If you’ve already read my blog on which windows you will know I ended up going for Polyvision for the sides of the van.

While I was looking I came across these for the rear doors on a Ducato/Boxer/Relay and instantly loved them.

They are made to the same supplier and are also available for the new Renault Master.

It was an instant decision – we were buying these windows. They are not as easy to fit as the framed windows as they work more like caravan windows. They have a hinge at the top of the window that attaches to the outside of the van. A cut-out is made in the door then a frame made around the cut-out. A rubber seal is then fitted around the frame so when the window is closed it seals to the van.

Openers are then fitted to the frame and clipped onto the window.

I didn’t take any pictures while I was fitting the windows but here they are fitted

They were a pig to fit but I really like them. They look great in my opinion and let in a ton of light. Very happy 🙂

Not a big post this one. In the past I’ve used most available roof lights so pretty much knew what I was going to buy.

The Seitz Mini Heki – its just a really good roof light and in my opinion its good value (not often you can say that about something with Seitz in the title :))

These little roof lights (40cm x 40cm) are supplied with a nice base that houses a fly screen and a black-out blind.

They come in two depths to accommodate different roof thickness’s and are available with or without permanent ventilation.

I decided to use three of these on my build. One in the back over the bed/sofa area, another in the front over the kitchen and the third in my bathroom. I went for a vented one in the bathroom and non-vented in the other areas.

Fitting them is an easy job, in fact the hardest part is getting a flat surface on the roof where the roof is corrugated. To do this I cut some small fillers out of window board and stuck them into place with Sikaflex.

I then measured where I would like to fit the roof light, marked it and cut out the square with a jigsaw (and painted all the exposed edges with red-oxide) I then stuck the fillers into place and let them dry. Then I covered my now flat edges with a generous amount of Sikaflex and bedded the roof light into place. I didn’t fit the bottom at the time as I figured if Sikaflex can hold solar panels in place on a roof with no other fixings the roof lights would be fine for a while.

I did this a few weeks ago now (and fitted the solar panels, also with just Sikaflex) and have driven all over the place since at motorway speeds. I was very sceptical about only using glue to fix things to the roof and no rivets or screws but was assured buy quite a few people on the SBMCC that this was the best way.

As usual they were right, nothing has moved in the slightest :). Here’s a picture of the roof now.

As with everything on this site, these are not instructions. this is just a record of what I did that i hope help others. If your doing it yourself I would suggest reading the instructions and, if your still not sure seeking help.

It was time to buy the windows so I had to decide Which ones to go for.

From looking around it seems most were buying Seitz Windows or using Bonded Windows. I’ve had both before and like the Seitz as they are easy to fit, double glazed and come with a nice looking fly-screen and blackout curtain. Bonded windows are probably the nicest looking from the outside but are a pain to finish nicely on the inside in my opinion. Besides they are single glazed and I want double glazed as they have better insulation (I use a van all year around) and are less prone to condensation.

I noticed a lot of “professionally” built motorhomes had windows made by PolyPlastic called Polyvision. These were not as readily available so I tracked down the importer, Miriad. 

I now had a choice of window, Seitz or Polyvision. Time for a comparison.

Seitz S4

Its pretty easy to see why the Seitz are so popular. They look great. Fitting is also an easy process. Cut the right size hole in the side of the van, add some battens around the cut-out on the inside, run a bead of non-setting mastic around the edge of the window and push into place, screw the blind to the window from inside the van. Easy.

Polyvision

The Polyvision’s were really nice as well. They fit in a slightly different way. Instead of the blind screwing to the window the window is held in place using brackets against the battens, then the blind is simply screwed to the inside wall of the van and then has covers over the corner. The window shown has a Horrex  blind system but there are several other options available.

I was torn between the two. I preferred the look from the outside of the Seitz but preferred the inside and the blinds  on the Polyvision. The Polyvision also has a slimmer frame so lets in more light. But the Seitz was black 🙂

In the end it didn’t really matter what I thought anyway. The Missus prefered the Polyvision. We were getting Polyvision. I did a little more research and found that the Polyvision was available with a black screen print around the window edge instead of the grey in the pictures above so ordered them for the sides of the van.

Note – The windows are now fitted and she was right – the Windows look great. here’s a picture.