ROOFLIGHTS
Don’t be caught out: The logistics of installing a skylight or rooflight Rooflights are a staple in modern and period homes alike. Their versatility and ability to add light to hard-to-reach places means they are a favourite amongst both specifiers and homeowners. But when it comes to handing over your designs to your clients, they might benefit from a few tips on how to install a skylight or rooflight. If they don’t plan, the dream you’ve designed for them may become a nightmare to make a reality. Peter Daniel, Product Innovation Director at the Rooflight Company, explains how to prepare for rooflight installation, to make the process as smooth as possible for your project…
Whether a rooflight is being installed on a single storey extension, or a multi-storey home or apartment building, the universal question is how will it get up there? As with most things on a construction site, rooflights will be delivered on the back of a lorry and left at ground level. So, the installation must be managed between the contractor and homeowner. But there are things they will need to consider before the rooflight even arrives on site and, as a trusted specifier, they may look to you for guidance. The first consideration is access. Can a lorry enter the site? It’s common at the Rooflight Company for us to deliver multiple products to different customers using the same vehicle. We purposefully use large vehicles to deliver our products to reduce our milage and, therefore, carbon emissions. If a large HGV can enter the site, there won’t be any problems, but this is not always the case. If the site is too small to accommodate
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an HGV, it’s important that we are made aware as soon as possible so that we have time to make alternative arrangements. Although we typically deliver kerbside, we can adapt our delivery process to accommodate special requests. Once delivery is finalised, the next consideration is how to offload the rooflight once it arrives. Never underestimate the size and weight of these products. While our products are made from steel and aluminium, once the glass is added to the frames, they are often too heavy to be offloaded by hand. It’s also worth noting that multiple products are often delivered on the same pallet, so it’s easy for the weight to build up.
“Once delivery is finalised, the next consideration is how to offload the rooflight once it arrives. Never underestimate the size and weight of these products. ”
Even products such as our small neo Advance Skywalk, which is under 1m2, still weighs more than 100kg, as it has been designed to be walked on. So, it’s a good idea to have organised some form of mechanical assistance ready to offload the product. Delivery can be refused on health and safety
Spring 2022
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