Skylight and rooflight fitting in Vigo Village
Vigo Village stands in chestnut woodland at the top of the North Downs, about 14 miles north-west of Maidstone. The present village went up in the mid-20th century on a former army camp, and among the chestnuts the rooms that tend to miss out on daylight are the stairwell, the small bedroom and the garden room under the trees.
- Free survey, fixed written quote
- 10-year workmanship guarantee
Pitched slopes and flat extension roofs in Vigo Village
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1 A pitched slope over the stairs In a compact house the staircase can rise through the heart of the plan with the main roof directly above. Glass in that slope reaches down the stairwell to the hall. -
2 Flat roofs behind the house A garden room, or a single-storey addition at the back, typically ends in a flat or shallow roof. A rooflight or lantern on a raised kerb brings sky light in even when trees crowd the side walls. -
3 Narrow bedrooms under the slope The smallest bedroom often has one slim window, with the ceiling following the rafters. A source overhead, higher than the window, helps the far corner.
From army camp to a village in the woods
A mid-century place with a much older name.
Vigo Village is a village and, simply as Vigo, a civil parish in the Gravesham district of Kent. It sits in the middle of chestnut woodland at the top of the North Downs, east of the road between Gravesend and Wrotham, and Trosley Country Park lies immediately to the south, forming part of the North Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The name is older than the houses. A 15th-century public house gave the place its first name, and in the 18th century that pub was renamed after the Battle of Vigo Bay, a naval battle fought in 1702 during the War of the Spanish Succession. A hamlet called Vigo appears on an 18th-century map, but the present village was built in the mid-20th century on a site that had been a disused World War II army camp. A shopping centre followed, and the Villager pub opened in 1985.
| Roof over the room | Unit to look at | Read more |
|---|---|---|
| Pitched main roof | Roof window in the slope | Roof windows |
| Flat extension roof | Flat rooflight on a kerb | Flat roof rooflights |
| Flat roof of a garden room | Roof lantern across the ceiling | Roof lanterns |
| Loft between room and tiles | Sun tunnel to a ceiling diffuser | Sun tunnels |
That history gives us two points that matter to a roof. The housing dates from one broad period, and extensions will since have changed each house in its own way. And the whole village lies among trees, which cut the light that reaches side windows long before the sky above the roofline is blocked.
Garden rooms among the trees
A garden room is the clearest case. It is usually a single storey with a flat or shallow roof. The windows give a green, dim light from the sides. A rooflight over the room takes light from higher in the sky than the side windows can see, and a lantern turns the ceiling itself into the bright part of the room. The kerb it stands on is looked at during the survey, since the glass needs a sound base. Because the light falls onto the floor, the furniture can sit anywhere in the room, including the middle where the windows reach least.
A lantern on a flat roof raises its own planning questions, answered in the lantern planning guide, while the flat roof rooflight hub deals with the lower units.
The choice between a lantern and a flat rooflight turns on the room. A lantern has glass on several faces, so light can arrive from different angles as the sky changes, and it lifts the ceiling visually. A flat rooflight is lower and sits close to the roof line. In a room shaded by trees, the extra faces of a lantern can take in whichever patch of sky is clear, while in a small room a flat unit may be enough. Our lantern and roof window comparison sets the two against each other.
Reading the plan from outside
The outside of a house shows where the dark rooms lie. The stairs often sit under the highest part of the roof, where the headroom is, so the ridge can point to the stairwell. A gable wall with no window, or a rear extension that fills the garden side, marks the room behind it as one that borrows light from its neighbours. Walk round the house once with those two clues in mind, then look at the roof from the garden to see which slope has the clearest outlook for glass.
Bringing daylight down a stairwell
In a compact plan the stairwell can have no outside wall, yet the roof stands directly over it, which makes it one of the more fixable dark spaces in a house. The flight rises through the middle, and the landing is ringed by bedroom doors. Close the doors and the stairs are lit by whatever leaks out of the rooms around them.
Glass in the slope immediately above the well alters that. Daylight lands on the landing, spills down the flight and reaches the hall, so one opening serves both floors. Its position is critical: it must line up with the well itself, and the angled lining of the opening spreads the light along the ceiling and down the walls. The hall at the bottom, with a front door as its only source of daylight, is often the room where the change shows first. Upstairs, the landing gains too: with daylight of its own, the bedroom doors no longer have to stay open for the sake of light, and the treads are easy to see during the day.
Terms for the stairwell job
- Stairwell
- The open space above a staircase, from the hall up to the landing.
- Lining
- The finished sides of the opening, between window and ceiling, which can be angled to spread light.
