High Lane rooflights for a village on rising ground

High Lane skylights and rooflights for a Pennine-foothill village on the A6

High Lane lies in the Pennine foothills, with houses of several ages spread along the A6. A rooflight here has to suit the age of the house, the rising ground and the person who will close it when the weather turns.

House age asked first, with a few older houses along the main road
Solar or electric opening with a rain sensor for windows you cannot always reach
Macclesfield Canal conservation area checked with Stockport Council where it applies

6 road miles south-east of Stockport

High Lane is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, lying in the foothills of the Pennines. Most of it is spread along the A6, and the housing along that road is not one age. A handful of older houses stand beside the main road, the Old Court House of 1772 among them, and newer homes sit around them. On clear days the rising ground gives long views, and the village centre stands at about 170 metres above sea level.

That height is worth a sentence, not a sermon. It means a roof window is better with a well-made seal and good glazing, and better still if it can close itself when rain arrives. It also means the first question at a High Lane survey is the age and shape of the house, because the village offers no single type to design for. After that comes the question we ask everywhere: who will open the window, how high does it sit, and who cleans the outside? A fixed written quote follows once we have seen the roof, and not before.

Rooflights worth discussing in High Lane

A village of mixed ages needs a short list that can be matched to each roof. These five can be matched to the roof in front of us.

Close-up of a white roof window handle with its key lock

What a village roof asks of you each day

On rising ground, a window that closes itself at the first rain is one less thing to remember on the way out.
A loft window high on an older house roof is easier with a remote or solar motor than with a rod you have to find.
A pivoting roof window lets you wipe the outside from inside, which beats a ladder on a sloping village roof.
A loft turned into a bedroom needs its escape route planned, and the Building Regulations notification is ours to handle where the work is notifiable.

High Lane's rising ground and mixed housing, in three questions

Three questions from a village on the A6: what the hillside asks of a window, how the age of the house enters, and what to do with a bigger plot.

How much does a Pennine-foothill position matter for a roof window?

High Lane stands at about 170 metres above sea level, in the foothills of the Pennines. Raised ground catches rain differently from a valley floor, and a window in a roof is the one part of the roof that opens. That does not make this an exposed-roof story. It makes a sensible case for choosing the window with some care.

Seal and glazing

A roof window is a frame in the slope, and the frame has to stay tight. Makers offer different glazing specifications, and a well-sealed window with good glass is simply more comfortable in a cold bedroom. We explain the makers' options at the survey in plain language. Our guide to solar control glass covers the glass that handles strong sun, and the guide on condensation explains the fog that can build up on a cold pane.

When nobody is home

The daily-use worry on raised ground is the window left open on a mild morning when a shower arrives later. The makers' electric and solar roof windows, VELUX's among them, can have a sensor that shuts the window at the first rain. A manual window has no sensor, so for those the habit is to shut it before you leave. Our guide to rooflight rain sensors explains what the sensors do and where they sit.

Who reaches it

If the window is high on the slope, a remote or solar motor replaces the rod, and the blind runs from the same remote. That is the decision we ask about first.

Cleaning the glass

Rain washes a pitched roof window, though not always evenly, and a smear on the lower edge is the usual result. A pivot window turns the outer pane inward, so you can wipe it from the room. Others need a ladder. We tell you which kind you are buying, so the cleaning is settled before the window is ordered and not discovered in the first spring.

On rising ground

Choose the window that closes itself if you cannot be sure you will remember.

Does the age of our house decide which roof window we can fit?

What the survey writes down

House age: Sets the covering and the window options
Roof covering: Slate, clay or concrete tile, with a matching kit
Rafters: Decide the window size
Room use: Decides the opener and the blind

On the A6 through High Lane you meet houses of different ages. Some of the oldest stand on the main road, and the rest of the village is a mix that we do not try to describe in a sentence. An older house and a much newer one can stand a few doors apart. We ask the age of yours because it sets three practical things, and none of them can be read from a photograph.

The covering

The flashing kit has to match the roof covering, whether that is slate, clay or concrete tile. A kit for one will not seal another. We look at the roof from outside before we choose the window, and we check where the rafters fall, because they decide the window size. Our guide to flashing for slate and tile sets out why.

