Maintaining Your Rooflights: Roof Maker Guide

Maintaining Your Rooflights: Roof Maker Guide

Maintaining your rooflights might seem like an unnecessary chore, especially when Roof Maker rooflights have a life expectancy of 30 years, but to give them the best possible chance of lasting that long whilst looking their best, you’ll need to do a bit of easy maintenance.

Rooflights are naturally more prone to dirt such as bird mess, air pollution and rainwater; but our easy clean glass coating helps to protect your window from this. The coating means that when the rain hits, it spreads out into a large sheet, instead of forming into droplets. The water then runs down the surface of the glass, wiping the dirt away with it.

While this means you won’t need to clean your rooflights as much as usual, there are still things you can do to care for them. Here, we’ll go through a step-by-step guide on how to make maintaining your rooflights a simple and easy job.

Cleaning the glass

Every six months, we recommend that you manually clean the interior and exterior of your glass. When cleaning the inside, start off by dusting away any cobwebs or dirt; then use a squeegee to clean the glass, with either soapy water or a glass-cleaning product. Avoid using any harsh chemicals, as that could damage the glass. To get a clear, streak-free finish, dry the glass with a lint-free cloth.

You can clean the exterior of the glass in the same way; just make sure you access the roof safely with a ladder, and never stand or lean on the rooflight unit.

You can find out more information on how to clean your rooflights here.

Prevent condensation

One thing to watch out for is condensation, which occurs when there is a drastic difference in temperature outside, compared to inside.

Condensation can be caused by everything from cooking to showering and drying clothes – essentially anything that creates moisture in the air. Over time, condensation can damage window frames, cause mildew and result in peeling or blistered paint.

To prevent condensation from occurring, use the extractor fan in your kitchen and bathroom, and avoid drying clothes in the house whenever possible.

Check your rooflight for leaks

Leaks become apparent when it rains; and they’re typically caused by damaged, deteriorating or incorrectly installed tiles. Other causes include improper flashing or siding installation, or damaged windowsills.

If your rooflight has a leak, then you’ll need to call a roofer to fix it. Another cause of leaks are ice dams, and these can be prevented in the first place. Ice dams are created when warm air escapes your house and melts the snow on your roof. If you see icicles hanging off the edge of your roof, then that indicates you may have an ice dam.

To reduce the amount of warm air escaping your roof, you need to make sure your home is properly insulated. Approximately 25% of heat escapes from an uninsulated roof, so it’s never too soon to insulate your attic.

Essentially, the easy clean coating on our rooflights means that they don’t require as much maintenance as others, to keep them well looked after. However, you do want to ensure that you follow the above steps every six months or so, to keep your windows at their best and you make sure that maintaining your rooflights doesn’t become a too-regular chore.

If you have any further questions, get in touch with us on 0116 269 6292.