We guarantee our workmanship for ten years. That is our own undertaking, given directly to the person who paid for the work, and it is not an insurance backed policy. We say so plainly because the two are frequently blurred in this trade and the difference matters to anybody trying to work out what a promise is worth.
What it covers
The work we did.
The forming of the opening, the kerb or the trimming, the flashing or the waterproofing detail, the fixing of the unit and the insulation and sealing around it.
Why that is the important half
Because that is where water arrives.
Almost every rooflight failure we attend is at the junction between the unit and the roof rather than within the unit, and the junction is what we made.
What the manufacturer covers
The product, for its own stated period.
A sealed unit against misting, a frame against defect, and a mechanism against failure, each for whatever period that manufacturer states.
Why you get two documents
Because they cover different things.
A product guarantee does not cover the weathering detail somebody formed around it, and our guarantee does not cover a sealed unit that fails at the edge seal.
What a misted unit falls under
The manufacturer, generally.
An edge seal that has admitted moisture is a product failure, and it is a warranty claim rather than a workmanship one.
What it is is on why is my rooflight misted up.
What a leak at a kerb falls under
Us, and without argument.
A waterproofing termination, a flashing lap or an underlay collar that we formed is our work, and if water is arriving through it we come back.
What is not covered
Things nobody made.
Accidental damage, storm damage, a covering fault elsewhere on the roof, and anything that follows from work carried out by somebody else after ours.
Blocked drainage
Maintenance rather than a defect.
Weep holes and drainage channels silted with leaf litter are a maintenance item, and a system that has backed up because it was never cleared is not a failure of the work.
What to clear is on do electric rooflights need servicing.
Condensation
Not a defect, and we will still look at it.
Water forming on the room side of glass is the room meeting a cold surface, and if it appears after our work we would rather come and explain it than leave somebody worrying.
How to tell is on is it condensation or a leak.
Where the reveal was not ours
Stated at the outset.
Where a homeowner or another trade finishes the reveal, the insulation and the vapour detail behind it are outside what we can stand behind, and we say so in writing.
What would invalidate it
Somebody else altering the detail.
A bead of sealant run round a drained system, a flashing dressed over, or a covering altered around our work all change what we installed.
Why sealing round it is the common one
Because it looks like a fix.
Sealing the perimeter of a drained system traps water it was designed to release, and the result is worse and much harder to diagnose afterwards.
Why is on can a leaking rooflight be resealed.
What we ask of an owner
Very little maintenance, and it matters.
Clear the drainage once a year, keep debris off the covering above the unit, and wipe the gasket on an opening one.
How to make a claim
Contact us directly.
A photograph, a note of when the water appears and what the weather was doing, and we arrange a visit rather than asking for a form.
The details are on the contact page.
What we do first
Diagnose before we agree anything.
We test from the bottom of the detail upward rather than assuming, because the commonest reason a leak returns is that somebody repaired where it was showing.
The method is on why is water coming in around my rooflight.
What it costs to call us back
Nothing, within the guarantee.
A visit to investigate work we carried out is part of the undertaking, whether or not it turns out to be our fault.
If it is not our fault
We tell you, and we tell you what it is.
A slipped tile above a rooflight or a blocked outlet is a different repair, and it is more useful to say so than to replace something that was working.
Whether it transfers
To the next owner, yes.
The guarantee attaches to the work rather than to the person, which is worth knowing when a house is sold within the period.
What we give you at handover
The paperwork that matters later.
The guarantee, the manufacturer documentation, the specification of what was fitted, and any Building Control completion certificate.
Why the specification is worth keeping
Because a future part is ordered against it.
A seal, a pane or a blind years from now is identified from what was installed, and having it saved turns a survey into an order.
What happens if we are not here
Worth being straight about.
A workmanship guarantee from a firm depends on that firm existing, which is exactly the difference between it and an insurance backed policy.
We would rather say that than let somebody assume otherwise.
Why we do not offer an insurance backed policy
Because it would change the price and not the work.
The thing that actually keeps a rooflight dry is the detail somebody formed around it, and no policy improves that.
What we would rather be judged on
Coming back.
Any installer can print a period on a certificate, and what matters is whether somebody answers the phone in year seven.
Statutory rights
Unaffected by any of this.
A guarantee is given in addition to your legal rights as a consumer rather than in place of them, and nothing here limits them.
Thinking about this job? We survey across Worthing, West Sussex and the South Downs and give you a fixed price before any work starts, with a 10-year workmanship guarantee.