Replacing what is there

If an old roof window is tired or misted, a new one of the same size can often go into the same opening, with the lining inside left as it is. The label on the old window gives a size code. See finding your VELUX size code plus our page on new opening or same opening for what that means for the job.

A new opening

A new roof window in a roof that has none is a different job, and the room underneath matters more. A loft being made into a bedroom needs thought about the means of escape, which the Building Regulations guide explains. On a notifiable job, the notification to building control for the windows we fit is our task, not yours.

The blind

If the new window is in a bedroom, blackout is the usual blind. We choose one worked by the window's own remote, so nobody has to find a pole. A landing or a spare room often needs no blind at all, and we say so when that is the honest answer, because a blind you never pull down is money wasted.

Sizes and positions

On a village roof the rafters, the chimney and any earlier work decide where a window can go, and they rarely line up with a plan drawn from the ground. The loft conversion window guide explains how sizes and positions are worked out, and we confirm them on the roof itself.

Would a lantern on an extension suit a larger High Lane plot?

Houses on bigger plots tend to have room to extend at the back, and a flat-roofed extension with a lantern or a flat rooflight is a familiar way to bring light into the new space. The choice follows the room. A wide kitchen with a table in the middle suits a lantern, which adds height and sky. A narrower room suits a flat rooflight, which is lower and easier to wipe.

Which room is it for?

Ask what the room will be used for before you ask what it will look like. A family kitchen is busy in the morning and the evening, so light at both ends of the day matters. A dining room used at weekends may only need light then. The answer shapes the size of the rooflight and whether it opens, and we put the question to you first.

Cleaning and blinds

Think about the outside of the glass before you decide. A lantern has more bars and a taller reach. A flat rooflight is quicker to clean from a ladder. A blind helps in strong afternoon sun, and a solar control glass can do the same work without anything to operate. Our guide to the drawbacks of lanterns is frank about what they ask of you.

Planning and the canal

In planning terms a lantern added to a standing roof normally needs an application, unless the council confirms otherwise, and the lantern planning guide explains how. Part of High Lane lies in the Macclesfield Canal conservation area, designated in 2000, and Stockport Council has more on its conservation areas pages. On its own, the canal conservation area does not take away permitted development for a rooflight. Whether the area touches your roof depends on the address, so we check before quoting. A listed house, such as the Old Court House, will nearly always need listed building consent before a rooflight is added or changed; the guide to listed homes sets out how that goes.

The overall position

For a house, a new rooflight is usually permitted development, inside the limits explained in the planning guide, and we confirm your position at the survey. If you are still drawing the extension, tell us early: a rooflight is easiest to fit well when the roof build-up is planned around it, and awkward to add once the roof is on and the plaster is dry.

The village and the roads around it

High Lane

High Lane lies south-east of Stockport, deep inside the map's ring, a straight 30-mile radius, and close to the middle of the area we cover by road.

Is your High Lane home inside our area?

We work throughout High Lane, 6 road miles south-east of Stockport, and we will arrange a free survey once your postcode is confirmed. Type it in and the form tells you at once.

Nearest town pages

High Lane, asked and answered

Is planning for a High Lane house a Stockport matter?

Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council. High Lane is a village in the borough, so planning is a Stockport matter, and for building control the choice is yours: the council's service, or a registered building control approver.

Is a window on rising ground more likely to leak?

A well-fitted roof window should not leak anywhere, and the flashing is the part that matters. On raised ground we pay attention to the seal, the glass choice and, for windows left open, a rain sensor where the maker offers one.

Can a sun tunnel brighten a dark landing in an older house?

Often, if the landing has loft space over it. Light enters a little roof dome and travels down a tube to a ceiling diffuser. You get daylight, but no view and nothing that opens. See sun tunnels.

How do I find out whether my road is in the canal conservation area?

Stockport Council publishes the boundary, and it is also shown on planning.data.gov.uk. We check your address as part of the survey, so there is no need to work it out first.

Do you show us how the window and blind work before you leave?

Yes. We go through the opener, the remote, the blind and how to clean the outside glass with you in the room. That is all part of the handover, so you leave knowing how each one works.

Can I put a rooflight in an extension I am planning?

Usually, and it is best decided early. The rooflight is chosen with the roof build-up, so tell the builder before the roof goes on. We confirm the planning position for your house, and the planning guide sets out the rules.

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