Conservation Skylights

[Dianne]

Hello there,

We need to buy 3 fairly large skylights and would appreciate any advice re the best supplier.

Looking at The Rooflight Company and Clement.

Appreciate any feedback you have for either.

Also I'm unsure what shape looks best more square shaped or longer shaped. I know that depends on the size of the space and personal preference but your views would be appreciated

Dianne

 

[Feltwell]

I fitted 3 of The Rooflight Company ones when I re-did our roof about 6 years ago - 2 small ones to replace original Victorian ones, and one larger new one to bring more light into a very dark room.

They've been fine, and I'm happy with how they look. One thing that did amuse me was the "flashing kit" they sent with them which was - a roll of lead! :lol: A bit of a DIY job, but easy enough! I didn't even use their lead, it was a bit thin I thought, I used some heavier stuff.

 

[Flyfisher]

It may depend on what you mean by 'fairly large'. We have three large rooflights in a new kitchen extension; two of them are about 1.8m wide by 2.1m high and one is 1.4m x 2.1m.

We used The Rooflight Company because we couldn't find another company that could make them in these sizes. As it was, the two larger ones had to be made with a single baseplate and two opening casements. This was probably just as well because they were very, very heavy and quite a job to install!

They were very helpful during the design phase and it was all handled by their 'special projects' department with a single point of contact to deal with our many questions and sizing changes because of our irregular rafter spacings but once everything was finalised they delivered when they said they would and everything was as expected.

The only slight hiccup was that they supplied the wrong brackets to attach the motors we wanted on two of the casements, but after a quick phonecall the correct ones arrived the next day.

We're very pleased with them, especially as we've now forgotten the price. :shock:

Here's a photo of the two large ones:

 

[Feltwell]

Ours aren't that big and they were still 'kin heavy! We unbolted the openers, got the frame up on the roof and installed, then took the openers up and fitted them afterwards.

 

[Flyfisher]

Yes, that's how we did it but it still needed four people on the roof - one at each corner. It also meant that the smallest window had the heaviest casement because it was larger than the two halves of the larger ones.

 

[Feltwell]

Speaking of which FF - all that talk a while ago of the plans for your new extension, a sneaky preview above which looks remarkably finished, when are we going to see a gallery of the (nearly - no proper project is ever fully...) completed job then?

 

[17c_lancs]

Have you also considered Lumen? I’ve just purchased 4 rooflights from them after researching the market place carefully.

It was a three horse race with the Rooflight Company and Clement eventually falling behind. Lumen offer Pilkington Activ self-cleaning glass as standard and the quality of their fittings is superb. They also scored high on thermal efficiency, their Rooflights are made in England rather than Poland and their liners are solid wood rather than mdf. Cost was however an issue, their product appeared more expensive by a country mile, but an online conversation with a very helpful gentleman called Paul at Lumen secured a deal that was extremely competitive.

Delivery was prompt and the after-care service has been excellent this included phone help with installation and the no quibble forwarding of a missing fitting.

With regard to window shape, we tried to be sympathetic to the existing fenestration, so went with wide rectangular rooflights with glazing bars to match mullions below where appropriate and narrow rectangular rooflights over staircases.

We love ours – it’s great to look up on a winter evening and see the stars and maybe even Comet ISON sometime soon.

 

[Flyfisher]

Speaking of which FF - all that talk a while ago of the plans for your new extension, a sneaky preview above which looks remarkably finished, when are we going to see a gallery of the (nearly - no proper project is ever fully...) completed job then?

Yes, I suppose some progress photos would be in order. The basic build is more or less complete but the interior still needs a lot of work, like a heating system, the floor tiling, the kitchen itself. We seem to have had a rather busy year that has distracted our attention and our relaxed schedule of having things ready for Christmas is rapidly turning into panic as the cold weather approaches and we face another winter without heating (well, not exactly 'panic' - we don't seem to do 'panic', which is probably why progress is so slow)

Anyway, to make matters worse, I lit our drawing room fire last week for the first time since the extension was built and discovered that the previously external chimney stack leaks like a proverbial sieve, which didn't really matter much before but now promptly fills the extension with smoke! So I reckon I now need to add a chimney liner to the 'to do' list, which will necessitate a cherry picker because the new roof makes scaffolding rather difficult. That'll teach me for not thinking ahead when repairing the top of the chimney before the new roof was finished.

 

[Zebra]

I can sympathise with that - seeming to do things in the wrong order, progress being slow, looking at another winter with no heating...
But we would love to see some pictures!
How is the rest of the house coming along?

 

[Flyfisher]

I can sympathise with that - seeming to do things in the wrong order, progress being slow, looking at another winter with no heating...
But we would love to see some pictures!
How is the rest of the house coming along?

Rather than commandeer this topic, I've added some progress pics to my original topic.

 

[Dianne]

Thanks for the replies.

Decided to go with Lumen. Good, easy to understand advice and I think they look best.

Cheers, Dianne