Conservation rooflights in Maidstone
A conservation rooflight sits low in an old roof and shows from the street as little more than a thin dark line among the tiles. We fit slim-profile units on listed homes and in conservation areas around Maidstone.
- Free survey, fixed written quote
- 10-year workmanship guarantee
The long read
Heritage rooflights for Maidstone's older roofs
Old houses in Kent often have a dark stair, a windowless landing or an attic room that was never given a proper opening, and the roof above is the one thing you are asked to leave looking as it does. A low-profile unit answers both problems at once. To talk through your own roof, get in touch.
Low-profile glass for older roofs
A standard rooflight sits on a raised kerb and shows from the street as a bright glass lid. A conservation rooflight is drawn to do the opposite. The glass lies close to the surface of the roof, the frame is narrow, and the whole unit takes its look from the small metal-framed lights that older buildings carried when a roof needed a little daylight and nothing more. From the lane it reads as a thin dark line.
The shape suits the roofs of Maidstone's older streets and villages, where clay peg tiles, slates and patched repairs make a pattern the eye picks up at once. A wide white box breaks that pattern. A slim unit set low in the slope sits inside it. Our short answer on what a conservation rooflight is goes through the parts one by one.
Terms for a low-profile unit
- Glazing bar
- The thin metal strip that divides one pane from the next, often a single vertical bar.
- Plane of the roof
- The flat surface made by the tile or slate tops across the slope.
- Upstand
- A raised kerb around the opening; on a conservation unit it is shallow.
- Flashing
- Metal or lead dressed between the frame and the roof covering to shed water.
- Sightline
- The width of frame you see from inside the room, from glass edge to glass edge.
What a conservation roof light looks like up close
Look at a section through the frame and the difference shows. The upstand is shallow or absent, so the glass stands only a little above the tiles. The glazing bars are slim, and many designs add a single bar down the middle of the pane. The glass is flat, and the frame is usually a dark colour that sinks into slate or weathered clay instead of reflecting the sky back at the road.
The slimness comes from the metal. Aluminium frames and steel-look sections are strong enough to carry the glass on a narrow bar, which is why the visible frame can be a few centimetres wide where a bulkier section would be double that. We bring sample sections to the survey so you can hold one against a tile.
Conservation rooflight or conservation roof window?
Approved Document L, the energy part of the Building Regulations, splits glazed roof units into two families. The glossary in that document calls a glazed unit on a kerb standing proud of the slope a rooflight, and a unit lying flat with the slope around it a roof window. A conservation unit set on a very low kerb can sit between the two, and the family it falls into decides the U-value limit that applies when we replace or add one: 2.2 W/m²K for a rooflight, 1.4 W/m²K for a roof window. We confirm which applies when we measure and specify the unit, not on the quote day.
Makers of roof windows, VELUX among them, list heritage-style ranges alongside purpose-built conservation rooflights. We install and replace both kinds, and which one suits depends on the roof pitch, the tile gauge and how deep the rafters are.
Roofs and rooms that call for one
Think of the stair in a Victorian terrace. It rises between two party walls, the landing has no outside wall at all, and the nearest window is a small sash at the back that lights the bottom flight and little else. A slim unit in the roof slope above the half landing sends light straight down the stairwell, and from the street the front slope keeps its look because the unit sits on the back slope or on a roof plane the road cannot see.
The pattern repeats through old houses of every size. A converted attic study under a steep slope has a gable window at one end and a dark triangle at the other. A bathroom built into the roof space has a dormer too small to count. A pantry in a rear outshot has one tiny window and a long run of dark shelf. Each room is dark in the middle, and each already has a roof that must stay as it is.
Rooms that suit a slim unit
Stair wells and landings, attic studies, roof-space bathrooms and the windowless pantry or utility behind a kitchen.
Smaller rooms in older houses show the same thing. A box room over the stairs, a rear bedroom with a sloping ceiling and a first-floor bathroom with its window onto a neighbour's wall all lose their daylight in the middle of the floor. A unit in the slope gives the room a view of sky and puts light on the basin, the bed or the desk beneath it.
Roofs covered in tile and slate
Old Kent roofs vary in covering, pitch and age. Clay peg tiles are small and laid in overlapping rows, so the unit has to be sized to the tile gauge, with the opening cut between rafters at a spacing that suits the tile courses. Slate roofs have a different rhythm again. We measure the gauge and the rafter spacing at the survey, then work out which unit sizes fit without cutting through more of the roof than necessary.
