Installing a skylight on your roof is a big decision. And just like every other big decision, cost plays a huge role when deciding to follow through or not.
Unfortunately, you can’t decide whether or not to install a skylight without transparent pricing. And the truth is, a skylight installation isn’t a cheap project by any means.
For over 30 years, the team at Bill Ragan Roofing has provided homeowners with an honest look at all the biggest pain points in the roofing industry: cost. Here, I break down how much a skylight installation costs in general, on average, and by specific skylight type that includes estimated labor costs.
This article answers the following questions:
- How much does it cost to install a skylight?
- Why does a skylight installation cost so much?
- What else affects the cost of installing a skylight?
How much does it cost to install a skylight?
You can expect a skylight installation costs anywhere from around $2,800 up to $7,000, with an average of around $4,800. However, one of the biggest factors of where you’ll fall on the range above is the type of skylight you want.
Using VELUX (the lead skylight manufacturer), let’s look at how much it costs to install the most common skylight. The prices below come directly from VELUX’s website for installing one skylight, including the product itself and estimated labor costs.
However, these are only estimates, and there’s no such thing as a fixed labor cost. So, you won’t know the actual price for your skylight installation until after getting an estimate from a local roofing contractor.
How much does it cost to install a fixed skylight?
VELUX’s fixed skylights are sealed and won’t open, which is where the “fixed” in the name comes from. While they won’t let fresh air in, fixed skylights are a great way to provide natural light without obstructing your roofline.
You can expect a fixed skylight installation to cost around $2,800-$4,700.
How much does it cost to install a manual vented skylight?
VELUX’s manual “Fresh Air” skylight is a vented skylight that opens to allow fresh air in. It’s opened manually with a handle or rod, depending on if you can reach it.
You can expect a manual vented skylight installation to cost around $2,900-$5,600.
How much does it cost to install an electric vented skylight?
VELUX’s electric “fresh air” skylight is a vented skylight that opens and closes using electricity by connecting it to a power source. You’ll get a standard remote to open and close this skylight, but it can be upgraded to add voice control, automatic control, and smart home automation.
You can expect an electric vented skylight installation to cost around $4,000-$6,900.
How much does it cost to install a solar-powered vented skylight?
VELUX’s solar-powered “Fresh Air” skylight is like the electric vented skylight, except it uses the sun’s power to open and close. It can also be upgraded to add voice control, automatic control, and smart home automation.
You can expect a solar-powered skylight installation to cost around $3,900-$6,800.
Why does a skylight installation cost so much?
At this point, you probably have sticker shock because of how expensive it is to install a new skylight. However, installing a new skylight is an actual construction project.
Installing a new skylight requires cutting drywall and a hole through your roof, framing for the new drywall, framing the skylight, putting new drywall to enclose the area, flashing the skylight, and painting the drywall to put the finishing touches. As you can see, it’s labor-intensive, with multiple trades (carpentry, roofing, and painting) on one project.
So, while the skylight itself is pretty affordable, the construction, labor, and time it takes to complete the skylight installation make it an expensive project. On the bright side, you won’t have to worry about this kind of construction when replacing the skylight in the future.
What else affects the cost of installing a skylight?
You now know why a skylight installation is expensive with the amount of construction and labor required. While the specific type of skylight also has a big impact on pricing, a few more things also determine how much it’ll cost to install a skylight.
The size of the skylight you’re getting installed
Just like the different types, skylights also come in different sizes to add the desired amount of natural light to your home. The bigger the skylight size, the more it’s going to cost.
Obviously, the skylight itself will be more expensive. However, larger sizes require more construction and labor to install, which really adds to the cost.
While not as common, you can also get custom sizes and shapes that get expensive very quickly.
Adding accessories to your skylight
You can add a wide variety of accessories to a skylight, like blinds (darkening, light-filtering, venetian), remote controls, smart automation, and more. The more bells and whistles you add, the more the skylight itself costs.
These accessories won’t impact the overall labor costs, but there could be small labor costs added if the blinds have to be installed on the skylight before installation. Adding accessories gets expensive quickly, but they’re worth it depending on what you want out of your skylight.
Just be mindful of your budget, and don’t go overboard if things get tight money-wise.
The roofing contractor you hire to install your skylight
Remember, you won’t know a skylight installation's actual cost until after getting an estimate. This is because a lot of a skylight’s installation cost depends on the roofing contractor you hire and their labor costs.
This not only includes their specific labor costs but also how they handle the entire project. A roofing contractor can offer a more affordable price if they’re able to do all the construction, installation, and painting in-house.
However, a roofing contractor with a general contractor’s license can put everything under one umbrella but can’t control what the other trades charge. This means the roofing contractor has to charge enough to pay the other trades while also making a profit.
There’s also the fact that every roofing company has specific overhead costs wrapped into roof replacements, roof repairs, skylight installations, and every other project. Because of this, every individual roofing contractor has different pricing for a skylight installation.
What do you need to know before installing a new skylight?
You now have an idea of how much a skylight installation costs, why it costs so much, and the main factors that impact the pricing. I understand the price is shocking, but a skylight is a bigger project than most people think.
Even more importantly, cost isn’t the only thing you need to know about installing a skylight before investing in one. The last thing you want is to have questions after the project is done instead of having the answers before investing thousands of dollars.
That’s why I wrote another article breaking what every homeowner needs to know about getting a skylight.
Check out 6 Things You Need to Know About Getting a Skylight to learn what you need to know before calling a roofing contractor for an estimate.