- Kerb
- The raised frame fixed to a flat roof, on which a rooflight or lantern then sits.
- Flashing
- The weatherproofing that joins a roof window's frame to the tiles or slate around it.
- Diffuser
- The flat disc fixed to a ceiling, where a sun tunnel lets its light out.
Where a loft sits over the stairs, a window may be awkward, and a sun tunnel offers a different route: a tube crossing the attic with a diffuser at the bottom. The pool of light is smaller than a window gives, yet it still falls on the top flight. In a small house the window over the stairs can be an opening unit, so the stairwell can be aired in summer as warm air rises to the landing.
From opening to finished ceiling
On the day, the tiles around the chosen position are lifted, the rafters are trimmed and the frame is set between them, and the flashing is worked into the surrounding covering. Inside, the lining is built from the frame down to the ceiling and finished to match the room. When the opening sits over a staircase, the work is planned so the flight is protected and the hall stays usable while the roof is open.
Small bedrooms under the slope
In a compact plan the smallest bedroom often sits above the front door, with a single slim window. As a study or a nursery it asks for more daylight than that window can deliver. A window let into the slope above it, positioned high, gives a second source and lights the far corner. Pitch limits for roof windows are described in our pitch note, and the slope is measured before any unit is offered.
Choosing the size
The energy performance of the glazing is covered in the energy efficient rooflight hub, and each kind of unit has its own limit. The size then comes from the rafters and the room. A tidy opening fits between two rafters and needs only trimming; a wider window means cutting a rafter and framing around the gap. A bigger window gives more light and more work, and the quote sets out both versions so the choice is yours.
Trees, Gravesham and getting started
Gravesham Borough Council handles planning for the village; our skylight planning guide shows how to judge whether an application is called for. We read your roof against the guide at the survey, before any price is written.
The roof opening itself is building work, and the Building Regulations guide describes what is checked. We handle the Building Control notification where the work is notifiable.
Myth
Trees all round the house make a rooflight pointless.
Fact
Branches shade side windows first. Glass in the roof can see more sky than a wall window does, and overhanging limbs change the position and size we choose, which we check at the survey.
What the trees change
In a village among chestnut woodland, trees shape the survey. Branches that overhang a slope shade the glass for part of the day and drop leaves into the gutters and onto flat roofs. We look at what stands above and beside the roof, which slope has the clearest sky, and where a flat roof can be reached for cleaning. The result may be a roof window on one side of the house instead of the other, or a lantern placed away from the closest trunk.
Where a garden room is shaded from the sides, a rooflight does more work than it would in an open plot, since the light comes in from the sky instead of through leaves at eye level.
A hedge or a conifer shades the glass all year, while a deciduous tree lets in winter light and gives summer shade. That affects which slope is chosen, so the trees are looked at as well as the roof.
Keeping glass clear under trees
Leaves, moss and pollen settle on glass beneath trees. A roof window can be cleaned from inside on the room side, and the outer pane can be reached from a ladder by whoever clears the gutters. A flat roof can hold fallen leaves where a slope sheds some of them, so how the roof will be reached for sweeping is part of choosing the position. Access is recorded at the survey and shapes the choice of unit.
Starting from Vigo Village
Pictures of the dark room and the roof above it give us a head start. They can go to 07880 284133 on WhatsApp, to info@orchardskylightsmaidstone.co.uk, or through the quote form. The quote that follows the survey is fixed in writing. We cover Culverstone Green, Meopham and Wrotham as well.
Stairs, bedrooms and overhanging trees
What does a survey cost in Vigo Village?
Nothing. The survey is free anywhere within the 30 road miles we cover from Maidstone.
The stairs in our house rise through the middle with no window. Where does a roof window go?
Directly over the stairwell, in the main roof slope, so daylight lands on the landing and runs down to the hall. If a loft separates the stairs from the tiles, a sun tunnel reaches the same flight through the attic. Both are lined up with the well on the roof itself, since a bedroom alongside it would take the light instead.
Who is the planning authority for Vigo Village?
Vigo Village is in the Gravesham district, so applications go to Gravesham Borough Council. For the conditions that decide whether you need to apply, see our planning guide.
Chestnut trees overhang our roof. Will a rooflight still brighten the small bedroom?
It can. Overhanging branches shade a slope, so we compare the slopes and choose the one with the clearest sky above it, which in a wooded village is often the slope facing a gap in the trees. Leaves also gather on a roof beneath trees, which affects where glass goes on a flat roof and how easily it can be reached for cleaning.
Nearby towns to Vigo Village
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.