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Today our roof lights were installed. We are pleased with the finished product and how they fit. The blue sky and sunshine helps of course. Almost helped take the edge off the unexpected contract lift costs (£1380 in the end, but we have managed to avoid the additional VAT and we got him to lift some roof trusses off the scaffolding which saved a job). Their man on site today admitted that it had taken a long time to get to this point. Not wrong! The photos will hopefully do them justice. Already they make such a difference to the light inside the house. And the feature window (circular on the top, octagonal currently from inside) in the full height entrance hall is really fantastic. Any thoughts on how to get the internals finished on this octagonal light? I was wanting to make it circular (and the window company advises this so that we don't get any issues with condensation on the visible frame (which would be covered by the insulation if we did make it circular).

Our designed house has 5 rooflights. 3 rectangular, 1 small square one in a bathroom and a large circular one above a two storey entrance hall, making it, I guess, the "feature" of the house. Our plot is surrounded by trees on two sides so getting light into rooms is an issue, hence the rooflights. Here is our rooflight story (part 1) We got some quotes in from companies and decided on our roof light manufacturer based on price and reasonable service. MBC agreed to make the upstands as part of our contract. The rooflight company quoted for the upstands also. We opted to let MBC do the upstands as they were already paid for effectively. MBC couldn't make the circular upstand so designed an octagonal one. We thought that would be OK, and that we would get an octagonal rooflight or make a circular finish inside later. We didn't mention the octagonal upstand to the roof light company. Not deliberate. Just didn't think anything of it. BIG MISTAKE. MBC put the frame up. They did the upstands whilst we were on holiday. The upstand finish wasn't great. Our roofers came on site and said that the finish would need to be better, otherwise the roof membrane wouldn't sit well over the upstands. We decided to sort them out ourselves so didn't approach MBC. No complaints about MBC on this issue as it was our decision not to ask them. Hubby had acquired a multi-tool and was keen to use it. You can see on this image that the edge of the upstand is not vertical as there is a bit of board plus the blue membrane sitting proud of the top edge. So we ripped the outer board off, cut new bits to size and then planed and sanded for a level smooth finish. We then filled all the gaps so the roof membrane could fit nicely. So far so good. Then mid August the roof light people come out for the survey (paid for by us, having at this point put down a 50% deposit of the total expected cost on 26 July). They like to measure the actual upstands in situ to make sure the rooflights will fit. Makes sense. Whilst on site, the installation manager notes that the octagonal window will likely be a little more expensive and it will be included on a revised, final quote which adjusts for the as-measured dimensions. He also informs us that the installation fee does not include lifting the rooflights off the lorry, lifting the roof lights on to the roof and that there needs to be additional health and safety such as a roof man anchor set. We ask him to get the revised quote to us asap as the roofers are back on site to finish roofing over the upstands. Two weeks elapse. We chase the quote. The roofers finish. We chase the quote again. The quote arrives. The cost of the octagonal rooflight is 100% more than the cost of the circular one. Mmm, that's a bit more than a "little bit more expensive". We lose sleep. We speak to the roof light company and say that is unacceptable and what can they do about it. They suggest adjusting the upstand. We inform them that this solution would have been easy had they told us 2 days earlier but now our roofers have roofed it over and are off site so it can't easily be changed. If only they hadn't taken more than 2 weeks to update their quote..... The roof light company decides that they can come up with a design solution so a circular rooflight will fit on an octagonal upstand. We ask to see it. Several weeks pass. I chase them. The lady on the phone is rude. I explain our situation, again. They send the drawing. We approve them. No choice now. We are 50% paid up. Let's hope this works. We have to pay the remaining 50% for them to even start manufacturing them and get us in the delivery queue. We do that on 10th October. 2-3 weeks lead time apparently. All goes quiet. We chase them. A delivery date is arranged for next week (13th Nov). We contact their contract lift suggestion who visits to quote for the crane needed. We had been hoping to put these in with our other windows (sharing the crane) at the end of September. The delays have made it impossible to do that. This comes in at £1350 plus VAT. We are horrified. Unforeseen costs. Am trying to be pragmatic but I am hating these rooflights more and more and we haven't even got them yet. This has been our worst experience so far with a supplier. Really disappointing. Couldn't possibly recommend them. And there is rain forecast all weekend so those bloody holes in our roof are going to let more water into our house (the are covered in plastic but it always finds a way in). Part 2 (next week, after they are fitted) - are they worth it? (gosh I hope so)