When buying your own French doors, they can be brought from most door and window companies and are normally specified as internal French doors for loft conversions. The difference is that they open inwards allowing you to use them. Standard sizes the French door’s come in are 1200w X 2100h or 1500w X2100h. you can also get French door’s that have side panels and their 2400w X 2100h but i’m sure you can get made to measure French door’s that suit everyones needs. The balconies can be built by Iron / steel mongers and cost about £600 roughly for a standard 1200 wide with flush spindals. You can pay a few hundred pounds extra and get twisted spindals which look quite alot nicer or even go for reinforced glass but this option could cost you around £200 a squared foot so be ready when you receive a quote.

Here are a few pictures of a roof dome from some different angles

Roof dome from the outside.

Roof dome from the inside

The Countries leading Roof light company.

There are cheaper roof lights out there but none compare to the quality and style that Velux supply.

If your company / builder is suggesting to use another manufacture for the windows, this should sound alarms as they are clearly trying to save on costs, maybe to make a larger profit. If there cutting costs on the essentials needed to do a good sound loft conversion, then it makes you think what else they are willing to cut corners on to save a few pounds…? Timber, insulation etc.

When choosing windows for your loft conversion try to make sure they are as maintenance free as possible. In some cases it would always be best to use UPVc, especially if you have them in your house already, you could ask the company used for the rest of the house to give you some details/profile of the existing windows.

Other areas like conservation areas you are required to match in soft or hard wood to what you have already, we don’t recommend wood for maintenance reasons, two stories up windows are exposed to the elements, you will probably have to pay over the odds every other year just to have scaffolding erected to the rear to have them sanded down and maintained.

There is a company called Marvin who are a northern American company, they produce a very nice window in sash, which is white powdered aluminum on the outside and real wood on the inside. It is completely operational and works the same as a normal sash window, but it is completely maintenance free from the outside. Marvin gives a 20 year guarantee.

Roof Domes are fantastic to give the stair area natural light down the new stair case and to light up the existing staircase too. In some houses the stairs may come up onto the outside wall anyway and a window can be fitted instead but for all those mid terraces where the stairs come up in the middle of the house and there is no way of having a window… A light dome is the answer. the problem with a dome is that it goes into the flat roof so it is hard to clean unless you put a ladder up from the outside which believe me at that height is a scary thing to be doing…! You can buy self cleaning ones that are chemical based glass and are shaped so the wind and rain help keep it clean but even then you will still need to hand clean it once a year or so. It is really worth the hassle of cleaning though because the difference between a loft without stair light and one with is completely different. One without often feels like a walking into a dark cave.

You can also get internal opening domes which i personally don’t like as they are designed to be built into the flat roof, so just remember to close it at night or when you go out otherwise you might be coming home to a very wet house. You don’t really need ventilation on the stairs anyway, its only purpose is for light so really its just another way of getting a little extra cash out of you if you ask me. Also if you go for an opening dome, in 1-2 years the rubber seal may start to deteriorate due to the weather so try and avoid.

Always ask your Architect/Builder about roof domes, some lofts wont need one due to the design of the house and some lofts will be able to have a velux instead…

Roof domes normally come in three different sizes 600 x 600mm, 900 x 900mm and 1100 x 1100mm. The cost normally relates to the size, 600 x 600 @ £600, 900 x 900 @ £900 and 1100 x 1100 @ £1100. Normally these costs would including fitting but are only rough estimates of my previous experience. Make sure the chosen dome comes with a full 10 year guarantee as once installed it will be part of the flat roof.

The Country’s leading Rooflight company.

The mechanics behind the design make Velux world class from their standard M04 roof window to their amazing roof terraces and cabrio balcony systems.

Every loft (unless over 7m high) has to have a window from the front of the house as a means of escape, the code Velux use is called an GGL-M08.
The first part “GGL“ is the code in which velux know what family of window you are wanting to buy.
The second part “M08” is the size of the window you are looking for. 

To help here is a list of codes from Velux, the second part are the sizes.

M08 780mm x 1400mm (Fire escape) this window has to be top hung and not centre hung as this is the emergency window.

C02 550mm x 780mm This size is perfect for over the staircase. The first dimension given is the width of the window and the second is the length.

C04 550mm x 980mm This window is slightly longer by 20mm and is the same width as the C02 (above)

M04 780mm x 980mm This is the best selling Velux window. A good size and comes either top hung or centre hung.

M06 780mm x 1180mm Slightly longer and a bit more expensive than the M04.

S06 1140mm x 1180mm This is a monster of a window. One of the biggest roof lights Velux manufacture.

For the first part of the code you will have to order the Velux brochure and decide what style and finish you want to choose.  

Check out www.velux.co.uk to discover all the ranges of roof lights and roof terraces available.