Skylights and rooflights in Strood
Strood sits in the unitary authority of Medway, close to Rochester and Chatham. The stairwell, the through-lounge and the garden room are the spaces in its houses where the roof can do what the walls cannot.
- Free survey, fixed written quote
- 10-year workmanship guarantee
What each kind of roof can give a Strood house
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1 Pitched slopes over the stairs A staircase in a terrace sits between party walls with no window of its own. Glass in the back slope lets daylight run down the well to the hall. -
2 Flat roofs over rear additions A back addition with a flat roof is the easiest spot for a rooflight. It lights the new space and the old room next to it. -
3 Low-pitched roofs over garden rooms A garden room often has a shallow roof and one glazed wall. A rooflight set close to the house wall lights the dim side.
Terraces on the street, a canal behind
Strood's house types and where the daylight stops in each.
The Thames and Medway Canal was dug between 1804 and 1824 to give boats a safe route between the two rivers, and at the Strood end it entered Frindsbury Basin through a lock before running into the Thames and Medway Tunnel. Spoil from that tunnel was used to infill the marshland between St Mary's Church and the River Medway. The railway followed: Strood station was completed on 10 February 1856. The housing is a mix of sizes, from large detached homes to small terraces that open straight onto the street.
The useful question is how each kind of house gets its light. The street-fronted terrace is the clearest example, because the door opens into the front room and the rest of the house runs back from it in a line.
Following the daylight through a terrace
- Front room Street window, bright near the glass and weaker beyond the first couple of metres.
- Stair and landing Enclosed by party walls, so light comes only from open doors.
- Back room or extension Garden-facing glass lights the far end, and the middle can stay dim.
- Roof above The slope or flat roof that can feed light down into whichever of these is darkest.
The stairwell between two party walls
Terraces of that kind are often one room wide, with the stairs rising along a party wall. When the stair runs up the middle of the plan, the stairwell has no outside wall at all. Daylight reaches it only by borrowing from open doors, and the landing is dim even at noon. Glass in the rear roof plane directly above the stairs sends daylight down the well. If the roof is too shallow for a window, a sun tunnel does a similar job with a narrower opening.
The glass has to line up with the stair. We check the line of the rafters and the ceiling below, and where the stair turns we choose the spot that lights both the landing and the hall beneath it.
On a terrace roof the party walls rise through the loft, and a frame cannot straddle brickwork. The opening is set to one side of the wall, and the width of the unit is chosen to fit the rafter spacing where it can.
The through-lounge that lost its middle
A through-lounge runs from the front window to the back of the house, often after an internal wall has been taken down. Both ends have glass. The middle, where the old wall stood and where the sofa often ends up, gets the weakest light. Where the back of the house has been extended, a rooflight at the join between old wall and new roof brings light down onto that dim stretch.
The back kitchen with a flat roof
Terraces and semis often have a kitchen built out at the back, with a flat roof at a lower level than the main roof. The kitchen gets the garden window, and the room between it and the street gets less light than before. A flat rooflight over the join, or a small lantern if the ceiling can take the height, shares daylight between the two. The roof is the easiest part of the house to work on there, because it is single-storey and reachable by ladder.
Upstairs: landings and bathrooms
Upstairs the same logic repeats. A landing between two bedrooms has no outside wall, and a bathroom set between the bedrooms may have a small high window or a fan and nothing else. A rooflight lined down through the loft to the ceiling brings in daylight from above, and an obscure pane keeps the bathroom private. A sun tunnel is the choice when the roof space is too low or too full for a lined window.
Sun tunnels in a terrace loft
A sun tunnel fits where the loft is too low or too full for a lined window. The dome on the slope collects the daylight, a tube carries it through the loft, and a diffuser spreads it from the ceiling. The tube is rigid or flexible depending on the run, and the shorter and straighter it is, the more light it passes.
Large detached houses
A large detached house in Strood brings different problems. Rooms are bigger and fewer share walls, but a deep plan, an internal bathroom or a landing on a half-turn stair can still sit far from any window. These houses often have loft space deep enough for a sun tunnel run or for a roof window with a generous lining, and on a larger roof there is room to choose a size that suits the room below.
Garden rooms behind the house
A garden room at the bottom of a long, narrow plot usually has its glass facing the house. A rooflight over the wall side of the room lights the part the doors cannot reach. A flat rooflight does the work on a flat roof; on a shallow pitched roof we look at a roof window instead.
