Roof and Skylight Boarding in Barnet

Roof boarding in Barnet closes a broken skylight, rooflight or damaged roof opening with fitted boards, so the gap is covered and the building is more secure until a permanent repair can be arranged. Whether we can board it, how, and from which side depends on height and access. Most of that can be worked out on the phone before anyone climbs a ladder.

Please don’t go onto the roof or lean out of a window to look. Keep people out of the room below a broken skylight, since glass can still fall, and move valuables away from any drips if you can do it safely. Then call 020 4652 1801. Someone answers 24 hours a day.

When roof or skylight boarding is the right job

This service is for openings in or on a roof, not windows in walls. Typical cases include:

• A broken skylight or rooflight on a flat or pitched roof, cracked by a falling branch, debris or an impact
• Smashed glazing in a roof lantern over an extension or kitchen
• A gap left after storm damage, where part of the roof covering or a rooflight has come away
• A skylight used as a way in, on a shop or commercial unit with a flat roof that can be reached from outside
• An opening that needs covering after a fire, once the fire service has handed the building back

If wind damaged the roof, our storm damage guide covers what to do first and who else you may need. If windows or doors at ground level were also damaged, tell us on the call so we can look at the whole job together.

Access comes first

Height and access matter more on a roof than on any other boarding job, so they shape every quote.

On the call we’ll ask:

• How high the opening is. A single-storey extension is very different from the top of a three-storey house or a flat roof above a shop.
• How it can be reached. From inside through the room below, from outside by ladder, or from a flat roof with a safe way on.
• What the roof is made of and whether the area around the opening looks sound, as far as you can tell from the ground or from inside.
• The size and shape of the opening. A small square rooflight and a long lantern need different amounts of board and fixing.

Sometimes the safest approach is to board a skylight from inside, across the opening in the ceiling below, rather than working on the roof itself. Sometimes it’s the other way round. We’ll tell you which we think is workable before we agree anything. If we can’t reach an opening safely with what we’ve got, we’ll say so on the call.

Across Barnet that might mean a single-storey rear extension, a flat-roofed shop unit, or an upper-floor flat where the route to the roof is shared. We cover Whetstone, Totteridge and Cockfosters too, subject to confirming the address on the call.

Materials and fixings

The van carries boarding stock and fixings. We’ll discuss the size of the opening and the materials needed on the call.

• Exterior-grade plywood, typically 18mm, for most skylights and larger roof openings. It’s rigid enough to span the gap and stands up to the weather better than thinner board.
• OSB for smaller openings where it’s suitable.
• Security or anti-tamper fixings where someone could reach the board from outside, for example on a flat commercial roof.
• Non-destructive fixing into a sound frame or upstand where possible, so the permanent repair isn’t made harder than it needs to be.

Boarding covers the opening and makes it secure. It cuts down the weather getting in, but it isn’t a roof repair and we won’t describe it as watertight.

When the frame or roof around it is damaged

A skylight frame that’s split, rotten or pulled away, or roof covering that has lifted around the opening, gives a board nothing secure to fix to. We won’t fix boards to it and leave you with something that could move in the next strong wind.

If we find this on arrival, or you describe it on the call, we’ll stop and explain your options first. That might mean boarding a larger area so the fixings land in sound material, boarding the ceiling opening from inside instead, or telling you plainly that the roof needs a roofer before it can be boarded. Nothing extra is done without your agreement.

What happens on the visit

1. Arrival time is worked out on the call from your postcode. We don’t promise a time on this page because it genuinely depends on where you are and what’s already booked.
2. We check the opening and access against what we discussed, and take time-stamped photographs before starting.
3. Loose glass and debris are made safe around the opening where needed and part of the agreed work.
4. Boards are measured, cut and fixed using the method we agreed.
5. After photographs are taken once the opening is covered.

We’re over 10 years in the trade, fully insured (certificate on request) and DBS-checked, which matters when you’re letting someone into your loft or upstairs rooms.

What you receive

• The roof or skylight opening boarded and secured as agreed
• An itemised invoice
• Time-stamped before and after photographs
• A written statement of the work done

That paperwork is written so you can pass it straight to your insurer. Your insurer decides what’s covered. We’re not loss adjusters, but our insurance claims guide explains what to keep and send.

Boarding makes the roof opening safe for now. The permanent repair, whether that’s new glazing in the skylight or work from a roofer, can then be arranged in your own time.

What affects the quote

We quote on the call, free and clear, before any work starts. There are no prices on this page because roof jobs vary so much. The main factors are:

• Height and access: upper floors, roofs and ladder work take more time and care
• Number and size of openings: one small rooflight or a whole lantern
• Materials and board thickness needed to span the gap
• Fixing method, including anti-tamper fixings on reachable flat roofs
• Glass and debris to make safe first
• Frame condition, if more boarding or a different approach is needed

There’s more detail on our pricing page.

Questions people ask about roof boarding

Can you board a skylight in the rain or at night? We attend at any hour, including nights, weekends and bank holidays. Whether a roof can be worked on safely in bad weather is something we’ll talk through honestly on the call.

Will boarding stop the leak? It covers the opening and greatly reduces what gets in, but it’s a temporary make-safe, not a weatherproof roof repair.

Do I need to be there? Someone needs to give us safe access, particularly if we’re working from inside. A tenant or agent can do this if they’re told what to expect.

Get a quote for roof or skylight boarding

Send us the postcode, roughly where the opening is and how high, and a photo or two if you can take them safely from the ground or from inside. Don’t climb up to get a better picture.

Call 020 4652 1801 or Email us. We’ll go through access, agree the quote and arrange a visit.