Silsden skylights and rooflights for gritstone terraces, attics and extensions
27.5 road miles north-west of Leeds city centre
Skylight installation in Silsden for the attic of a gritstone terrace, the stair beneath it and the back extension, with a rooflight in the roof above each.
Where Silsden's gritstone houses lose the light
In the town's stone terraces and cottages the wall windows leave the stair, the attic and the back of the house short of daylight.
Stair to the atticThe stair to an attic room winds up through the house and meets daylight only at the top.
Windowless atticAn attic under a pitched gritstone roof may have no wall window, only the slope above it.
Back of the extensionThe far end of a kitchen added behind a stone house sits beyond the garden doors.
Rooflights for Silsden's gritstone and slate
The room below chooses the unit first, and the stone, slate and extension roofs shape how it goes in.
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Roof Windows
Glazing set into the slope above an attic room or a stair, between rafters, and opening for air in summer.
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Roof Lanterns
A lantern on the flat roof of a stone extension, lighting the end of the kitchen furthest from the garden doors.
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Sun Tunnels
A tube from a dome on the slate to a landing or bathroom that has no wall to the outside.
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Conservation Rooflights
A slim black frame lying low in the roof, in keeping with the look of old stone and slate.
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VELUX Windows
VELUX and other makes sized to the rafters of a cottage roof, in the code that matches the opening you have.
Adding a rooflight to a Silsden stone house
These answers cover attic preparation for a roof window and lanterns on stone extensions, then getting a unit up a steep street.
What does an attic need to be ready for before a roof window goes in?
Gritstone terraces in Silsden carry pitched roofs, and under some of them sits an attic. Rooflight installation in Silsden can be a first step in using that space, because an attic needs daylight before it works as a room. The question is what the attic must have in place first.
Fitting the window is a short job when the roof is sound, because the slates round the opening are the only part of the covering that is disturbed. The preparation, which depends on the state of the attic, is where the time goes.
Headroom and floor
A room needs headroom under the ridge and a floor that can carry people and furniture. Old attic floors are often the ceiling joists of the rooms below, sized to carry plaster, so a bed on them calls for the floor to be checked first. A conversion into a bedroom is a separate piece of building work, with its own stair and escape requirements, and we fit the window as part of or ahead of that work.
If the attic is only a store
For a loft used as a store, the window brings light and lets you see what is there. A fixed pane does the job; an opening unit needs a way to reach the handle, which means a floor to stand on beneath it.
Insulation round the opening
The roof between the rafters may hold old insulation, or none. We frame the opening, pack insulation round the lining of the shaft and keep the vapour path continuous, so cold air does not find a way into the attic round the frame.
Choosing the frame
A roof window in a gritstone roof sits between rafters, and the size is picked to the gap. The letters and digits on a maker's label map to width and height, a decoding that the VELUX window sizes and codes page walks through.
The stair up
An attic stair that is steep and narrow is the second part of the problem, since people climb it with the light behind them. A window above the stair head lights the last few treads, which is where people trip, and a short lined well keeps the glass from being a dark hole at the top. If the stair turns, the window is placed over the turn.
Reaching the handle
A manual window opens with a bar or a handle at the head, and the person using it needs to stand under it. In a low attic that can mean kneeling on the bed. Where the window sits above reach, a pole can be fitted, or an electric unit that opens by remote is the alternative.
On the day
We lift the slates round the opening, set and flash the frame, dress the slates back and plaster the reveal. We notify Building Control as part of the job.
What the attic looks like, and what comes first
| Attic today | Before the window |
|---|---|
| Empty and unboarded | Light is the first step; a floor can follow |
| Boarded for storage | Check the boards sit on sound joists |
| Already a bedroom | Window can go straight in over the bed |
| Low ceiling at the eaves | Place the glass where headroom is best |
Does a roof lantern suit a stone extension on an old Silsden house?
Silsden has older stone houses with a single-storey extension at the back, in stone to match or in render and brick. The extension is a kitchen or a dining room, with a flat roof and doors to the garden. The wall of the original house still closes one end of that room, and little daylight reaches it.
A roof lantern is a glazed roof with sloping faces, set on a raised kerb above the flat deck. It puts a column of daylight into the middle of the room, and the glass catches the sky from several angles through the day.
