East Peckham skylights and rooflights
East Peckham sits on the River Medway, with the A228 bypass carrying through traffic round the edge of the village. Behind its front doors, a kitchen extension, a stairwell or a back bedroom short of daylight can borrow its light from the roof.
- Free survey, fixed written quote
- 10-year workmanship guarantee
Under a flat roof, a long slope or a low rafter
-
1 Flat roof on the extension A kitchen extension is built to face the garden, so its far corner along the boundary is the part that stays dim. A rooflight or lantern over that corner puts daylight on the worktop. -
2 Pitched slope over the stairs Stairs, landing and hall can stand stacked in one shaft with no outside wall. A window cut into the slope overhead sends daylight down the whole run. -
3 Low rafters in the back bedroom A back bedroom under the roof with one small window can take a roof window in line with the tiles, and a view of sky from the bed.
Houses of a river village
Age and plan depth decide which room runs short of light.
Water shaped East Peckham. The River Bourne meets the Medway in the south of the parish and once drove a watermill, Little Mill, and a second watermill stood on the Medway itself at Branbridges. The Domesday survey of 1086 counted about 33 households here, in the ancient hundred of Littlefield, and the village has kept history since: Sir William Twysden is buried in the family plot with an inscription at St Michael's church, Sir Roger Twysden (1597 to 1672) lived at Roydon Hall and was born in East Peckham, and James Pimm, who created the gin-based liqueur known as Pimm's, is another name in its records. A long-settled village can hold houses from many periods, and the period matters to us because it sets how deep a plan runs and how much outside wall each room gets.
| Roof type | Product we would look at | What we check first |
|---|---|---|
| Flat roof on a rear extension | Flat rooflight or roof lantern | Covering, falls, joist direction, size of upstand |
| Pitched roof over a landing | Roof window set into the slope, or a sun tunnel | Rafter spacing, insulation and loft contents |
| Sloping ceiling in a back bedroom | Roof window in plane with the tiles | Headroom beneath and the position of the bed |
Reading the age of a house
Older village houses were often built a room or two deep, with small windows in thick walls and ceilings that follow the roof. Later houses tend to be wider and shallower, and some have been lengthened at the back since they were built. A deep plan runs short of light in the middle. A shallow one runs short wherever an extension was added. The map cannot tell us which you have, so the survey begins with a walk through your rooms, starting with the one that made you get in touch.
The kitchen extension and its far corner
An extension is built to face the garden, and its glass sits on the garden side. The corner furthest from that glass stays dim, particularly along a boundary wall where worktops and hob often go and the only view is a fence. A flat rooflight over that run brings daylight onto the work surface, and a roof lantern does the same with a raised glazed form. Because a lantern generally stands more than 150 mm clear of a flat roof, it normally sits outside Class C permitted development and calls for a planning application unless the council has confirmed otherwise. The route is laid out in our planning guide.
Before a size is chosen, we read the roof covering, the direction the joists run and whether the deck is built as a warm roof or a cold one. Those facts decide how the upstand is formed and how much structure sits beneath the glass. A flat rooflight is flashed to an upstand that is built or checked before the glass arrives. For the products themselves, see roof lanterns or, for a lower profile, flat roof rooflights.
Wider, shallower houses fail in a different way. A long, thin footprint has windows along its length, but a corridor, a pantry or a utility room can wall off the middle, and the rooms either side of that stretch have no outside wall at all. If the roof over the corridor is pitched, either of those two products will light it from above. If an extension has added a flat section there, a rooflight can go over the join between old and new.
Along a boundary there is a second reason to look up. Light arriving from overhead is not blocked by a fence, a neighbour's wall or a shed, which all sit at eye level, and so it reaches a worktop that no window on the garden side could ever light.
Daylight down the stairs
A stairwell has the least outside wall of any part of a house. Stairs, landing and hall stack in one shaft, and the daylight there is whatever comes through the doors that happen to be open. Under a pitched roof that shaft usually runs up beneath the slope, so the roof above it is within reach, and the hall at the bottom can be lit from a window two floors up.
A stairwell job, stage by stage
- Find the shaft in the loft We locate the stairwell from above and see what lies between roof and ceiling.
- Frame the opening Rafters are trimmed and carried by new framing around the unit.
- Fit and weatherproof The roof window or sun tunnel goes in and is flashed to the covering.
- Line and finish The shaft is lined, plastered and left ready for paint.
