Latest News
Professional Builder awards Keylite Product of the Year
Terry Smith (Editor) of Professional Builder magazine visits the Keylite Roof Windows UK Headquarters in Swadlincote to present Andy Neal (Operations Manager) Keylite Roof Windows with the Charles Godfrey award for Product of the Year 2011. Keylite Roof Windows has received this top accolade despite being up against strong competition from other building manufacturers and suppliers.
For more information on the Keylite Roof Window professional builder product test click here: or to view the reasons why the Keylite Roof Window was selected please click here:.
NEW Keylite Blinds Collection
Keylite have introduced a NEW Blinds Range with exciting NEW colours and fabric options.
Keylite NEW Blinds Range offers:
- Genuine Keylite Branded product
- Aluminium side rails for total 100% blackout
- Keylite 3 year Guarantee as standard
- Roller cover preventing fading of coloured fabrics
- Thermal benefits with verfied heat loss savings
To view our full Blinds Range please visit www.keyliteblinds.com, were ordering your blinds is simple and easy.
Alternatively for any blinds enquiries you may have please
Tel. 028 8675 8921 (NI/ROI enquiries) or Tel. 01283 200150 (UK enquiries)
…and our friendly personnel will be happy to help.
Product Test of the Year Award
Earlier in the year I visited a barn conversion in the Peak District to have a go at fitting a Keylite roof window. Normally I am quite happy to fit two or three roof windows in a day but the Flick Fit windows are cleverly designed to make the job so much quicker.
By lunchtime there were six windows in and only the flashings left to do as the roof was slated up. Up until that visit I had never really thought about the possibility of someone coming up with a design that allowed you to put the window in from the inside without removing the sash.
The problem has always been that once you have screwed the brackets on you then have to manoeuvre the frame through the trimmed opening, and with the sash in you have nothing to grab. The prospect of it sliding down the roof as you let go is not to be dwelled on. Keylite’s unique approach is the “Flick-Fit” bracket – a hinged bracket pre-fitted to the window frame. The really clever part is that you can adjust the brackets for tiles or slates simply by removing the colour coded plastic plugs and then just flick them out into the fitting position. The window can then be rested on the lower trimmer and lifted up into place.
New Additions to the Keylite Technical Sales Team
With continued increase in demand for the new “Flick Fit” Keylite Roof Window we are pleased to announce four new additions to our Technical Sales team.
This team will help promote the key features of the new Keylite Roof Window through on site product demonstrations and training with Builder Merchants and end users. This provides an excellent opportunity for our customer base to fit a Roof Window and gives them the extra confidence and knowledge required to Sell and install the product.
The New members of the team include:
· Steven Brown, Swadlincote
· Robert Dedman, Dewsbury
· Jamie Jeffery, Sidcup
· Richard Archer, Staffs
Please contact our head office to arrange an appointment with your local Sales Representative.
Keylite UK – 01283 200150
Keylite NI – 028 8675 8921
Flickin’ Brilliant Installation Bracket
Keylite Roof Windows launch the revolutionary new Flick Fit* Bracket System which reduces fitting time to less than one minute!
This ground breaking technology enables the installer to fit the roof window from inside the building without removing the sash. Simply “flick” the brackets into position and set the window in place as illustrated above. You cannot do this with any other roof window.
The‘Flick Fit’ bracket system means Keylite Roof Windows are the easiest and quickest roof windows to install. The labour saving brackets come prefitted to the roof windows and each has a unique multi-height fixing feature that adjusts to suit a slate or tile roof.
The unique bracket and one piece bottom apron also ensures the Keylite Roof Window is the lowest profile standard roof window in the market.
The Flick Fit Brackets are available on all roof windows within the Keylite product range. For more information on the Keylite product range please visit our website www.keyliteroofwindows.com.
*Patent Pending
Roger Bisby’s Product Testing Report
These days builders have a good choice of different makes of roof windows but unless there is a compelling reason to change most of us tend to carry on with what we know. Like many others I may have just jogged along but in my job as Product Tester for Professional Builder I have been given the opportunity of trying them all and it isn’t until you try something different that you realise what was wrong with the old one. How many times, for example, have you struggled getting that sash back in after fitting the frame with the hooks dangling, or tried to haul a roof window up onto the scaffold? I have done it many times and nearly dropped the sash on occasions but, until now, I had never really thought about the possibility of someone coming up with a design that allowed you to put the window in from the inside without removing the sash. The problem has always been that once you have screwed the brackets on you then have to manoeuvre the frame through the trimmed opening and with the sash in you have nothing to grab. The prospect of it sliding down the roof as you let go is not to be dwelled on.
