Oakworth skylights and rooflights for gritstone houses on the Worth Valley hillside
24.3 road miles west of Leeds city centre
Skylight installation in Oakworth means working with stone walls, slate roofs and a hillside that sets the weather, with a rooflight for the narrow stair or the loft room.
What a hillside gritstone house in Oakworth does to its daylight
Small window openings in thick stone walls, and ground that rises behind some rows, leave the inner and rear rooms with very little to see by.
Narrow stairA steep, narrow stair rises between two party walls and is lit only from the top and bottom.
Hillside back roomWhere the ground climbs behind a row, the back room looks at a bank through one small window.
Loft roomA room under the slates relies on a single gable window set deep in thick stone.
Rooflights that cope with Oakworth's exposed slopes
Frames, glass and flashings are picked for wind, rain and a cold winter as much as for the room below.
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Roof Windows
Above the stair or loft room, with the flashing dressed to slate or stone slate and fixed against wind.
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Energy Efficient Rooflights
Multi-pane glazing with gas fill and a coated inner pane keeps a loft room warmer through a Pennine winter.
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Conservation Rooflights
A slim, low frame for a slope the council treats with care, set close to the slates.
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Sun Tunnels
A tube across the loft takes daylight to a landing or an inner bathroom.
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Misted Rooflight Replacement
Fogged glass in an old rooflight means a failed seal, and the unit is re-glazed or replaced.
Oakworth questions about weather and stone slate
The three questions follow the roof from its fixings and covering up to the glass, as an Oakworth hillside house demands.
How does a rooflight stay watertight on an exposed Oakworth roof?
Oakworth sits on the hillside above the Worth Valley, and its roofs take what the weather brings across open ground. Rain driven sideways finds any gap, and wind lifts at the edges of anything that stands proud. In Oakworth, skylight installation starts with the weather question and only then turns to the room below.
A roof window keeps the weather out through its edges, and the edges are made up of three parts: the frame, the flashing and the layer beneath the covering.
The frame on the rafters
The frame is fixed to timber trimmed into the rafters, and the fixings go into sound wood. In an older Oakworth roof the timber may have moved over the decades, so the opening is checked for square before the frame is set. A frame that sits true seals better than one forced into a twisted opening.
The flashing against the covering
The flashing kit is cut to the covering it meets. Slate is thin and takes a flat-profile kit. A thicker stone-slate roof needs its units to be dressed carefully to the frame, and the kit chosen suits that depth. The pieces overlap so that water runs outward over each one.
The hidden layer
Under the covering sits a membrane on the battens. At the opening it is lapped up the sides of the frame and over the top, so that any water that blows in behind the slates still drains out. This layer is out of sight, yet it is the last defence against driven rain.
Getting on and off a hillside roof
Where a street slopes, the foot of a ladder or a scaffold tower is set level on packing, and the site is fenced so nobody walks beneath the work. Roof edges are protected before anyone steps onto the slope, and materials go up by hand rather than being left on the pitch. Stone slates are stacked on the ground in order.
Wind at the edges
Wind pulls at slates beside the opening, so those slates are re-fixed with their nails or clips set properly. We take the opportunity to check the courses on either side, because a loose slate beside a new frame would go first in a gale.
What gets checked on the slope
The state of the slates at the opening, how true the rafters are, and where water would run if it blew in behind the covering.
How is a window fitted into a heavy stone-slate or slate roof in Oakworth?
Older roofs in the Worth Valley carry thick stone slates, which are sandstone flags cut and laid in diminishing courses, and others are covered in Welsh slate. They are heavy, rougher than Welsh slate, and each one has its own thickness. A window cannot be dropped into a roof like that. The covering has to be taken apart and rebuilt around it.
Before anything comes off
The first look is from the loft, where the underside of the slates shows their condition and the rafters show their spacing. A roof that has been worked on over the years often has a mix of fixings, and that mix tells us how the covering will behave when it is disturbed. Dust sheets go down inside before the first slate moves.
Lifting by hand
Stone slates are lifted one at a time and stacked in the order they come off. That order is the guide for putting them back, because the courses shrink towards the ridge and each slate has its place. Welsh slate is lighter and cleaner to lift, but old nail holes make it brittle, and we keep every sound slate for relaying.
The weight on the rafters
Stone-slate roofs are heavy, so the timbers beneath carry a substantial load. Before the opening is cut we look at the condition of the rafters, because a new gap should never weaken a roof that is already working hard. The trimmers around the opening spread the load into the neighbouring rafters.
