Skylight and rooflight fitting in Minster-on-Sea

Where the light goes in a one-sided room

A room glazed on one side behaves like a very deep window. The seats nearest the glass are bright. The wall nearest the house is dim, and a ceiling above it makes the effect worse. The sun also moves through the day, so the best-lit part of the room is not the same at breakfast as it is at tea. Glass in the roof gives the room a second direction of light and keeps some brightness over the back wall whichever way the sun is facing.

For a flat roof, the choice is between a flat rooflight, which sits close to the deck, and a roof lantern, which rises on a kerb and brings height and side glass with it. A flat rooflight makes sense where headroom is limited. A lantern needs a ceiling that can take a taller opening, and the lining inside sets how the room looks from below.

Heat and glare deserve a thought in a room with this much glass. A blind fitted under the roof glass, or a glass specification chosen for sun control, can be priced into the quote from the start. Opening vents let warm air out at the top, and a rain sensor closes them if the weather turns while you are out. We work through the options with you in the room, since the same lantern behaves differently over a south-facing lawn than over a shaded one.

Choosing the position

We prefer to place the glass over the seating or the table. A sofa group tends to sit towards the back of a garden room, and that is where the roof glass does most. We mark the outline of the opening on the floor at the survey, with tape, and look up from each seat. A change of a few hundred millimetres can move the patch of daylight from the dining end to the doorway.

A lantern stands taller than a flat rooflight, and that height normally takes it beyond what householder permitted development allows, so an application is the usual route unless the council says differently. Swale Borough Council is the planning authority for Minster-on-Sea. The roof lantern planning guide sets out why, and a rooflight or lantern is held to 2.2 W/m²K under Part L.

Roof windows over the worktop

A roof window installed in the plane of the roof is a different thing from a rooflight, which stands proud on a kerb. A roof window sits flush with the tiles or the roof sheet around it, and for a new or replacement one the window limit of 1.4 W/m²K (or Window Energy Rating band B) applies. The rafter spacing sets the standard width, and a pair of windows side by side over a long worktop suits a long galley layout. The size and position are chosen so the light falls on the work surface and not on the cooker hood. Our page on roof windows goes through the range and how they are set into a slope.

Opening for steam

A kitchen makes steam, and an opening roof window lets it out. Where the glass sits high on the slope, a manual window is hard to reach, so a powered unit with a rain sensor may suit better. See our electric opening rooflights page. A powered window needs a supply to the frame, and we plan the cable route at the survey so it does not run across the finished ceiling.

Where the cook stands

The layout of the units settles the position of the glass more than the shape of the roof does. With a run of units along the high wall, the worktop is a long way from any window, and a roof window directly above it gives the best light for chopping and reading a recipe. With an island, the glass can sit above the island itself, while a second one over the sink keeps both ends of the room bright. Rafters are the limit: the window has to sit between two of them, or we trim the opening, and the width we quote reflects which. A short sketch of your plan, even on the back of an envelope, helps us talk it through.

When the extension joins an older house

If the extension was added a while ago, the old kitchen may now be an inner room that gets borrowed light from the new space. A single roof window in the new slope can fix both rooms, as long as the glass sits close enough to the opening between them. We stand in the doorway at the survey and look at how the daylight reaches back through it.

Nearby, Halfway Houses, Sheerness and Queenborough are on our list too.

Bungalows and chalet bungalows

For a bungalow or a chalet bungalow, a roof window can serve as the escape window for a room in the roof, within 4.5 m of the ground. The opening has to meet the conditions set out in the Building Regulations guide. That specification shapes which unit we choose and where it sits, so we confirm the numbers with you before the quote.

A lean-to roof over a back bedroom may be covered in tiles, slates or a sheet material, and each takes a different flashing kit. We identify the covering from the garden and again from the loft, and we note the rafter size and spacing, because those two details settle the width of the window and whether any rafter has to be cut and trimmed.

Planning and sign-off

Swale Borough Council handles planning here. Roof windows on houses are usually permitted development, and our planning permission guide covers what to check. A new opening in a roof is building work, and we handle the Building Control notification where it is notifiable. Structure and the energy standard are covered in the Building Regulations guide.

What happens after you message us

Our WhatsApp number is 07880 284133, the email address is info@orchardskylightsmaidstone.co.uk, and the quote form carries the same request. We then arrange a visit at a time that suits you. After the survey, a fixed written quote describes the window, the flashing, the work inside the room and the finish. A 10-year workmanship guarantee in writing completes the job.

Choosing the window for the room

At the survey we sit on the bed and look up. A bedroom window serves two moods: a bright morning wall and a dim room for sleep. A blind on the frame covers the second, and the glass can be chosen with the first in mind. Where the room has a desk, the window goes over the desk. Where the bed is under the slope, it goes beside the bed, so that waking up under glass does not mean waking up in a glare. The aim is a room that you use at more hours of the day.

The lining inside the opening is part of the design. A deep lining on a thick roof narrows the view of the sky, so the depth is kept to what the roof build-up requires. For a bedroom, the position of the bed in relation to the sill is worth deciding before the quote.

Photographs of the existing window and the loft hatch are welcome with your first message.