Rooflights and skylights for Saltaire's terraces and the older streets of Shipley
13.5 road miles west of Leeds city centre
Skylight installation in Shipley, from the sandstone terraces of Saltaire to flats above the shops, with rooflights set where the walls cannot reach.
Where Shipley's Victorian rows and flats keep out the daylight
Stone terraces and flats above shops share one trait: their windows face the street at one end and the yard at the other.
Terrace atticThe attic bedroom under a stone terrace has a small gable window and a long, low slope.
Flat hallwayA flat above a shop has a hall with doors off it and no outside wall.
Rear kitchenThe kitchen built out at the back of a terrace has a single window at one end.
Roof units for the stone and slate of Shipley
Matched to the room first, then to whether the roof is protected by a listing or a conservation area.
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Conservation Rooflights
Slim black frames that lie low in the slate, suited to Saltaire and to other streets with extra protection.
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Roof Windows
A roof window on the rear pitch lights an attic bedroom and opens for air; centre-pivot suits a bed placed beneath.
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Sun Tunnels
A tube from a roof dome to a flat's inner hall or bathroom when the roof sits directly above.
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Flat Roof Rooflights
A glazed unit on an upstand over the back of a terrace kitchen or a shop's rear extension.
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Energy Efficient Rooflights
Better glazing and warm-edge spacers for an old stone attic that loses heat through its single-glazed unit.
Shipley questions on Saltaire rules and flat roofs and attic bedrooms
Each question starts from a kind of Shipley home where the roof raises a planning or access point.
Can I put a rooflight into a house in Saltaire?
Saltaire lies inside Shipley, a model village of stone terraces laid out beside the River Aire and the mill. It is a World Heritage Site, and its houses are listed buildings or sit inside the conservation area that covers the village. Skylight installation in Shipley starts with finding out which of those applies to the address.
A listed house cannot take a new rooflight until listed building consent has been granted, whatever permitted development allows. A conservation area covered by an Article 4 direction loses it too. Planning decisions for Shipley rest with Bradford Council, and its officers can say what covers a given street. For an ordinary house, read the conditions in planning rules for roof alterations.
The unit that sits quietly on a Saltaire slope
Where permission is given, it is for a unit that suits the roof. A conservation rooflight carries a narrow black frame, often with one glazing bar down the centre, and lies close to the slates. From the street it blends into the roof, and on slate or stone, officers frequently ask for this type.
Choosing the slope
The back slope of a terrace faces the back lane, which is less open to the street than the front. One well-placed unit there is easier to justify than a line of them facing the road. If either slope would serve the room, we note both, because the choice can simplify the application.
Like for like, or new
Replacing a rooflight in its own opening changes the roof less than cutting a new one, though even a swap can need consent on a listed house. We confirm the position first, so the application describes one specific unit and size.
Work that stays inside
An old attic keeps its character inside too, so we lay dust sheets before cutting and finish the reveal to suit the room. The unit we propose is fixed in the written quote, which is what the council is asked to consider if an application is needed.
Protection terms for an older Shipley street
- Listed building
- A building on the national list, where changes to the roof need listed building consent.
- Conservation area
- An area whose character the council protects, which can restrict roof changes.
- Article 4 direction
- A local order switching off permitted development in a named area.
- Glazing bar
- The slim bar dividing the glass, common on a conservation rooflight.
How do you bring daylight into the hall of a flat above a shop in Shipley?
Shipley has flats above shops and in houses split into homes. The hall of a flat is often the gloomiest part: a long passage with doors to the bedroom, the bathroom and the living room, and nowhere for a window. When that flat is on the top floor, the roof is the only way to reach it.
A sun tunnel suits this because the run is short. A dome sits on the roof, a rigid tube runs down inside the roof void, and a diffuser is set in the hall ceiling. Roof alterations on a flat fall outside permitted development, so the council normally has to grant permission; ask Bradford Council what it needs for your building.
Above a shop, the flats are often reached by a separate door at street level, with a stair that rises through the building. The hall at the top of that stair is the part with the least daylight.
Who looks after the roof
The roof of a block serves every home beneath it. A lease usually says whose consent covers work on it, and the freeholder or a management company is the first contact. The quote we write for the hall states the unit and its dimensions, which gives them a firm proposal to approve.
Top floor or not
The tube must run straight from the roof to the ceiling. On a top-floor flat that is a short drop. A flat lower in the building would send the tube up through the home above, which is rarely possible, so on site we work out whether the roof can reach the hall at all.
