Skylights and rooflights in Eccles, Kent
Eccles is a village in the parish of Aylesford, in the valley of the River Medway. Inside a house here, daylight can give out on the stair, in the hall and in the middle of a long lounge, and each of them can be lit from the roof.
- Free survey, fixed written quote
- 10-year workmanship guarantee
Three places in an Eccles house that stay dim
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1 A stair void with no window A stair set in the middle of a cottage plan has walls on both sides and nothing facing outdoors. The roof above it is the only direct route to daylight. -
2 The hall behind the front door A hall off a terrace front door often has a small glazed panel at best. If the stair sits close to the roof, glazing overhead can reach it. -
3 The middle of a long lounge Windows at either end leave the centre of a through-lounge in shade for much of the day. Roof glazing over that stretch brings daylight to it.
Cottage terraces and the stair at their heart
A local farmer, Thomas Abbot, built a terrace of 22 cottages on Bull Lane to house workers, and the population soon increased to 300. A terrace put up in a single run tends to repeat one plan, with the stair in the same spot in every cottage. That repetition helps us: a layout we understand from one house tells us a lot about the next.
Terraced cottages of that kind are generally narrow, with party walls on either side. The stair is squeezed in between the room on the street and the one at the back, and the landing above it has no outside wall at all. Light on the stairs arrives through whichever door happens to be open, or it does not arrive. If the cottage has a loft, the roof sits a short distance over that landing, and the path for daylight is short.
Lighting a stair void, in sequence
- Trace the stair run We mark where the stair and landing sit and which roof slope lies above them.
- Open the loft hatch Rafters, insulation and any boarding show what can fit.
- Choose the unit Roof window or sun tunnel, sized to the opening the structure allows.
- Form and finish the shaft Trim the opening, fit the unit and line the way down to the ceiling.
What a roof window does for a stair void
A roof window set into the rear slope, directly above the landing, sends light down the well of the stair. The effect reaches the hall at the bottom as well, because the stair is open between the floors. A pale finish on the walls helps the light travel, and a splayed edge to the opening, cut at an angle where it meets the ceiling, spreads it wider than a square one would. A roof window that opens also lets warm air leave the top of the house. Sun tunnels need a clear line through the loft, so we check the route from above before marking a position.
When the slope is too far away
Some stairs sit under a loft that is floored, boarded or in use, and some roofs are pitched so that the nearest slope is a long way from the landing. A sun tunnel handles that. It collects light under a dome on the tiles, carries it across the loft in a tube and spreads it from a diffuser in the ceiling. The hole it needs in the roof is small, which suits rafters with little gap between them. Tube types are compared in rigid or flexible sun tunnels, and roof windows cover the alternative.
The roof next door
In a terrace, the neighbour shares the wall and the ridge line. We keep the opening within your own side of the roof and clear of the party wall, and we check the position against the rafters before we mark anything. The covering is lifted, the opening is framed and the unit is flashed into the tiles or slates before the lining goes round the inside of the shaft.
Working in a lived-in cottage
In a small cottage the stair is the only way between floors, so we protect the treads and the floor below before the first tile is lifted. The work is done from the roof and the loft, which leaves the ground-floor rooms in use. Dust sheets go over furniture near the landing, and the loft hatch is the route for materials.
The shaft below the opening is lined and finished to match the landing ceiling, so the new light reads as part of the house.
The hall behind a terrace front door
A terrace front door can open straight into a hall that doubles as a corridor, running from the door to the stair and the back room with no wall of its own facing outdoors. A small glazed panel in the door lets in light for the first few feet. After that, the hall depends on a ceiling fitting that is switched on all day.
Where the stair rises out of the hall, the opening between the floors can carry daylight a long way. A roof window above the landing lights the stair and the hall beneath it in one go. Where a door at the foot of the stair closes it off, or the upper floor blocks the path, a sun tunnel can bring light down to a fixed point in the hall ceiling instead.
| Layout | Path to the roof | Options |
|---|---|---|
| Stair rises straight from the hall | Down through the landing opening | Roof window above the landing |
| Hall shut off from the stair by a door | Through the loft by tube | Sun tunnel |
| Loft already converted | Depends on the structure | Roof window in the conversion; survey decides |
Window or tunnel for the hall
A roof window passes the most daylight and shows you the sky, but it needs a slope close to the stair. A sun tunnel delivers a softer, fixed pool of light. Its tube has to get past joists, cables and loft insulation, and a long run delivers less than a short one. We measure the run before we recommend either.
