Roof windows in Maidstone

Skylight, Velux, loft window

Customers ask us for a skylight, a Velux or a loft window and usually mean a roof window. VELUX is a make that has become shorthand for the whole product, much as people say hoover for a vacuum cleaner. We fit VELUX roof windows and those of other makers, and our page on VELUX windows goes into the range. The naming question has its own short answer in what windows in roofs are called.

Rooms with a slope above them

The rooms we are called to under a pitched roof include loft bedrooms, a study tucked under the rafters, an en suite squeezed into the eaves, a stairwell and a bungalow hall. Chalet bungalows, where the bedrooms already sit in the roof, are the clearest case: the slope is often the main outside surface those rooms have above waist height.

Where the roof is flat instead, roof lanterns and flat roof rooflights are the tools. A pitched-roof extension, a garden room or an orangery with a glazed pitched roof is a middle case, with aluminium or uPVC framing of its own, and we look at what is already in the slope before we suggest adding to it. Where a hall sits under a loft with no clear run to the roof, a sun tunnel may fit better than a window.

Centre-pivot

The sash turns on pivots near its middle. The bottom edge swings into the room as the top edge swings out, which lets you reach the outside pane from indoors and clean it. The handle sits along the top edge, so this style suits a window set at or above head height, with clear floor beneath the swing of the sash. In a loft bedroom, that usually means the window above the bed or the desk is left clear of shelving.

Top-hung

The sash is hinged along the top and the bottom edge pushes outward, with the handle at the bottom. Because the opening sash moves outside the room, a window set low in a steep slope can be opened without clearing furniture, and a seated person can see out of it. It is the style we look at first for a chalet bedroom where the slope begins close to the floor.

Fixed and conservation styles

A fixed window has no opening sash, only glass, and costs less than an opening unit of the same size. It suits a stair void or a high position where nobody would reach a handle and ventilation is handled elsewhere. A conservation roof window is a slim, flat-fitting design with a fine central glazing bar, made to sit low in the covering of an older roof. Our section on conservation rooflights covers it, and the same ground applies if your house is in a conservation area.

Frames, glass and keeping the room secure

Double glazing is the starting point for the roof windows we fit. The glass is picked for the room: a coated pane to take the edge off a south-facing slope, or a laminated inner pane for added security on a window within reach of a flat roof, a garage roof or a ladder. Frame material and finish are settled against the ceiling lining and the windows already on the roof, and we bring samples to the survey. Locking handles and restrictors for opening sashes are worth deciding at the same visit, particularly where a child's bedroom is in the roof.

Where the window sits out of reach, as it often does on a landing or in a stairwell, electric opening is worth a look. Our page on electric opening rooflights explains the motors, rain sensors and wiring.

Pitch

Every roof window is made for a range of roof pitches, and a very shallow slope can fall outside it. We measure the pitch at survey with a level and check it against the range for the window you have chosen. Why a limit exists at all is covered in our short answer on pitch limits.

Where in the slope

A window set high in the slope throws light deep into the room and across the ceiling. One set lower gives a view and light nearer the floor. In a loft bedroom, two windows side by side on the same slope often serve better than one wide unit, because each keeps a standard size and the rafter between them stays in place. Over a stairwell the position follows the stairs, so the light falls on the treads and the landing rather than on the wall.

Height off the floor matters too. A sill that sits too high leaves nothing to see but sky, and one set very low interferes with a bed or a radiator. We stand in the room with a measuring staff and mark the slope with tape before anything is ordered.

Windows for a loft that is not yet converted

A loft that will be boarded and plastered later still needs the windows in the right places now. If the conversion is planned, we position the openings against the drawings so the ceiling heights, floor and stair line up. If a slope has never had a window, our guide to first-time installs follows that case through.

Kent peg tiles

Clay peg tiles are small and thin, laid in many overlapping courses. A window cuts across several courses, and the tiles beside it have to be lifted and relaid in the pattern the roof already has. Old clay tiles can crack when disturbed, so we check their condition at the survey and say if matching spares are likely to be needed. Where the roof is due for re-covering soon, the window can be timed with that work so the flashing is only done once. That is also the case for tile-hung gables and for the older Kent houses with a mix of hand-made tiles.

Slate

Slate is thin, laid with generous overlaps and nailed. The slates around the opening are lifted and relaid at the same lap, and the flashing is chosen to sit beneath them. Slate roofs often belong to Victorian and Edwardian terraces, where a roof window on the front slope can be seen from the street, so we look at placement from the pavement as well as from the loft.

Concrete interlocking tiles

Interlocking tiles are large, profiled and locked to their neighbours at the sides. The flashing for these roofs has to match the profile, which may be flat or deeply corrugated, and the tiles are cut and relaid to the frame. This is the covering on many post-war and later estates, and the wide tiles mean fewer joints round the window.

