Roof windows

Start with the flashing, not the window. Every roof window is sold with a flashing kit matched to the covering around it, and the kits differ for slate, for low profile tiles and for deep profile tiles. The right kit is the difference between a window that stays dry for twenty years and one that marks the ceiling the first winter the wind comes from the wrong side. Tell us what is on your roof and we order the kit to suit it. Then think about where the window sits. Height matters: put the bottom of the window low enough that you see out of it sitting down, and the top high enough to clear your head where the roof slopes. Rafters matter too. A window that fits between two rafters is a quick job. A wider one means cutting a rafter and trimming the opening with new timber, which is fine but is a different day of work. Orientation decides comfort. South and west facing windows in Kerry and Cork can cook a small room in July, so a blind or the solar version is worth the money rather than an upsell. North facing rooms take the biggest jump in usable daylight from the same window. The opening type is a taste question, with one practical edge: a centre pivot is cheaper and cleans from inside, a top hung gives you the full view and clears your head when it is open. For an attic that is only a storage space, adding a window does not by itself make it a bedroom. That takes the floor, the stairs, the insulation and the fire work as well, which is the attic conversion page. What a window does do straight away is make an attic usable and safe to move around in, and it is often the cheapest improvement in the house per euro spent.

Will it leak?

Not if the flashing suits the covering and the underlay is dressed into the opening properly. Almost every leaking roof window we are called to has one of two problems: the wrong kit, or the underlay cut and left short so water runs behind the flashing. We fit the matched kit and dress the underlay into the frame, and we photograph that stage before the plasterboard goes on so you can see it was done.