Chimneys and the shape of the roof
A chimney stack, a valley or a hip each interrupts the clear run of roof that a frame needs. The kit wants clean covering on all four sides, so the position is chosen to sit between such features. On a row of cottages with shared stacks, the choice of slope often falls out of where the stacks are.
Matching what is there
A broken slate is replaced with one that matches the thickness and colour of the neighbours as closely as can be found. Reclaimed stock is the best source. A new slate laid next to a weathered one shows, so the patch of roof beside the frame is kept to a minimum.
Fitting day
Only a small section of roof is open at any time, and it is closed against the weather before we leave. The unit is glazed and flashed and the reveal plastered, and we notify Building Control of the Oakworth opening.
Roofing words you may hear in Oakworth
- Stone slate
- A thick sandstone flag laid in courses that get smaller towards the ridge.
- Course
- One horizontal row of slates across the roof, lapping the row beneath.
- Batten
- The narrow timber lath that slates are hung from, laid across the rafters.
- Underlay
- The membrane under the covering that carries away water getting past the slates.
Which glazing suits a cold, exposed hillside house in Oakworth?
A rooflight is the thinnest part of a roof, so it is where heat escapes first if the glazing is poor. An exposed Oakworth house feels that more than a sheltered one, because the wind strips heat from the outside face of the glass. The glazing specification is worth getting right the first time.
The energy efficient rooflights page lists the options in full, and the points that matter most up here are below.
Panes and gas
Two panes with a sealed gap lose far less heat than one pane. Three panes lose less again. The gap is often filled with argon or krypton, which conduct heat less than air. Each extra pane adds weight to the unit, which the frame and the rafters must carry.
Spacers and coatings
The strip that separates the panes at the edge is a weak point, and a warm-edge spacer makes it less so. A low-emissivity coating on an inner surface reflects heat back into the room. A solar-control coating works the other way and keeps part of the sun's heat out, which matters on a south-facing slope in summer.
The frame
The frame carries a break in its metal, or a material that does not conduct heat. That keeps the frame from becoming a cold strip in the ceiling, which is where damp would show first on a poor one.
Condensation on cold mornings
Warm, damp air in a loft room meets the coldest surface and condenses. A warm inner pane keeps the glass above that point more often, and a window that opens lets the room breathe. Our roof window page compares the opening types.
Heat and the hillside
A south-facing slope on an open hillside gets strong sun in summer and cold wind in winter. The same unit has to cope with both, and a roof window that opens lets summer heat drift off at the top while a coated pane keeps it from building up.
Settling the specification
The glazing is chosen with the room in mind. A loft bedroom that is heated all winter justifies the fuller specification, while a rarely used attic room may not, and the unit named in the written quote reflects that decision.
Glazing features and what each one does
| Feature | What it does | Where it helps |
|---|---|---|
| Gas fill | Slows heat moving between panes | Cold winter nights |
| Warm-edge spacer | Keeps the glass edge warmer | Condensation at the corners |
| Low-emissivity coating | Sends warmth back into the room | Heated loft rooms |
| Solar-control coating | Turns back part of the sun's heat | South-facing slopes |
Villages along the Worth Valley and beyond
From Oakworth we also cover Haworth, Keighley, Steeton, Wilsden, Crosshills and Silsden. Planning and conservation-area questions are checked before a unit is ordered, and the quote form is the way to begin.
Oakworth notes about gritstone and hillside weather
Is Oakworth in a conservation area that affects a rooflight?
Oakworth has a conservation area, first designated by Bradford Council in 1981, and an Article 4 direction can apply within a conservation area. Bradford Council can confirm what covers your street, and we check this early. A conservation rooflight is the usual choice on a visible slate slope.
Does wind noise on a rooflight bother a loft bedroom?
A frame fixed true to the rafters and closed against its seals sits quietly in its opening. Rain does sound different on glass than on slate, and if that matters in a bedroom, the glazing options on our energy efficient rooflights page are the place to start.
Can a sun tunnel be put through a thick stone-slate roof?
A sun tunnel dome sits on a flashing that must suit the covering, and a stone-slate roof needs the slates cut and dressed round it by hand. The tube then runs through the loft in the usual way, so the added work is all on the roof surface.
Can a new roof window match the rooflights already on neighbouring houses?
A new frame can follow the proportions and finish of units nearby, because roof windows come in several sizes and colours. Matching them exactly depends on what is already on the street, and a slim, dark frame sits closest to slate. On a visible slope, size and position count for more than the make.
Can snow settle on a roof window and cause trouble?
Snow lying on a roof window blocks the light for a while and then slides or melts off, as it does from slates. The frame and flashing are made to shed meltwater, and a steeper slope clears sooner than a shallow one.
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