled early, book a free survey. We will look at the roof and the room, or work from your drawings, and send you a written quote that names the unit, the lead time and what we need from your builder. You can also send drawings by email and we will reply with our first thoughts.