A rooflight installer that starts with the room
Vision Skylights installs and replaces rooflights and skylights across Cambridge and about 30 miles around, and we plan where the light will land before any roof is cut. The room comes first; the product follows from it.
A skylight is bought for what it does inside the house. Nobody stands in the garden admiring the glazing on a flat roof extension. They stand at the kitchen counter at eight on a February morning and notice whether they need the lights on, or they sit at a loft desk on a July afternoon and notice whether the screen has vanished under glare. Those two moments are what a rooflight is really for, so they are where our work begins.
Cambridge makes this matter more than most places. The land around the city is flat and the sky is wide, with very little high ground to shade a roof, so a rooflight here sees the whole sun path. A south facing slope in Chesterton or a flat extension roof behind a gault brick terrace in Romsey gets every hour of sun the day offers. That is a gift in December and a problem in June, and the difference between the two is decided by planning, not by the size of the glass.
Light first
Every job starts with orientation, the sun path and how the room is used, and the result is written down rather than kept in someone's head. This is the first of the three ideas the business is built on.
Before we talk about product, we look at which way the slope or the flat roof faces and what shades it: a chimney stack, a gable, a neighbour's extension, a tree that is bare from November to April. Then we look at the room. Where is the table? Where does the sofa face? Is there a television on the wall opposite the proposed opening? Is the room used in the morning, in the evening, or all day?
From those answers we decide what the rooflight has to do. Each orientation gives a room something different:
| Slope faces | What the room gets | What we plan for |
|---|---|---|
| North | Soft, even light all day | Enough size to gather it |
| East | Bright mornings, calm afternoons | Early glare in bedrooms |
| South | Hours of direct sun | Solar control glass and blinds |
| West | Low, warm evening sun | Heat late in the day |
This thinking is laid out in full on our page about how we plan the light. It applies whether the job is a large roof lantern over a kitchen, a pitched roof window in a loft bedroom, or a sun tunnel bringing daylight into a windowless landing.
Say it before we do it
Position, size, glass, shading and price are agreed in writing before the roof is opened, so nothing about the finished room is left to be decided on the day.
Every quote we send carries a short written light plan. It sets out where the opening goes, how big it is, what glass it uses and what shading, if any, it needs, together with the reason for each choice. If we recommend solar control glass on a south slope, the plan says why. If we suggest moving a lantern 600mm towards the garden end of an extension so the light falls on the dining table rather than the worktop, the plan says that too.
The point is that you can read it, question it and change it before any work is booked. A homeowner comparing quotes should be able to see exactly what they are being offered and what it will do to the room. That is also why we publish so much about how light behaves in our rooflight and skylight guides: the more you know before the survey, the better the conversation at it.
Finish it properly
We install to current Building Regulations, handle the Building Control notification where the work is notifiable, make good inside, and back the installation with a 10-year workmanship guarantee.
A rooflight that lets in beautiful light but leaves a ragged plaster reveal or an unfinished lining has not been finished. Our work covers the whole opening: the structure around it, the upstand or flashing, the glazing, and the inside reveal plastered and made ready for decoration. On pitched roofs that means the lining and the insulation around the frame as well as the flashing outside.
The guarantee covers our installation work for ten years. It is set out in plain terms, including what it covers and how to raise a claim, on our 10-year workmanship guarantee page.
What we install and replace
The work is installation and replacement, across ten kinds of roof glazing, each one planned with the same light-first method.
- New rooflights on flat roofs, roof lanterns and walk-on glazing for extensions and terraces.
- Roof windows and VELUX windows for lofts and vaulted rooms, including electric and opening units.
- Conservation rooflights for older cottages and homes in conservation areas, where the light plan also has to suit the planners.
- Energy efficient units and sun tunnels for rooms that need daylight without extra heat.
- Replacement of misted, tired or failed older units with better glass, which is often the simplest way to change how a room feels.
If an existing skylight has clouded over or never gave the light you hoped for, our page on misted and failed rooflight replacement explains how a replacement is planned. The same thinking about orientation and glass applies: a new unit is a chance to put the right glass on that slope.
Where we work
We cover Cambridge and the towns and villages within about 30 miles, from the city terraces out to the market towns and the fen edge.
That takes in the Victorian and Edwardian streets of Romsey, Petersfield and De Freville, the new homes at Eddington and Trumpington Meadows, and villages and towns such as Histon, Great Shelford, Ely, St Ives and Saffron Walden. Each has its own housing and its own questions: a long, dark side return in a terrace, a heavily glazed new build that already runs warm, or a cottage where the conservation officer will want a flush profile. The full list is on our areas page.
How to start
The first step is a light survey at your home, where we look at the room, the roof and how you use the space, and then send a written quote with its light plan.
There is no pressure to decide on the day. You will get the plan in writing, with time to read it, compare it and ask questions. To arrange a visit, book a light survey, or message us on WhatsApp if a quick question comes first. General guidance on what drives the price of roof glazing is on our costs page.