Barns, oasts and converted buildings
Converted barns and agricultural buildings bring a particular wrinkle. Where a barn or a similar building became a home through change-of-use permitted development, householder permitted development does not apply to it at all, which means any new opening in its roof goes through a planning application first. The age and look of the building do not alter that, though they do shape what a council will accept. Our guide to skylight planning permission sets out how to tell where a house stands.
Behind the old house: extensions with flat roofs
Many protected houses carry a later extension at the back: a single-storey kitchen, an orangery or a conservatory under a flat or shallow roof. A lantern or a flat rooflight there can light the deep middle of the new room while the old house keeps its tiles. Our pages on roof lanterns and flat roof rooflights cover those products in full, and the planning position for them is different from a unit in a pitched historic roof, so we look at each separately.
Frames, bars and the metal behind them
Frame material sets the look from the lane and the feel from inside the room, so it gets a decision of its own. We start from a slim frame with a thermal break in a dark finish, because a narrow bar keeps the glass the main thing seen from the lane. Steel-look sections go further on the traditional appearance, with a thin outer profile and a fixed central bar. Heavier white sections change the look of an old roof the moment they appear.
| Frame | How it looks | What we check |
|---|---|---|
| Thermally broken aluminium | Slim, dark powder-coat, flush glass | Colour against the tile, opening or fixed |
| Steel-look section | Thin outer profile with a central bar | Rafter gap and flashing detail |
| Heritage roof window range | Slightly deeper frame, timber or painted finish | Pitch and tile gauge |
| uPVC | Broader sightlines, white or woodgrain | Whether the setting allows the heavier look |
Aluminium frames, steel-look sections and uPVC
A thermally broken aluminium frame has an insulating strip inside each section, so the inner face stays warmer and condensation on the frame is less likely. It comes in dark greys, blacks and some muted browns that blend with weathered tile. A steel-look section copies the thin crisp bars of cast-iron lights. uPVC sections are bulkier because they need internal reinforcement, so the sightlines are thick; we seldom propose them where the aim is a slim line. We bring sections and colour samples to the survey and hold them against your own tiles.
Fixed or opening
A fixed unit gives the slimmest frame and the cleanest line. An opening unit adds a hinge, a handle and some weight, and it matters in a loft bedroom or a roof-space bathroom where steamy air needs a way out. Hinges can be hidden within the frame, and a pole or a catch at the bottom keeps the room side tidy. For an opening unit to work as an emergency escape window, it has to meet the opening size and height rules in Approved Document B, which apply only to storeys no more than 4.5 m above ground level, such as rooms in the roof of a bungalow or chalet bungalow; our Building Regulations guide sets out the sizes.
Makers, brands and ranges
Conservation units come from specialist makers, and the larger roof window brands, VELUX included, sell heritage-style models of their own. Each manufacturer range has fixed sizes, and a made-to-measure unit from a specialist fabricator is the answer where the opening is odd. We install and replace both, and recommend whichever matches the rafter gap, the pitch and the look you want from the lane.
Measuring for a bespoke fit
Each conservation rooflight we fit is made to measure for the opening. We take the dimensions of the rafter gap, the tile gauge and the slope pitch, then agree the exact size of the unit with you in writing before it is ordered. Because the frame is narrow, a few millimetres of error shows as a visible gap at the flashing, so we measure the opening twice, once at the survey and again once any old covering is lifted.
The roof's pitch matters as well. A very shallow roof needs different flashing details from a steep one, and some units have a minimum pitch below which they are not specified. Our page on the minimum pitch for a roof window explains how that limit works.
Glass, heat and daylight in the room
Slimness raises a fair question about warmth. A thin frame holds less insulation than a bulky one, and an old roof often has little insulation of its own. What matters is the figure for the whole unit with its frame, which is what Part L judges, and a modern slim unit can be specified to the limit that applies to its category.
Myth
A slim heritage frame lets the warmth straight out of the room.
Fact
What counts is the whole-unit U-value with the frame included, and a thermally broken slim unit with sealed double glazing can be specified to the limit for its category.
Double glazing in a slim section
Double glazing is the standard for the units we fit. A sealed pane pair with a low-emissivity coating, warm-edge spacer bars and gas fill gives the glass its insulating value, and the narrow thermally broken frame is designed to keep the heat from leaking around the edge. The whole-unit U-value, with the frame included, is the figure to compare between units, since a centre-pane figure for the glass alone leaves the frame out. Triple glazing adds weight and thickness that a slim section is not always built to carry, so we say when it suits and when it does not.
