Stone and slate roofs on Deepcar's valley-side terraces, with skylights and rooflights to suit

Roof levels along the row

Where roofs step down a slope, each house has its own ridge and a stone upstand at the party wall. A rooflight goes into one slope of one house, set well clear of that upstand and of the neighbour's flashing. The position is marked from the loft, where the line of the party wall is easy to see.

Scaffold on a slope

Scaffold legs on a slope need levelling, and the downhill side of a house may need a taller scaffold than the uphill side. A tower or scaffold goes wherever it can stand firmly: a yard at the back, a lane, or the pavement at the front can each be used.

Chimney stacks

A stone terrace can have a chimney stack on the party wall, and the stack limits how much of the slope is free. The best position may sit nearer the middle of the slope than the edge, away from the stack and its lead.

Planning for Deepcar

Sheffield City Council receives any planning enquiry for a Deepcar address. The limits on a roof window under permitted development are on the skylight planning and regulations page, and the address is checked against the council's records of listed buildings and conservation areas.

Reading a stepped terrace

Where the row has listed status or a conservation area around it, how the roofs look from the road matters, and a unit on the back slope is the less visible choice. A conservation rooflight sits low in the covering and keeps the line of the row.

Getting materials up a steep street

On a steep street the van cannot always stop at the door. Slates, flashing and the unit are staged where the vehicle can stand and carried the last stretch, and a long lantern or frame is lifted from the nearest level spot. We plan the carry before the day, since a slope turns a short walk into a long one with a heavy load.

Roofs that were re-slated

Stepped terraces were not always re-roofed together. One house may have fresh blue slate and its neighbour older stone slate, so the covering is read slope by slope. The flashing for each is matched to what is actually there.

Why the glass matters

Single glazing is the coldest of all, so an old rooflight runs with water on a winter morning. Modern double glazing holds the inner pane at a higher temperature, and a warm-edge spacer stops the rim of the unit from being the cold line where water forms. Why it happens and what stops it is covered under rooflight condensation.

Ventilation in the house

A bathroom needs its fan or an opening window, and a kitchen its extractor. The glass is not at fault if steam has nowhere to go. An opening roof window lets the room breathe, and an electric one can be worked from a switch.

Fitting the opening

A new opening in the roof structure is notifiable. (We notify Building Control for this.) The insulation around the frame is built up so the lining stays warm. A cold patch of ceiling beside a frame invites condensation, so the reveal is lined and insulated all round.

Telling condensation from a leak

Moisture that clears as the day warms is condensation. A stain that spreads, or a drip that follows rain, points to the flashing. The two have different remedies, and a look at the frame and the covering separates them.

Timbers beside the opening

Damp can sit unseen in the timbers of a stone house, especially near a chimney or an old gutter line. When the slates come off, the rafters beside the opening are looked at, and soft wood is pointed out before the frame goes in. The sound timbers carry the trimmers that frame the opening.

Stone walls and trapped moisture

Thick stone walls change slowly with the weather, so a house can stay cool and damp long after a warm spell. Under the roof, a bedroom with a rooflight can benefit from a trickle vent or an opening sash, which lets moist night air leave instead of settling on the glass.

Light down a tall shaft

The glass sits at the top of the stairwell, directly above the open well between the flights. Light falls past each landing, and pale paint on the walls carries it further down. A wider unit fills more of the shaft.

Out of reach

A window above a tall stairwell cannot be reached from the floor. Many electric units carry a rain sensor that shuts the glass when showers start, which suits a ceiling nobody can get to. How a unit at the top moves warm air out is described under airing a house through an opening rooflight.

Fresh air through the house

With the unit open, warm air rises out of the roof and cooler air is drawn in lower down. In a house of several floors, that keeps the top landing from stuffiness on a warm day. The effect depends on a window or door being open below.

Where a sun tunnel fits

If the stairwell is closed in with walls and the roof is directly above, a sun tunnel can light the stair. The page setting tube against glass shows how the two compare.

Cleaning the glass

A roof window at the top of a tall stairwell is awkward to clean from inside. A pole with a soft head makes it easier, and a clean pane makes a visible difference to the brightness of the stair.

White walls and landings

Where the walls round the stairwell are painted white or a pale tone, they bounce light down to the hall. Dark panelling or a dark stair carpet soaks it up. That does not change which rooflight suits the house, but it changes how bright the lower flights look, and it is worth deciding before the redecorating.

Size against height

A tall, narrow shaft throws light down in a column, so a wide unit is more use than a tall one. The width of the roof window is limited by the rafter gaps, and where one window will not fill the well, two side by side can be used.