Rooflights and skylights for Allhallows homes

The garden room facing the wrong way

A garden room that looks north gets even, indirect light, and in winter it can turn flat and grey by early afternoon. A rooflight along the back half of the ceiling lifts the whole room by a margin you notice as soon as the weather closes in. A flat roof over the room points to a flat rooflight, which is the usual answer, and our flat roof range covers the sizes and the opening versions. A garden room with a shallow pitched roof is different: a roof window in the slope sits level with the tiles and needs no kerb. Inside, a lined light well carries the daylight from the glass down to the ceiling, and a pale finish on its faces sends more of it into the room.

Think about what the room is for. A reading corner wants soft, steady light from overhead. A craft table wants brightness over the work surface. A room used as a home office wants glare kept off the screen, so the glass goes behind or beside the desk, not above the monitor.

The kitchen extension that runs deep

A kitchen extension across the back of a house puts the sink and hob at the far end from the glass. Once the extension is four or five metres deep, the farthest worktop is a long way from the garden doors. We suggest light over the cooking end, because that is where you stand and chop. A roof lantern suits a larger room; a smaller flat rooflight suits a narrow one, and an opening rooflight lets cooking heat out through the roof.

Where the extension joins the old house, the roof usually steps up to meet the original wall. A rooflight positioned near that step catches light for both the new room and the old room behind it, and it needs a kerb height and flashing worked out for the junction. We draw that on the survey sheet.

A garage turned into a room

A garage that has been made into a playroom, gym or spare bedroom keeps its low ceiling, its single door and often a roof with nothing glazed in it. The room feels deepest when the garage door position has become a wall. Roof glass over the middle of the floor lights the whole space without touching the front wall or the neighbours' view, and a flat rooflight suits the shallow roof space a garage usually has.

Winter sun stays low over the estuary, so light from a rooflight changes more across a December day than a June one. That is worth knowing before you choose glass, since a pane that feels bright in July can look modest at four in the afternoon in January. We talk through where the sun will fall on the floor, because it shows where you will want to sit.

A shower room under the slope

A shower room or en suite in the roof of a chalet bungalow often ends up with no window at all, because the walls on either side are knee-height or shared. A small roof window with obscure glass lights it and lets steam out. We work out the height of the sill against the shower tray and the basin so the glass sits where the light is wanted and nobody is overlooked.

The loft room under a low roof

A chalet bungalow, or a bungalow with a converted loft, has rooms in the roof, and a roof window there can do two jobs, light and escape. On a house with two full storeys below, the escape position changes. Either way, a roof window sets glass in the slope itself, so the room gains daylight and can look straight up at the sky. A sloping ceiling cuts the usable floor near the eaves, so the window is centred over the part of the floor where you stand, which we mark with the furniture in mind.

Escape from a room in the roof

Escape rules need thought before you pick a window. On a house with two full storeys, a loft conversion creates a storey more than 4.5 m above the ground, and that normally calls for a protected escape route down the stairs. Within that height, a bungalow or chalet bungalow can use a roof window as its escape window. The Building Regulations guide sets out how Approved Document B treats each case.

Order matters here. A window ordered first and checked afterwards can turn out too small to qualify, so the bedroom's escape needs are measured at the survey before any size is chosen.

If your home is listed, or next to a listed building

A listed house still has Class C rights, yet a roof window there will almost always need listed building consent first. A house that merely stands near a listed building is treated as any other house. If you are unsure whether yours is listed, tell us your address at the start and we check before a quote is written.

Replacing a tired unit

Some roofs here already carry a roof window or rooflight that is leaking, misted or simply worn. We fit replacements for every product we install, and a replacement roof window is held to the same 1.4 W/m²K limit as a new one. The old opening is measured first, because the new unit may need a different flashing kit or a slightly different lining. If the lining plaster has marked from old condensation or a leak, we note that on the quote so the finish indoors is priced with it.

On the roof itself

Once the plans are agreed, the roof work follows a set order. The covering is lifted around the marked opening, the rafters are trimmed and framed, the unit is fixed and flashed, and the inside is lined and finished. On a chalet bungalow the lining is short and the work goes quickly. On a flat roof the upstand and the waterproof layer go in first, then the rooflight is set on it. The waterproof layer is dressed up to the upstand before the unit is lowered into place, so the junction is sealed at its base.

Energy and weather

Energy limits apply as well. A new or replacement roof window is held to the window limit of 1.4 W/m²K, with Window Energy Rating band B as the minimum, and a rooflight or lantern to 2.2 W/m²K. We choose glass that meets the limit for the product you are fitting. With the Thames close on the northern edge of the parish, roofs here can take exposed weather, so we look closely at flashing and fixings when we are on the slope. Wind-driven rain is what the flashing has to cope with on an exposed roof, so we choose the flashing to suit the roof covering.

Getting from message to survey

Allhallows is a straightforward trip from Maidstone, and the survey is free. A written quote follows, with one fixed figure for the whole job. When the work is done there is a 10-year workmanship guarantee in writing. To book, message us on WhatsApp, 07880 284133; the quote form and info@orchardskylightsmaidstone.co.uk also reach us.

The Hoo Peninsula has other villages on our list: Grain is east of Allhallows, High Halstow is further along towards the west, and Hoo St Werburgh lies south-west.