Natural light and glare
A small unit in a roof slope brings daylight from overhead into the middle of a room that side windows never reach. The area of glass matters less than where it sits. One narrow unit over the foot of a stair can brighten the whole flight, and one over a bed in a loft bedroom lights the pillow end without the glare of a large window facing the sky. On a south-facing slope, solar control glass cuts the summer heat in an attic room; on a north slope we usually keep it clear to keep the softer light.
Security, safety and noise
A laminated inner pane stays bonded to its interlayer if it breaks, so pieces do not fall into the room, and it also resists forced entry. Internal glazing beads and fixings keep the panes from being removed from outside, which matters on a roof reached easily from a garden wall or a lean-to.
A loft room under old tiles can feel warm in a heatwave and cold in January, because the roof above it is thin. The unit itself is only one part of that picture. If the rafters are exposed, we look at the insulation next to the frame at survey, since a well-glazed unit set into an uninsulated slope leaves cold edges around it.
For a fuller treatment of insulation and glass, see our pages on energy-efficient rooflights and rooflight U-values explained. If a loft room has overheated in past summers, our answer on rooflights and overheating goes through what to specify.
Conservation areas, listed buildings and Article 4
A conservation area on its own does not remove the permitted development right for a rooflight on a house. Class C, the part of the rules that covers rooflights and roof windows on a house, still applies in the area unless the council has made an Article 4 direction withdrawing it for that street or building. An Article 4 direction is a council order, and it is the thing to look for. Maidstone Borough Council and the neighbouring authorities each keep their own list of directions, and we check the one for your address as part of the survey.
| Your house | What it changes | Where to read more |
|---|---|---|
| In a conservation area, no Article 4 direction | Class C still applies, the conditions still have to be met | Skylight planning permission guide |
| In a conservation area with an Article 4 direction | Planning permission is likely to be needed for a roof slope facing the highway | Article 4 and rooflights |
| Listed building | Listed building consent for a new or altered opening | Rooflights on listed buildings |
| Flat, maisonette or change-of-use PD conversion | No householder rights; an application is needed | Skylight planning permission guide |
Listed buildings
A listed house still has Class C rights, but cutting a new opening or altering an existing one will almost always call for listed building consent, and that application is where the decision is made. The conservation officer looks at the position, the size of the unit, the number of bars and the colour of the frame, and at what rafters or timbers the opening would cut. Our guide to rooflights on listed buildings walks through the application, and we can prepare drawings and a sample sheet for it.
Conservation areas and Article 4 directions
Where a direction covers roof alterations, a rooflight it applies to needs planning permission, even a small unit. A listed house is separate again: listed building consent is a distinct requirement whether or not a direction exists. Where none applies, the 150 mm projection limit and the other Class C conditions still have to be met, and a conservation unit set low in the plane of the roof normally sits inside the projection limit. A window on a roof slope that forms a side elevation of the house must also be obscure-glazed and non-opening unless the parts that open are more than 1.7 m above the floor of the room it is in. We check that at the survey. Read more in conservation area rooflight planning and Article 4 and rooflights.
Where the decision sits
The council, not us, decides consent. We prepare the drawings and the sample sheet, and we order nothing until the answer is in writing.
Planning conditions and flats
A condition on an earlier planning permission can remove permitted development rights from a particular house, and a new estate house may have one. Flats and maisonettes have no householder rights at all. Both cases are covered in the main skylight planning guide, and the Planning Portal has national guidance on the wider rules.
Building Regulations
Cutting through a roof slope brings the structure, the energy rules and, in some rooms, escape into play. We handle the Building Control notification where the work is notifiable, and an inspector from the council or a registered building control approver checks the finished job. In a historic roof the structure under the covering is often older and less regular than a modern one, which is one more reason to measure it before the unit is ordered.
Cutting into tile and slate
Work on a historic roof begins with the tiles, because they are the part people will see. Before a rafter is touched, the tiles around the opening are lifted by hand and stacked in the order they came off, so the same weathered clay goes back around the new unit and the pattern carries on across the slope. New tiles bought to fill a gap rarely match weathered ones for colour, which is why we reuse what the roof already has.
Working through a tiled slope
- Lift the covering Tiles around the opening removed by hand and kept in order.
- Trim the timbers Rafters cut and carried on trimmers and headers.
- Set the frame Unit fixed square and level to the rafters.
- Flash and re-lay Flashing formed, then the original tiles laid back around it.
- Line the reveals Boarded, insulated and ready for plaster.
