The rooflight finish schedule is our way of making the inside of the job visible. The schedule runs to a single page and covers a single room, and every quote we send includes one. It records what sits above and around the opening, how the lining will be formed, how the edge will be finished and the state in which we hand the room back, whether prepared for your own paint or painted by us. It is a specification you can read before anyone climbs onto your roof.
Why we write it down
Most quotes describe the glass and the roof work in detail and describe the inside in a few words, if at all. Then the rooflight goes in, and the first time you learn how the opening will look is when you look up at it.
The schedule moves that conversation to the start. You see what we plan to do, you can ask questions, and we have both agreed what finished means before work begins.
It is also a useful document for you. If you ask another firm for a quote, you can hold the schedule up against theirs and see what the other quote leaves out.
What each line records
- Room
- Which room and which ceiling the rooflight serves, so the schedule is about your landing or your kitchen, not a generic job.
- Ceiling and roof build
- What we find from the survey: lath and plaster, plasterboard, boarding, and what sits above it, such as slate on battens, concrete tile, a warm flat roof. The depth between ceiling and roof covering decides how the lining is formed.
- Lining shape
- Straight or splayed, and why. A splayed lining is wider at the ceiling than at the glass, which spreads daylight into the room and softens the opening. A straight lining suits a shallow build. The schedule gives the reason for your roof depth.
- Finish material
- Plaster skim, lime plaster where an old house needs it, or boarded and taped. The material is chosen to match the ceiling it meets, so the patch does not announce itself.
- Trim
- Corner beads, any trim or shadow gap, and how the lining meets the ceiling. This is the edge you will notice most.
- Paint
- Whether the lining is handed over prepared for your own paint, or painted by us. If we paint it, the schedule says so, and the line where the new paint meets the old is something we plan, not leave to chance.
- Dust management
- How the room and the route through the house are protected, and how the room is cleaned when the work is done.
Taken together, the lines read like a short recipe for the room. Nothing in them would surprise a plasterer or a carpenter, but they are rarely written down in a form a homeowner can read and keep, with the room named at the top.
Before any roof is opened
We write the schedule after the survey and before the quote is final, because the survey is where the facts come from. You cannot specify a lining without knowing what the ceiling is made of. Once the roof is open, choices narrow quickly, so the decisions are made while they are still free.
It also protects old ceilings. Cutting lath and plaster carelessly cracks it across the room, and a schedule that names the ceiling type tells you we have thought about that before starting.
If something changes once we are on site, for example the ceiling turns out to be a different construction from the one we expected, we tell you and update the schedule, so the paperwork always matches what is being built.
The schedule is short on purpose. One page for one room is enough to say what matters, and short enough that you will actually read it before you sign. Keep it with your quote, and it becomes a record of what was agreed for the room.
How to ask for one
You do not need to ask, because every quote includes one. To start, use the quote form and send a photo of the room and, if you can, the roof. Read how quotes work for what comes next, or see our guides on how a lining is formed. The guarantee that stands behind the finished work is explained on the guarantee page.