Flat roofs over shops
The back of a shop often has a flat roof of felt or rubber. A flat rooflight or a dome can sit on an upstand there, and the covering is lapped up the upstand before the unit is fitted. If the covering is old, we say whether it needs renewing around the new opening.
Getting the dust out of a shared stair
Working in a flat often means carrying tools and offcuts down a stair that other people use. We sheet the common stair, keep it clear and take the waste away, so the building is left as we found it.
- Myth: A sun tunnel can light any flat in the building.
- Fact: Only a flat with the roof directly above the room can use one, because the tube runs in a straight line from the roof.
- Myth: Permitted development covers a rooflight in a flat.
- Fact: Class C does not apply to flats or maisonettes, so the council is asked first.
Is a roof window in a Victorian terrace attic worth fitting for a bedroom?
Some Shipley terraces have an attic under the slate, reached by a narrow stair or a hatch. With a gable window at the end of a long slope, the room is lit at one point and shaded everywhere else. A roof window turns the slope itself into a source of light.
The long slope is the real advantage of an attic. A gable window lights the end wall, but a roof window lights the floor and the bed, and it sits on the part of the room where the ceiling slopes down towards the eaves and the gable light never reaches. Headroom matters too, so the position is chosen against where people will stand and where the bed will go.
Which opening style fits the room
A centre-pivot unit turns on pivots set midway up the frame, which suits a bed or a desk under it. In a top-hung unit the hinges are at the head, so the sash lifts out and away and leaves clear headroom where people stand. Over a bed the centre-pivot is the usual choice; at the stair-head, top-hung gives the headroom.
Means of escape
When a two-storey house gains a loft room, Approved Document B requires a protected stair on the way down, and a roof window cannot replace it. That is a matter for whoever designs the conversion, and we leave the escape arrangements to them. In a bungalow whose bedrooms are in the roof the position differs: a roof window can be the escape window there, within the height limits and the opening sizes the document sets.
Opening the roof
The cut changes how the roof is built, so trimmers frame the rafters round it and the job counts as notifiable building work. The size is chosen on site to fit the rafter spacing you have.
Slate on the slope
We read the roof from outside and from inside the attic first, so the slates, battens and rafters are known before the saw comes out.
Slate is thin and sits flat, so the frame goes into a flashing kit made for slate. Slates round the opening come off one at a time by hand and are dressed back to the frame, and any that break are swapped for the closest match.
Getting up to the attic
A narrow attic stair limits what can be carried up, so the size of the unit is chosen with the stair in mind as well as the roof. A frame that cannot be turned on the landing is no use, and we check the route up before the size is fixed in the written quote.
Glass that meets the standard
The standard for a roof window going in now is band B in the Window Energy Rating system or a U-value of 1.4 W/m²K. An old single-glazed unit in a stone terrace attic falls well short, so the room beneath loses less heat afterwards.
What gets checked in a terrace attic
The rafter spacing, the width of the clear slope between chimney and gable, and where the stair or hatch lands in the room.
Close to Shipley along the Aire valley
From Shipley we work in Baildon, Bingley, Wilsden, Thornton, Calverley, Guiseley, Menston and Yeadon, and in Bradford itself. Send your address through the quote form on this page.
Shipley answers on glass and heat and damp in old roofs
Will a new rooflight on a stone terrace look out of place?
A unit chosen to suit the roof sits quietly. A conservation rooflight lies low with a slim dark frame, while a standard roof window with a slate flashing can look right on a back slope that the street cannot see. The size and number of units matter as much as the style.
Why does my old rooflight drip with water on the inside?
Water forming on the indoor side of the glass comes from warm, damp air meeting a cold pane, and a single-glazed or poorly insulated unit is the usual cause. Modern double glazing with warm-edge spacers keeps the inner pane warmer, and a damp-prone room such as a bathroom benefits most.
Can a rooflight with misted glass be replaced without redoing the whole roof?
Misting between the panes means the unit's edge seal has failed. Depending on the frame, we replace the sealed glass alone or the whole rooflight, and neither means rebuilding the roof around it. Disturbed slates are dressed back around the frame, and the inside reveal is finished as quoted, so the room is left ready to use again.
Who handles the notification for work on a Shipley roof?
The price in our written quote is fixed and pins down the Shipley room, the chosen unit and its dimensions; for notifiable work we also lodge the Building Control notice. Opening up a roof is structural work, so that notice forms part of the job.
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