Keylite’s unique approach is the “Flick-Fit” bracket – a hinged bracket pre-fitted to the windowframe. The really clever part is that you can adjust the brackets for tiles or slates simply by removing the colour coded plastic plugs and then just flick them out into the fitting position. The window can then be rested on the lower trimmer and lifted up into place. Once it is clear of the top trimmer you simply flick the top brackets out into place and the window is rested back in place. If you open the window you can then put a screw in each of the bottom brackets. You then close the window to check it is square before going outside to screw in the top brackets and put another couple of screws in the lower bracket.
From that point on you can proceed as usual with the roof covering and flashing as you go. So the whole window has been fitted from within without the need to remove the sash. That covers a very common scenario but we also know that there are times when you have an existing roof, where you are adding a loft conversion, and you really would rather complete the whole job of flashing from the inside. You may not even have scaffolded the front elevation. In this case you can remove the sash in the normal way but the unique selling point of a Keylite window is that if you are working from above to do the flashing then you don’t have to.
Apart from this unique Flick fit bracket what else has Keylite got to tempt you away from your existing choice? Well the site I carried out my installation test on belongs to Paul Stanton of Estructura who is converting it for his own home. He had chosen Keylite windows because he has used them on other builds and likes the quality but he particularly likes the factory finished white timber interior. “The other ones I looked at all had PVCu and I really didn’t want plastic windows in this traditional property. These just look classy. They also have a much wider range of sizes than the other guys and can even do specials.”
Paul was intending to carry out the slating over the Easter holidays but he handed me a few sample slates so I could see how the flashings sat on the slates. The front apron for slates is a single piece of aluminium which is pressed to provide a low profile. This allows the window to sit much lower in the roof more like a traditional skylight. If you are tiling then the tile flashing has the familiar corrugated lead apron. I particularly liked the way that the first soaker is marked up so you know which is left and right and there is also a mark on the front apron to tell you where to place the soaker. In fact there are very clear instructions all over the window so if for example the instruction leaflet blew away in the wind and was chewed up by next door’s Rottweiler you would still be able to proceed just from the information printed on the side of the frame.
Having fitted my first Keylite apart from the slating I went for a quick bit of lunch in a lovely pub overlooking Froggat in the Peak District. On the way back home I popped in to see how Paul was getting on with the other windows and was surprised to see that in the hour I had been gone he had fitted four more windows. I asked him if he was going to take a break for a cuppa and he told me he had done. Four windows in an hour with a tea break is not bad going by anyone’s standards. At his rate it could become an Olympic sport. I wonder what the world record would be for flicking out four brackets and screwing it onto the roof. Keylite Roof Windows are Flickin Brilliant.
Keylite Video
The Keylite Challenge – The fastest “fitting” roof window
The Keylite Challenge showcases the exceptional benefits of Keylite’s new “Flick-Fit” bracket.
This competition for builders, joiners and loft converters in Keylite Stockist Depots is based on fitting a CP01 Keylite Roof Window and Tile Flashing into the mini roof system in the fastest time possible. Prizes for the winners and spot prizes are available on the day. The most recent Keylite challenge competition that took place in C.W Berry in Preston, resulted with many winners, as competitors began to realise how quick and easy it is to fit a Keylite Roof Window using Keylite’s unique “Flick-Fit” bracket system!
Email marketing@thekeystonegroup.co.uk, if you wish to organise a competition in your branch or participate in the Keylite Challenge at your local merchants.
SelfBuild Tradeshow
Keystone Group is taking part in the annual Self Build Tradeshow in Kings Hall Belfast from Friday 18th February- Sunday 20th February.
The show is a fantastic opportunity architects, builders and people considering building their own home to speak to our technical engineers and the people involved with the Keystone group one-to-one. So come along with your ideas or plans and have a chat with our lintel and roof window specialists who will be happy to help!
Alternatively, you can email your plans to info@keystonelintels.co.uk or Fax: 028 86758923.
Unique Integral Blind
The Roof Window… with the blind sealed inside the glass!
The blind is permanently sealed within the double glazed unit, so no cleaning is ever required and it always appears new.
The Keylite Integral Blind Window, which can be magnetically or electrically operated, also provides enhanced sun-shading and improves the u-value of the sealed unit.
Available for entire roof window range
- Centre Pivot (CP)
- Top Hung (TH)
- Fire Escape/Access (FE)
- Conservation (CW)
- White Finish (WF)