Inside the roof space
The opening sits between rafters wherever the layout allows. Where a rafter has to be cut, we fit trimmers on either side and a header above and below, so the load runs around the opening and not through it. Old timbers can be uneven, and a lath spacing that has drifted over the decades is a common surprise, so we check the structure from inside the loft at the survey. Insulation goes around the frame to keep the edges warm.
Flashing and weathering
The weathering is what keeps a low unit dry. On a peg tile roof, the flashing is formed to the profile of the tiles, with a lead or metal apron below the frame and soakers at the sides, and a gutter at the top to shed water around the unit. Slate roofs take a flatter flashing detail. We choose the system to suit the covering, and the pitch of the slope decides how much overlap we need.
Finishing the inside
The reveals between frame and ceiling are boarded and insulated and left ready for plaster and paint. A splayed reveal, cut at an angle, spreads the light more softly across the ceiling and avoids a hard edge. In a loft bedroom or a roof-space bathroom this is the part you see every day, so we agree the angle and the finish with you before the plasterer arrives.
On the day
Dust sheets go down and the room below is screened. We open the roof, fit the frame and the glass and make the roof watertight in a single visit for an ordinary single unit, working from the top of the slope down so rain cannot get in behind us. Where the roof is steep or high, scaffold or a roof ladder goes in first, and the cost of access appears on the quote. Afterwards Building Control signs off the work, and you receive our 10-year workmanship guarantee in writing.
Where we work and how to start
We fit conservation rooflights across Maidstone and the roughly 30 road miles around it. Closer in that means Bearsted, Coxheath, Aylesford, Lenham and Headcorn, and further out it takes in Tonbridge, Royal Tunbridge Wells and Rochester. Those places fall under more than one planning authority, each with its own conservation team, so the first thing we do for an old house is read that council's records for the address.
Our areas covered run in every direction from the town, so a cottage on the Greensand ridge and a terrace in the centre are equally within reach.
What the free survey covers
The free survey happens in the house and on the roof. We find the dark part of the plan, check the roof covering and its age, look into the loft at the rafters and any insulation, measure the opening and the tile gauge, and look at the planning position. You get a fixed written quote afterwards that names the unit, its dimensions, frame, colour and glass, the roof work, the finish inside and the Building Control notification. A condition such as listed building consent appears as its own line, so you see what has to come first.
What shifts the price
People often ask how much a rooflight costs. For a conservation unit the answer depends on how the job is built. Our costs page and the page on the cost to replace a rooflight set out the same drivers for every product.
Replacing or adding
We install and replace every product on this site. If an old unit in a heritage roof has failed, we remove it, check the rafters and flashing, and fit a like-for-like or slimmer unit made to the same opening. For a new opening, the sequence above applies. Where a roof is due for repair first, the quote shows it as a separate line.
Getting in touch
Use the quote form to book. Tell us the age of the house, whether it is listed or in a conservation area, which room is dark and what the roof is covered with. You can also send photos of the roof and the room on WhatsApp on 07880 284133, or email info@orchardskylightsmaidstone.co.uk. A photo of the street side tells us at once whether a slope is visible from the road. For a peg tile roof in particular, see our guide to a conservation rooflight on peg tiles.
What moves the cost of a conservation unit
- Size and makeMade-to-measure dimensions and the frame metal chosen.
- GlassDouble glazing with coatings, laminated inner pane, solar control or clear.
- The roof itselfPeg tile or slate, the pitch, and the state of the rafters.
- Access and consentScaffold or ladders, and any application needed first.
Conservation rooflight guides and answers
Listed cottages and slim frames
Our cottage is listed. What should we do before anyone measures the roof?
Start by deciding which room is dark and which slope the light could come from. We then survey, measure and draw the unit so your application to the council is specific about position, size and frame. Nothing is ordered before listed building consent is granted.
What makes one conservation rooflight dearer than another?
The size of the opening, the frame metal, the glazing specification and the work to the roof around it all feed into the figure. A steep tiled slope that needs scaffold costs more to reach than a low rear roof.
Will a slim frame leave my loft bedroom cold in winter?
The figure that counts is the whole-unit U-value with the frame included. A thermally broken slim unit with sealed double glazing is specified to the limit for its category, and insulation around the frame keeps the reveals warm.
Which roof coverings can you fit into?
Clay peg tiles and slates cover many older Kent houses, and we check the covering, its gauge and its condition at the survey. The tiles around the opening are lifted and laid back by hand.
What happens if the council refuses the front slope?
The rear slope or a roof plane hidden from the road is often the answer, and a different position can light the same room. We discuss alternatives at the survey and redraw the unit for the new position. Nothing is ordered until consent is in hand.
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.