Skylights and rooflights for bungalows and brick semis in Havercroft, from hall to loft room

Pivot or top-hung

With a centre-pivot sash the glass swings about its middle, so furniture can sit beneath it. A top-hung sash lifts outward from its upper edge, giving a clear gap at the opening for someone to climb through. Room layout settles which of the two you want, and bed positions count for as much as anything.

How high the glass sits

On a sloping ceiling the bottom edge of the glass is easy to misjudge. Too high and the window is awkward to reach for air or escape; too low and the bed blocks it. The measurement is taken in the room itself, and the frame is placed on the rafters so the glass starts where a person can use it.

The roof itself

Later bungalows tend to have concrete tiles laid over factory-made trusses, a close web of timbers that leaves little free space. The opening goes between two trusses where it can. Should a truss need cutting, that is structural work we would notify, so a position that avoids it comes first.

Light in a sloping room

A roof window in a bungalow loft puts the daylight at the high point of the room, where the ceiling slopes up. The glass faces the sky and lights the floor and the sloping walls evenly. For a bedroom the effect is a calm, even brightness through the day, which a gable window alone seldom manages.

The kitchen, hall or bedrooms on the floor below benefit too if the loft stair has an open well, but the main gain is in the room under the slates.

A low rooflight, or a lantern?

Of the two, the flat rooflight is the plainer choice: it sits close to the roof on a shallow kerb, can stay within the 150mm projection that permitted development allows, and suits a low ceiling. A lantern needs headroom to show its shape, and a converted garage often has a low ceiling. Where the room has been given a raised ceiling, a small lantern gives a bright centre. A lantern is a taller structure and may fall outside Class C, so Wakefield Council is the body to ask. The position is set out in our overview of planning and permission.

The roof underneath

A garage flat roof may be built from light joists under felt, so we look at the timbers and the build-up. A rooflight has weight, and the opening in the roof needs framing round it. Insulation is also part of the job, because a converted garage has to keep its warmth, and the kerb is insulated to join the roof.

Walls that lose their windows

A garage conversion is a good case for daylight from above because the walls are blank on two or three sides. The glass can sit over the middle of the floor and lights the far corners as well as the centre.

Summer heat and winter warmth

A room that used to hold the car is not always well insulated, and a bare flat roof can run hot in summer. The glass specification handles most of this, with a solar-control coating to temper strong sun and double or triple glazing to keep the room warm in winter. A garage conversion sees the greatest change when the roof, the walls and the glass are all thought about together.

Making it tidy

Inside, the opening is lined and plastered, and the finish is painted or left ready for you. The covering outside turns up the kerb sides to shed water.

Where it goes

On a pitched tiled roof, an electric roof window can be fitted above a stairwell. Over a hallway in a bungalow with a flat or low-pitched part to the roof, an electric flat rooflight suits better. We look at where the power can come from, as well as the roof, because a unit needs a supply.

Rain and the sensor

Many models close themselves when drops land on the glass, using a sensor fitted to the unit. That is helpful if the house is empty during the day. We go through what the particular model offers when we quote, so you know what to expect from it.

Cables and wiring

The unit needs a supply nearby, and we note where it will come from and how the cable can be run out of sight in the loft or the ceiling.

Choosing between the two types

On a pitched roof the opening unit is a roof window, and the motor sits in the frame. On a flat roof it is an opening flat rooflight, which lifts open. A hallway with a ridge above it favours the first; a rear passage under a flat extension roof favours the second. The roof over your hall points to one or the other, so we start there.

Glass and heat

An opening rooflight over a south-facing hall can let in strong sun. Glazing with a solar-control coating limits that, and the opening lets the remainder out. That pair gives a hallway that is bright without being stuffy.

Compare that with a fixed unit: it brings the same daylight but no air, so the choice depends on whether you want ventilation from the roof or only light.