Rothwell skylights and rooflights for terraces, semis and rear kitchens

Reading the roof from the loft

The survey starts in the loft, if there is one. We note which way the rafters run and how far apart they are, then measure where the stairwell sits against the slope. A window has to land between rafters, or have them trimmed round it, and the stair has to be in the right place below. When the two do not line up, the shaft between roof and ceiling gets longer and angled, and the landing sees less of it.

When the stair has no loft above it

Some terraces have a second-floor bedroom or a small converted attic over the stair, so the ceiling is the sloping underside of the roof itself. There the window is cut straight into the slope and the daylight arrives without any shaft at all. Where a loft room stops short of the stair, a window in the roof pitch can light the flight below it.

Choosing the opening style

If a bed or a desk will sit directly under the window, a centre-pivot unit turns about its middle and keeps clear of the furniture. Over an open stair there is nothing to hit, so a top-hung unit is the better choice, because it swings out from the top and leaves clear headroom at the opening. Either is available as a fixed pane if the window is only there for daylight.

The sun tunnel alternative

A sun tunnel suits a landing that is partly closed off, or a bathroom that opens straight onto the stair. Rigid tubing sends more daylight down a long run than flexible tubing does, so we use it where the route is straight. The dome on the roof will normally fit between two rafters, which keeps the structural work to a minimum.

Finishing the ceiling

Once the window is in, the shaft down to the ceiling is lined and insulated, and the reveal is plastered smooth. On an older terrace the ceiling is often lath and plaster, which sheds dust when it is cut, so the stair and the floor are sheeted first. The reveal is left ready to decorate, and the sheets and dust go with us.

Which of the two goes in is settled on the survey, by the room, the roof and the stair together, and the quote is fixed for that stair, at the size agreed.

Where a lantern fits

A roof lantern stands up from the flat roof on a kerb, its glazed faces meeting at a ridge or a point. It gives the ceiling a glazed peak and lets light in from four sides at different angles through the day. Because it rises well above the roof it often falls outside permitted development, so the council is asked or the extension's own permission covers it.

Where a flat rooflight fits

A flat rooflight is a low glazed panel on an upstand. It is the neater choice when the extension is shallow, when the neighbour's windows look down on it, or when the ceiling is low and a lantern would crowd the room. It also suits a flat-roofed back room that was never a kitchen at all.

What the roof covering means

Extensions in town carry felt, EPDM rubber or GRP fibreglass roofs, and each takes its own upstand and weathering. We dress the new covering up the kerb in the same material, and where an existing roof is old, the survey says so before the opening is cut. A tired covering is easier to renew at the same time than after.

Permission for a raised glazed roof

A lantern or a rooflight on an extension may or may not need Leeds City Council to be asked, depending on the house and on how far the glass stands above the roof. The conditions are set out in the guide to permission and building rules for rooflights, and we check them for your address before anything is ordered.

Light at the house end of the kitchen

With the glass placed over the gloomy end of the new room, the daylight lands on the worktop and the table, and the old back room beyond it stops being a dead end. We mark the position from inside the room, at the worktop.

Swapping like for like

If the frame is sound, the opening is already the right size and the upstand is in good order, the simplest answer is a new sealed unit in the old frame. If the frame has warped or rotted, the whole rooflight comes out and a new one takes its place, which also lets us renew the weathering round the kerb.

Going larger

An old rooflight is often smaller than the room deserves. Making it bigger means cutting the roof and the kerb to a new size, and on a flat roof that is a more serious job than a straight swap. It is worth asking at the survey, and what changes with a bigger unit is described under enlarging an old rooflight.

What the swap involves

The old unit is lifted out, the kerb is checked, the new rooflight is set, flashed and sealed, the reveal is made good inside, and we handle the notification to Building Control. The room is sheeted before we start and cleaned before we leave.

Reading the failed unit

Stained edges around the glass and a brown stain on the ceiling point to water getting past the upstand, so the kerb is rebuilt while the unit is out. Clean frames and fogged glass alone point to a seal failure, and a new sealed unit is all that is needed.