Sizing for a narrow landing
Landings are narrow, so the size of the unit matters. In a size code such as MK04, the letters give the width and the digits the height. We convert whichever code suits into the opening you will see in the ceiling, and check it between the rafters.
What is in a hall ceiling
The hall ceiling carries more than plaster. Lighting circuits, smoke alarm positions and joists all compete for the same patch, and the diffuser of a sun tunnel has to land clear of them. We trace those on the survey, so the position on the quote is a position that can be built.
If the loft above has been converted into a room, the roof lining, insulation and floor build-up sit between the slope and the hall. We look at that structure and decide whether a window can go in the roof above, or whether the stair is better served from the landing side.
How the light behaves through the day
A roof window above a landing faces one way. On a slope facing north the light is even and cool. On a south-facing slope it is brighter, and patches of sun move across the stair as the day goes round. The diffuser of a sun tunnel spreads whatever arrives evenly over the ceiling, so the hall has no hard patches. We note the direction the slope faces at the survey and choose the glass to suit.
Finishing the hall
Once the unit is in, we make good the plasterwork around it and leave the surface ready for paint. A white or pale finish round the opening helps the light spread along the hall.
Long lounges, planning and the road from Maidstone
Windows at each end of a through-lounge leave the centre in shade. If part of that lounge sits under a single-storey roof, such as a rear extension, the roof gives the route. A flat rooflight or lantern placed towards the old wall brings daylight to the centre. A flat roof rooflight is the simplest to fit, and a roof lantern suits a wide opening. A roof lantern usually stands more than 150 mm proud of a flat roof, so it normally needs a planning application unless the council confirms otherwise.
| Unit | Roof it suits | Check first |
|---|---|---|
| Flat rooflight | Flat roof | Covering, falls and joist direction |
| Roof lantern | Flat roof with a wide opening | Planning route and the kerb height |
| Roof window | Pitched slope | Rafter spacing and the lining |
Planning for an Eccles address
Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council handles planning for Eccles, though the village belongs to the civil parish of Aylesford. Whether your house needs an application turns on its type, its history and the size of the unit, and the planning permission guide explains the conditions. If the house began life as a conversion, tell us how it was done, because the route to permission differs.
The extension roof itself
A single-storey extension roof is the one we study before anything else. We note its covering, its falls, what the deck is made of and which way the joists run, because those details decide the kerb and the size of opening the roof can take. A lantern needs a kerb built to carry it, and we specify the upstand for a flat rooflight as well. The covering is then sealed to the upstand before the ceiling below is lined.
Glass for a lounge roof
A lounge roof gets sun for part of the day, so the glass specification matters. We discuss a solar-control coating for south-facing roofs, and a laminated inner pane where the unit sits over a seating area. In summer a south-facing lounge roof can run warm, and in winter the glass can be the coldest surface in the room. Solar control answers the first and a better-insulated pane the second, and we specify the unit against the energy limits in the Building Regulations guide. The quote names the glass in full.
Getting from Maidstone to Eccles
A survey visit costs you nothing, and it covers the stair, the hall and the lounge in one go, so you can ask about all three rooms at once.
Aylesford lies south of the village, Snodland north-west and Larkfield south-west, and we survey in all three. WhatsApp on 07880 284133 gets a reply from us, as does info@orchardskylightsmaidstone.co.uk, and a request through the quote form goes to the same place. Once you accept the written quote, the job is booked in, and a ten-year workmanship guarantee in writing is handed over when the work is done.
Lighting a terraced cottage stair
What can we fit over the stairs of a terraced cottage with no window on the landing?
A roof window in the slope over the landing suits a stair near the roof. If the loft is in use or the slope sits too far from the stair, a sun tunnel is the alternative. The pitch and the rafter spacing choose between them.
What is the distance between your Maidstone base and Eccles?
Maidstone to Eccles is roughly 6 miles, heading north-west.
Do I apply to Aylesford or to Tonbridge and Malling about a roof window?
Any application goes to Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council, the planning authority for the village. Aylesford is the civil parish name. Our planning guide shows when an application is needed at all.
How do you decide between a sun tunnel and a roof window for a dark hall?
Distance and structure decide. A roof window needs a slope close to the room, while a sun tunnel can run through a loft. We measure the run on site, and where both would work we talk through the difference in light, cost and finish before you choose.
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