Skylight and rooflight fitting in Burwash
Burwash is a rural village in the High Weald, on the A265, with listed buildings along its High Street. A dining room, a back utility room or a hallway in a house like that can take light from the roof when the walls will not give any more.
- Free survey, fixed written quote
- 10-year workmanship guarantee
Behind the dining room door
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1 The dining room in the middle In an older house the dining room can sit between the front room and the kitchen with one small window onto the street. If a single-storey wing is behind it, the roof of that wing can supply the missing light. -
2 The lean-to at the back A utility room in a lean-to has one sloping roof and usually a door in place of a window. A roof window in that slope is the simplest route to daylight. -
3 A hall under the stairs The hallway of a thick-walled house takes its light from the front door and a fanlight at best. A tunnel through the loft reaches the ceiling above it.
A village strung along the A265
Thick walls and small windows leave the middle of a house in shade.
Burwash is a rural village in the High Weald of Sussex, about 15 miles inland from Hastings. It stands on the A265 and on the River Dudwell, a tributary of the River Rother, and it lies inside an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty named for the High Weald. The buildings along the High Street have listed status, a garden wall among them, and two pubs stand along it.
Older houses of that sort are often built with thick walls and small windows, and the plan inside follows from that. Rooms open off one another rather than off a corridor, and the room in the middle of the house gets whatever light finds its way through a neighbouring door.
| Room and the roof over it | What we measure first |
|---|---|
| Dining room in a single-storey rear wing | Depth and spacing of the old rafters, and the covering |
| Utility room in a lean-to | The pitch of the single slope |
| Hallway under a pitched roof | The route through the loft past the ceiling joists |
The dining room in the middle
The dining room in a house of this age often sits between the front room and the kitchen, with a single window onto the street or the garden. The table is at the far end of it, which means a dinner party in November is lit from above by a bulb. Whether the roof can help depends on whether the dining room has a roof of its own. If it sits in a single-storey rear wing, or just behind one, a roof window or flat rooflight set into that roof lights it directly. If there is a bedroom over the top, the roof is the wrong route for that room.
The rafters get checked first, because in an old wing they may not match the neighbouring room. A thick-walled rear wing may have old, deep timbers with unusual spacing, and the opening for a unit has to be framed around them. Where the existing covering is old tile or slate, the flashing needs to match its profile, so the roof is looked at from outside before any unit is chosen.
Light from above also changes the table. A dining room that has only ever had a side window feels different with daylight on the cloth at lunchtime, and the wall colours that looked right under a bulb are worth testing again beneath real light.
Small, deep-set windows make the sill the brightest place in the room and the far wall the darkest. A rooflight changes that gradient because the light arrives from above and reaches the middle of the floor first, then the walls.
An old rear wing also tends to sit lower than the main house, with a ceiling that is close to the rafters or even open to them. That can help, because a roof window in a sloping ceiling lets the light run down the slope and into the room without a deep well to line. It also means the existing timbers are visible from inside, and the survey notes which ones are old enough to need careful handling before an opening is planned.
The lean-to and its single slope
A utility room in a lean-to has one sloping roof running down from the back wall of the house. It is a good candidate for a roof window because there is a single slope and no loft in the way. The angle comes first: every roof window has a lowest pitch it will work at, and our page on roof window pitch limits goes through it. Below that figure, a flat rooflight on a kerb is the alternative.
A lean-to utility has a low eaves edge, and the roof window needs to sit clear of the point where the slope meets the house wall. A frame placed too close to that junction is awkward to flash, so the unit moves a little way up the slope. Inside a thick-walled wing the reveal is often deep, and a deep reveal that is lined and splayed lets more of the light reach the floor than one cut square.
Opening or fixed is a choice to make here: steam leaves through an opening unit, while a fixed one has nothing to adjust.
Listed streets, and Rother's say
Rother District Council decides planning applications in Burwash, so any application or confirmation about a rooflight goes to it. For a house, the first question to answer is whether it is listed, because that reorders the whole job.
Myth
Nothing can be added to the roof of a listed house on a High Weald street.
Fact
A listed house can have a roof window or rooflight, but it will almost always need listed building consent, and the council looks at the unit and its position closely. We price the job with that in mind, so you have a figure when you apply.
If your house is on the list
The buildings along the High Street are recorded as listed. A listed house keeps its Class C rights, but a new or altered roof window will almost always need listed building consent, and that application looks closely at the unit: how big it is, how it sits in the roof and which slope it faces. The process is described on our page for rooflights on listed buildings. A conservation rooflight is made to sit close to the slope, and the conservation rooflight page explains what that means in practice.
