Most of New York is flat roofs, and most flat roof skylight quotes are a phone number and a promise. Here are our real numbers. Unit prices include New York City sales tax, the factory solar shade and the remote. Labor is our standard replacement rate. Everything is confirmed in one free site visit before you commit to anything.
| What you are doing | Unit, incl. NYC tax | Labor | Installed from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Replace a fixed skylight existing curb still sound | $474 | $1,585 | $2,059 |
| Replace with manual venting fresh air, no wiring | $983 | $1,585 | $2,568 |
| Replace with solar venting rain sensor, no electrician | $1,890 | $1,585 | $3,475 |
| New opening, cut and framed no skylight there today | unit + cutting, framing, flashing, interior finish | from $2,900 | |
| Large format / SkyMax stocked to 48"×96", custom to 35 sq ft | $3,213 | from $2,500 | from $5,713 |
| Walkable or structural glass roof decks and terraces | Engineered to the opening, quoted per project | ||
Unit prices follow the current VELUX list, effective August 17, 2026, and are subject to change. Every price is confirmed in writing on your quote. Full unit price list on the pricing page.
A pitched roof sheds water. A flat roof holds it, sometimes for days after a storm, and that changes everything about how a skylight has to be built into it.
The unit has to sit on a curb. A curb is a raised frame built up off the roof deck that lifts the glass above standing water. The roof membrane gets turned up the side of that curb and terminated properly at the top. Get that detail right and the skylight is the most watertight thing on the roof. Get it wrong and it is the first thing to leak.
Deck mounted units do not belong on flat roofs. A deck mounted skylight is designed to be laid into a sloped roof surface with step flashing woven into the shingles. On a flat roof there is nothing for that flashing to shed into. We pull out newer units every year that failed for exactly this reason, and it is a detailing mistake, not bad luck.
Curb height matters more than people think. A curb built too low will pass a dry inspection and fail the first time water ponds. If your existing curb is soft, settled or was never tall enough, it gets rebuilt before anything new goes on it. That is quoted separately and honestly, because putting a new $474 unit on a bad curb is how you end up paying twice.
Whether the curb can be reused. The single biggest swing. A sound curb keeps you at the installed prices above. A rebuild adds real work.
What the roof around it needs. If the membrane is at the end of its life, patching around a new skylight just moves the leak. Sometimes the right answer is to do both at once.
Access. On a lot of New York buildings, getting a crew and materials safely onto the roof is a serious share of the cost. Walk up roof access and a boom lift are not the same number.
How many units. If you have four skylights of the same age and one is failing, the other three are on the clock. Doing them on one access costs far less than four separate trips, and multiple skylight discounts apply.
Replacing a fixed unit on a sound curb starts at $2,059 installed. Manual venting starts at $2,568, solar venting at $3,475, and a brand new opening at $2,900. Every one of those is confirmed in a free site visit.
Often yes, and it is by far the cheapest path. It has to be sound, square and tall enough. If it is not, it gets rebuilt first and quoted separately.
Then do both together. A large share of any roof job is the access, and paying for it once instead of twice is real money. We do the skylight and the opening detail; the roofing itself is your roofer's work.
Yes, and so is New York City sales tax. On deck mounted work the required step flashing kit is included too. Those are normally line items somebody adds later.
Depends on the work. A new unit in an existing opening is treated differently than cutting a new opening, and commercial buildings have their own rules. We will tell you which one your job is before you commit.
A straightforward replacement on an existing curb is usually a day. Cutting a new opening, rebuilding a curb, or a large format unit takes longer and we will tell you exactly what to expect when we quote it.