Our short answer on flashings for Kent roofs sets out each covering with its own detail. We specify the flashing kit to suit the tile or slate we have measured.

What the price depends on

The window itself is one line on a roof window quote. The covering, the access to the slope and the amount of finishing inside make up the rest, and each is set out in the cost band below. Our guide to roof window cost takes it further.

Conservation areas and listed houses

A conservation area on its own leaves Class C in place; an Article 4 direction is what takes it away, and the council can tell you whether one covers your road. A listed house keeps its Class C rights on paper, but a new or altered roof window there will almost always need listed building consent. For both cases, our pages on Article 4 and rooflights and rooflights on listed buildings go through the steps.

When the rights have gone

A condition on the planning permission for a particular house can also have removed permitted development rights, which is worth checking on newer estates. We read the permission before we say anything is allowed, and if an application is needed we can prepare or support it before work starts. Outcomes are the council's to give, and we never promise one in advance.

If you want the short version, do you need permission for a roof window sets out the question and its answer in a few lines.

Energy: the window figure

Table 4.2 of Part L sets the standard for glazing in existing homes. A new or replacement roof window may let through no more than 1.4 W/m²K, and Window Energy Rating band B is the alternative minimum. A flat-roof rooflight or lantern is held to the looser figure of 2.2 W/m²K, which is why the two products are specified differently. A U-value measures the heat lost through each square metre for every degree of difference between inside and out, so lower is better. Our page on rooflight U-values explained goes into the arithmetic.

Insulation around the frame counts too. In a loft room the rafters are insulated and lined, and the reveal between the frame and the plasterboard has to be insulated and sealed, otherwise cold bridging at that edge can show as condensation on the lining.

Daylight: no rule

England's Building Regulations contain no daylight standard for houses. Nothing forces a window into a loft room, so the decision is about how the room will feel and what it will be used for. Daylight also shows true colours, which helps when you are choosing paint or reading in the room.

Escape from a loft room

Approved Document B relies on escape windows only up to a storey 4.5 m above the ground. Put a loft room on top of a two-storey house and its floor lies above that mark, so the answer is a protected route down the stair, and the roof window is not counted as the exit. A bungalow or chalet bungalow with rooms in the roof usually stays inside the height, so the escape window there may be a roof window if it meets the size, height and stay-open conditions in the box.

Loft conversions raise other questions as well, such as stair position and headroom, and the full Building Regulations guide for skylights is the place to read them.

Cutting the opening

We lift the tiles or slates round the position and expose the rafters. If the window fits between two rafters, a pair of trimmers is fixed across the gap. If it is wider, the extra rafter is cut and carried on trimmers at the head and the foot. The frame is then fixed to the rafters, set level in the slope and checked against the line of the courses on either side.

Flashing and closing the covering

The flashing goes in next, working up the sides and over the head, so that water running down the slope passes over the joints in the correct order. The tiles or slates are relaid up to it. The sash is hung, the glass and seals are checked, and the window is opened and shut to confirm it runs freely.

Inside

The reveal between frame and ceiling is lined, insulated and boarded, and the plaster or paint finish is prepared for decoration. In an unconverted loft we make the reveal ready for whoever finishes the room. In a finished room we match the angle of the lining to the ceiling beside it.

Replacing an old window

If an older roof window is being swapped, we remove the old frame and check the rafters and the surrounding covering before the new one goes in. When the replacement matches the old size, the opening can stay as it is; when it does not, the rafters are trimmed to suit. The newer window meets the current energy limit set out above. Our page on swapping an old VELUX window goes through the options.

When the job is complete, you hold a 10-year workmanship guarantee in writing, and the Building Control paperwork where the work was notifiable. Keep the roof around the window clear of leaves and moss, and turn a centre-pivot sash round now and then to rinse the outside glass from indoors.

The survey

A survey for a roof window starts in the loft or at the head of the stairs, because that is where we can see the rafters, the insulation and the underside of the covering. Then we go onto the roof, where we record the covering, its age and its pitch. We measure the dimensions of the opening that fits the room, and mark positions with tape so you can see where the glass would fall before anything is ordered. The visit is free.

The written quote that follows is fixed. It names the window, its size and opening style, the glass, the flashing, any structural work, the inside finish and the paperwork. A roof that needs attention before a window goes in, such as slipped tiles near the opening, goes on it as its own line.

Getting in touch

The quote form books a visit. Add the room, the roof covering if you know it, and whether the loft is converted. Photos of the room and the slope can go to WhatsApp 07880 284133, or by email to info@orchardskylightsmaidstone.co.uk, and a view of the roof from the garden helps us bring the right equipment.

To compare the options for a flat roof first, take a look at our flat roof rooflights. For everything else on the price side, our costs page covers every product.