St Bartholomew's Church is Grade II* listed. A house near it is not made listed by that, but it is a reason to look up your address in the council's records and the national list before you plan anything.
What the survey adds for a listed address
For an address on the list, the survey includes a photographic record of the roof from outside, a note of the covering and its condition, and a sketch of where a unit would sit relative to the rafters. That gives you something concrete to take to the council.
The conservation area
The village also has a conservation area carrying its name. Standing inside one leaves permitted development for rooflights in place unless an Article 4 direction removes it. Where an application becomes necessary, the conservation area rooflight planning guide covers what changes, and your address is checked with the council.
Planning and sign-off for a house that is not listed
On an unlisted house, the conditions in our planning permission guide decide whether an application is needed, and they are tested against your roof at the survey. Cutting through the roof also brings in the Building Regulations, which look at the structure and the glazing's energy performance. The Building Control notification is ours to handle where the work is notifiable, and Rother's building control team or a registered building control approver signs it off.
If the house is old, tell us about any alterations you know of: a replaced roof covering, a boarded-over opening, a ceiling that was lowered. Each changes what lies under the tiles, and a roof window sits best where the rafters and the room below line up with the light you want.
Hallways, and the road from Maidstone
The hallway of a thick-walled house often has the front door and a small window or fanlight to light it, and nothing else. The stairs rise from it, and the landing above is dim too. One answer is a sun tunnel: a dome on the slope, a tube across the loft and a diffuser set into the hall or landing ceiling. The tube needs a clear route past the ceiling joists, and its length and its bends both change how much light arrives.
The loft space itself needs checking before anything is priced: whether it is boarded, whether it holds a tank, a flue or wiring, and how the old timbers are laid. A roof window above the stairwell is the alternative when the stairs rise towards the roof.
Myth
A sun tunnel only works in a short, straight run.
Fact
Length and the number of bends both affect how much light reaches the room, and the choice between rigid and flexible tunnels changes with the route through the loft. Our pages on tunnel length limits and rigid or flexible tunnels set it out.
What a hallway tunnel looks like from below
From the hall floor, the only sign of a tunnel is a round or square diffuser in the ceiling, finished white. By day it gives an even, cool light. A landing with a tunnel above it will brighten the top of the stairs as well.
Coming south to Burwash
Heading south from Maidstone, it is about 25 road miles to Burwash across the county line, which keeps the village within our 30-mile radius. The finished work is covered by our written 10-year workmanship guarantee.
WhatsApp on 07880 284133 is the fastest way to arrange a visit, email to info@orchardskylightsmaidstone.co.uk reaches the same team, and the quote form is below. A photograph of the room, and a second one of the roof above it taken from the garden, helps us prepare. In a hallway, add a picture looking up at the ceiling and another of the loft hatch if there is one.
We also work in Ticehurst, north of Burwash, and in Wadhurst to the north-west.
Listed houses, lean-tos and halls
Several buildings on Burwash High Street are listed. How do I find out whether mine is?
The council's records show it, and the national list for England can be searched by address. Check before you plan anything, because a listed house follows a different route. If the house is not on the list, the planning guide takes over and the question becomes how the unit sits against the original roof.
Who inspects the work in Burwash, Rother's team or a private body?
Either can. Rother District Council has its own building control team, and a registered building control approver is the private route. Whichever body takes the job signs it off, and the paperwork to start that process comes from us.
How would you light a hallway in a thick-walled house with a loft above it?
With a sun tunnel from the slope through the loft to the hall ceiling, or with a roof window above the stairs where they rise towards the roof. What is stored or routed in the loft, and how the timbers lie, decides which we price.
What pitch does a lean-to utility room need before a roof window will fit?
Every roof window has a lowest pitch it works at, and the slope of a lean-to is often shallow, so it is measured first. Our pitch page sets out the principle. A flat rooflight on a kerb is the option for slopes that fall below it.
What happens after I message you from Burwash?
A free survey is arranged at the house, starting in the room you want lighter. A fixed written quote follows, with the unit, the roofing and the room's finish listed in it.
Nearby towns to Burwash
Book your free survey
Tell us about the room that stays dark. We come out, look at the room and the roof, then send a fixed written quote.
Or on 07880 284133, or call 01622 277162
No obligation. We survey before we price.