Roof window or sun tunnel
A roof window is installed in the same orientation as the surrounding roof and in plane with it. It suits a landing where the ceiling rises with the rafters. Where a flat ceiling sits under a loft, a sun tunnel carries light down through that space instead. We choose between them from the loft: the rafter spacing, the insulation, the water tank if there is one and whatever is stored up there. A roof window on the back slope leaves the front elevation of the house as it was.
The glazing standard
A new or replacement roof window in an existing dwelling takes the window limit in Part L of the Building Regulations, 1.4 W/m²K, or Window Energy Rating band B at minimum. Cutting the opening is building work: the rafters that are trimmed have to be carried by new framing, and the opening has to be weathered into the covering. In the loft we also check for the water tank, the insulation depth and any wiring before a position is marked. We handle the Building Control notification where the work is notifiable.
Finishing the shaft
Between roof and ceiling the opening is lined into a shaft and finished in the same plaster and paint as the landing, so the new light reads as part of the house. The sides are usually splayed outwards towards the ceiling, which spreads the daylight across more of the wall and ceiling. On the stairs below, the result is a bright patch that crosses the wall through the day.
Where the unit sits in the slope
Height matters on a staircase. A unit placed high in the slope lights the upper flight and the landing and throws a long beam down to the hall. One placed lower in the slope lights the wall of the landing nearest to it. The slope also faces a particular way, and a roof window facing the sun gives a brighter, warmer landing than one facing away, so we note the compass direction of the slope at the survey and take it into account when the position is chosen.
A stairwell job also tells us about the rest of the house. The loft hatch, the joist run and the depth of insulation we see up there often settle questions for a second opening in the back bedroom or over the bathroom, and we price those on the same visit if you would like them. Setting several openings out in one quote also lets us plan the access, the protection of the stairs and the order of work once, rather than repeating it for each room.
The back bedroom and who decides
A back bedroom under the roof often has one small window and a ceiling that follows the rafters. A window in the roof gives it light from above and a view of sky from the pillow, and one that opens brings in air as well. The size depends on the gap between the rafters and the headroom under the glass, both of which we measure from inside the loft. Where a blind is wanted for early mornings, it is specified with the unit.
Bedrooms in the roof also change how the room behaves in summer and winter. A south-facing slope gives the room more sun, and the choice of glazing and blind is how that is managed. A north-facing slope gives steadier, cooler light, which suits a room used as a study. We talk through the direction of the slope before a size is agreed, and the unit is sized so that it can be reached and opened from the floor or the bed. Blind fabric and colour are chosen with the slope direction in mind, because a pale roller blind on a sunny slope and a blackout blind for a sleeper need different fittings.
Planning, conservation and the council
Applications from East Peckham go to Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council. Conservation areas in the village include Bullen Corner, Snoll Hatch and Little Mill. Standing in a conservation area does not by itself take away permitted development for a rooflight on a house; only an Article 4 direction does. The detail is in our planning guide and the conservation area rooflight guide.
| Question | Who answers it |
|---|---|
| Does the job need a planning application? | Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council |
| Is the structure and glazing acceptable? | The council's building control team or a registered building control approver |
| Is the house in a conservation area, or under an Article 4 direction? | The council's own records, read during the survey |
Getting to you
From our Maidstone base it is about 9 miles south-west. Beltring station on the Medway Valley Line is the closest for the village, with hourly Southeastern services to Tonbridge, Maidstone and Strood, though we come by road with the tools. There is no charge for the survey, and afterwards you receive one fixed figure in writing. When we finish, the guarantee on our workmanship, 10 years of it, is handed over on paper. Reach us through the quote form, on WhatsApp at 07880 284133 or at info@orchardskylightsmaidstone.co.uk.
Hadlow, Yalding and Paddock Wood are covered as well.
Kitchen extensions, stairs and back bedrooms
Is there a way to check if my road falls inside Bullen Corner, Snoll Hatch or Little Mill?
Bullen Corner, Snoll Hatch and Little Mill are among the conservation areas in East Peckham, and Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council holds the maps. Our planning guide explains the rule for houses.
Which room should I light first if the kitchen extension and the landing are both dim?
Start with the room you spend the most hours in. The extension roof is usually flat and calls for a rooflight or lantern, while the landing needs a roof window or sun tunnel, so the two are separate pieces of work that can sit on one written quote.
What size of roof window suits a small back bedroom?
Sizes come as codes such as MK04, where the letters give the width and the digits give the height. What fits depends on the rafter spacing and the headroom under the glass, and both are measured from inside the loft.
Nearby towns to East Peckham
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.