A garden room often has a low ceiling, so the depth of the joists and the height of the upstand decide how the glass looks from below. We measure both before choosing between a flat rooflight and a lantern.
Medway Council, listed buildings and building work
For planning, Strood answers to Medway Council. A rooflight or roof window on an ordinary house is usually permitted development if it meets the Class C conditions, and the planning permission guide lists the exceptions, including flats, houses created by change-of-use permitted development and houses where a planning condition has removed the rights. Strood also has listed buildings, such as the Grade II listed parish church of St Nicholas. A listed house keeps its Class C rights on paper, and yet a new or altered roof window will almost always need listed building consent.
A new opening is building work
A hole in a roof changes the structure, so the Building Regulations apply. Rafters or joists that are cut have to be trimmed round the opening, the energy limit for the product has to be met, and in a loft room fire and escape questions can arise. For a roof window that limit is 1.4 W/m²K, or Window Energy Rating band B at minimum; a rooflight or roof lantern is held to 2.2 W/m²K. Our Building Regulations guide walks through each, and the council or a registered building control approver signs the work off.
Replacing an old unit
Some Strood roofs already carry a rooflight or roof window that has reached the end of its life, and we install replacements for every product on this site. The replacement has to meet the same energy limit as a new one, so it is the glass and the frame that change, and sometimes the flashing as well. We measure the existing opening first, because a modern unit may not match the old one's size exactly.
Making good indoors
Once the unit is in and weathered, the work moves inside. The shaft or reveal is lined, the plaster is made good and the surfaces are left ready for paint. In a terrace the hall floor and stair carpet are covered first, since everything passes through them.
Access on a street of terraces
In a street of terraces opening onto the pavement, everything for the job comes through the front door or along a back alley. We agree the route with you, lay protection along it and keep the hall clear while the roof is open. If the back of the house has a flat roof, a ladder and a lifting line often do the work; if the roof is high or steep, we plan the access in advance.
A bathroom roof window or sun tunnel meets steam every day, so the sealing, the vent and the glazing specification are chosen for a damp room.
Sizing the opening
Roof windows come in standard sizes, and a manufacturer's code such as MK04 uses its letters for the width and its digits for the height. Rafter spacing in an older terrace often sets the width, since cutting more rafters than necessary means more framing work. A flat rooflight is easier to size because it sits on a kerb we build ourselves. For either, we balance the size of the glass against the size of the room, so the new light reaches the dim corner without overheating a small space.
Choosing the glass for a bedroom
A bedroom roof window needs a different thought from a stair. Early sun can wake you through a south-east slope, so a blind or a darker pane may be the right pairing. An obscure pane suits a bathroom, and a clear one suits a landing. A glazed pane over a bed also deserves a thought about winter nights, so we cover the blind options and where the winding cord or electric control would sit. If you tell us how you sleep and when the room is used, the choice follows.
Flat roofs and the neighbours
Terraced houses share walls, and often share roof lines too. Work on a flat rear roof sits close to the next property, so the survey notes where a ladder can stand, where materials can be laid, and whether a shared boundary calls for a word with your neighbour before the work starts.
What the quote covers
The written quote lists the unit, the glass, the roof work and the finishing indoors. What moves the figure is the size of the opening, the roof covering, how much of the structure has to be trimmed, how far the lining runs from roof to ceiling and how easily we can get materials to the roof.
Booking a visit in Strood
There is no charge for the survey, and the job carries a 10-year workmanship guarantee in writing. We handle the Building Control notification where the work is notifiable. To arrange a visit, start with WhatsApp on 07880 284133; the quote form or info@orchardskylightsmaidstone.co.uk will do as well.
Rochester, Chatham and Higham are all close by and all on our list.
Strood stairwells, lounges and garden rooms
The staircase in our Strood terrace is pitch dark at midday. What would you put above it?
Glass in the back slope, lined down to the ceiling so the light falls into the stairwell. Where the roof space is tight, a tube-type sun tunnel takes its place. We pick after looking at the rafters.
What does a rooflight do for a through-lounge with a dull middle?
It adds light where the front and rear windows fade out. We position it over the dim stretch, around where the old dividing wall stood.
Do you need photos before you come to a house in Medway?
Photos help us see the roof type and the room. The visit itself is the next step.
Our garden room has a flat roof and a wall of glass doors. Is a lantern needed?
A flat rooflight is often enough and keeps the roof low. A lantern gives more height and more glass, but its height normally lifts it outside Class C, so planning permission is the usual route, as the lantern planning guide explains.
Nearby towns to Strood
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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
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