Frame and finish
Aluminium makes a slimmer, stronger lantern frame than uPVC, and in grey or black it sits well beside gritstone and slate. Our comparison of aluminium and uPVC lanterns weighs the two for you.
Permission for a lantern
A lantern usually rises higher than the 150mm that the permitted development class for roof alterations allows. Either the council is asked, or the extension's own permission covers it. We check your address first and give you the position, which the roof lantern planning permission guide covers in full.
Sizing against the room
A lantern that is too small looks lost on a wide ceiling, and one that is too large crowds a narrow room. We measure the roof and the ceiling, and the lantern is sized between them. Makers state the measurements in different ways, a point the roof lantern sizes guide goes through.
How the light falls
The glass is pitched on four sides, so the light enters at different angles through the day. In the morning one face brightens the end of the room by the old house, and in the afternoon another brings light across the table. The position over the room, not the size of the pane alone, settles how much of the floor is reached.
The kerb
The kerb is a timber box that raises the lantern above the roof deck. It is built to the size of the lantern, insulated, and wrapped in the roof covering, which is dressed up the outside and finished under the frame. Sizes for a lantern mean the inside of the kerb for some makers and the outside for others, so we confirm which applies before the order.
Lantern terms for a stone extension
- Glazing bar
- The slim frame member that holds the glass panes apart and carries them.
- Ridge
- The top line where the lantern's two sloping faces meet.
- Kerb
- The raised box on the deck that the lantern sits on.
- Pyramid
- A lantern with four equal faces rising to a point.
How does a rooflight reach a roof on a steep street with narrow access?
Silsden's streets climb the side of Airedale. Terraces step up the hill with a ginnel or a narrow lane behind, and a front door may open straight off the pavement. A roof window or a lantern has to reach the roof by a route that the street and the house allow.
This is a practical question, and it is checked first because it affects how the work goes. A unit that cannot reach the roof cannot be fitted, whatever the order says.
Getting the unit to the house
On a steep street a delivery vehicle may not be able to stop close to the house. The unit can be carried the last stretch on foot or kept in the van until the roof is ready. A lantern is a larger piece of glass and needs a clear approach. We look at the street on the survey and note where the unit will wait.
Reaching the roof
For a roof window on the back slope, a ladder from the back yard or the lane can reach the eaves. Where the slope is too tall for that, the work may be done from the inside, working through the loft, or from the roof of the extension below. Steeper terrace roofs are worked from a platform that gives a safe footing.
A shared lane
Where the lane behind a row is shared, the materials are kept to one side so that neighbours can still pass, and the lane is swept when we leave.
When access is awkward
Some houses can only be reached from one side. In that case we plan the work around it, taking the old slates down by hand and carrying the new frame through the house, with the floors sheeted along the route. We record the route so that the order and the day of work agree.
Weather windows
On a hillside the weather changes quickly. We open the roof only when the sky allows, and the opening is covered if conditions turn. Work is paused in strong wind, because a pane of glass or a roll of membrane lifts in a gust.
From van to roof on a steep street
Where the van can stop, how the glass is carried to the house, and which slope the roof can be reached from safely.
Airedale and the villages around Silsden
We also survey homes in Steeton, Crosshills, Keighley, Oakworth, Ilkley, Haworth and Bingley, and across to Wilsden and Burley-in-Wharfedale. The form on this page starts a free survey in any of them.
Smaller Silsden questions, answered
Can a rooflight go in beside a chimney stack on a gritstone roof?
A clear stretch of roof is needed on every side of the frame, and a chimney stack takes up part of the slope. We look for the nearest clear rafters and place the glass there, which may mean a smaller unit than the room would ideally have.
Will the stone and slate match after the work?
The slates round the opening are lifted by hand and relaid, so the roof covering stays the original one. Any slate that breaks is replaced with the nearest match, and a frame in a dark grey or black finish sits quietly against old slate.
Can I fit the window now and convert the attic later?
A window can go in first, so the attic is bright while you decide. Converting it into a bedroom is separate building work, with its own floor, stair and escape arrangements, and it is easier to plan once you can see the room in daylight.
Are moss and bird droppings a problem for a rooflight near open country?
Moss collects on shaded roofs and bird droppings on any glass, and both brush off with a soft brush from a safe position. A frame with a smooth outer face is easier to keep clear than one with ledges.
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