Irlam landings, lofts and extensions on level ground by the canal

Skylights and rooflights for Irlam's estate houses, from dark landings to rear extensions

Irlam lies on flat ground on the north bank of the Manchester Ship Canal, and its southern half is predominantly residential. A rooflight here can mean a bright landing, a usable loft or a kitchen that does not feel boxed in.

Dark hallways and landings in estate houses: sun tunnel or roof window
Salford City Council checked on your address before we quote
Flat-roofed extensions: a rooflight with a blind and a cleaning plan

16 road miles west of Stockport

Irlam sits on the Manchester Ship Canal, and it was once an outlying area of Chat Moss, a large peat bog. For a long while little was built. That changed when the railway station opened in 1873, and again in 1894, when the Irwell was united with the Ship Canal and the district grew as an inland port. The southern half is now predominantly residential, and Irlam has about 20,000 people.

Council-owned housing in Irlam passed to the City West Housing Trust, and estate houses of the mid-to-late 20th century commonly have concrete-tile roofs on a low-to-medium pitch. We ask who uses the room, how high the window will sit and how the glass will be shaded and cleaned. The right rooflight follows from the answers, whether the room is a landing, a loft or a kitchen extension.

Which rooflight for which Irlam room

Five choices cover the landings, lofts and extensions we meet here, from a sun tunnel above the stairs to a lantern over a dining table.

Irlam's rooms and what light they need

Landings that stay dim, lofts that could be bedrooms and rear extensions that need shading are the questions this page takes in turn.

Our stairs and landing are dim all day. Which gives more light, a sun tunnel or a roof window?

Where the landing sits in the middle of the first floor with no window of its own, it is the room that gets least daylight and the place where a lighting choice makes the biggest everyday difference. Under a concrete-tile roof on a low-to-medium pitch, either option can work.

Sun tunnel

A sun tunnel is a small dome on the roof, a tube running up through the loft space and a frosted panel in the ceiling. It brings daylight down to the landing without a window to open or a blind to buy. It suits a space with loft above and no wish for a view. The page on fitting time explains what the work involves.

Roof window

A roof window gives sky and a view, and it opens to let air through. If the landing leads to a loft stair, a window above it lights both. The catch is reach: a window above a stairwell is a long way up, and an opening handle there is no use. A rod or an electric or solar motor solves that.

How we choose

We stand on the landing and ask what you want it to do. If the answer is daylight and nothing else, we lean to the sun tunnel. If it is air as well, or a view of the sky, we lean to the window.

Cleaning and care

A sun tunnel dome on a low roof needs a wipe from a ladder now and then, and nothing indoors. A roof window needs its outer pane cleaned, which on a low-to-medium pitch is easier than on a steep slope but still wants a plan. We show you the safe way to reach it before we leave, and which products to avoid on the glass.

Bathrooms

The same question comes up in a bathroom with no window. A sun tunnel lights the room, but it will not clear steam, so a bathroom with loft space above may do better with an opening roof window.

The parts of a sun tunnel

Dome: The clear cap on the roof that gathers daylight.
Tube: The reflective duct that carries the light through the loft, rigid or flexible.
Diffuser: The frosted panel in the ceiling that spreads the light into the room.

Can our estate-house loft become a bedroom with a proper window?

A loft is the easiest place to add a room to a house, because the roof timbers are already there and the footprint is already paid for. In an estate house, the stair can be the hardest part to fit, and the windows follow. A pitched roof of concrete tiles on a low-to-medium slope sets how much headroom the room will have and where the windows can go.

Choosing and placing

The window sits where the rafters allow it. A roof window sized to the rafter spacing needs less structural work than one that cuts through them. We measure the roof at the survey and say how the options compare. For the finer points, read our guide to roof windows for loft conversions.

Opening, blinds and a sleeping room

If the room is a bedroom, the blind is as important as the window. Blackout suits a bedroom. A window above head height should open by rod, remote or motor, and an electric blind can run from the same handset. At handover we run through the controls with you, so you are not left working them out later.

A room for a teenager or a study

The room under the roof can make a study or a teenager's bedroom. A study wants glare kept off a screen, and a pleated blind does that without making the room dark. A bedroom wants blackout. Because the two are different, we ask what the room is for before we recommend a blind.

Paperwork

A loft conversion is building work, and the route out in an emergency is part of the design. Read about it in our Building Regulations guide. We look after the Building Regulations notification for the windows we fit, where one is needed.

Before the stair is drawn

Choose where the roof windows go first. The stair and the layout then follow the daylight, not the other way round.

We have added a flat-roofed kitchen at the back. How do we stop it overheating?

Irlam sits on low, flat ground, about 20 metres above sea level, and it sits on what was once the outlying edge of Chat Moss, the big peat bog. With plenty of sky, a flat roof extension catches sun for much of the day. If the roof is glass, the room can warm up quickly. The answer is a mix of shade, glass and opening, and each is chosen with the room in mind.

Shade

A pleated or roller blind under the rooflight takes the glare off a table or worktop. Blinds can run from a wall switch if the rooflight is out of reach. A blind in the evening also keeps the dark glass from reflecting the room back at you.

Glass

Solar control glass cuts the heat that gets through. It tints the view slightly. Our guide to solar control glass shows what to expect.

Opening

A rooflight that opens lets hot air leave. An electric flat rooflight opens from a switch, so nobody climbs up to open it. Our page on choosing between flat-roof rooflight types compares them.

The roof around it

A flat rooflight sits on an upstand, and the guide to upstands and coverings explains how the roof covering meets it. Adding a rooflight to a house in England is usually permitted development within limits that the planning guide sets out.

Our house was once council-owned. Who has to agree to a rooflight?

Irlam's former council homes went to the City West Housing Trust, and if yours belongs to the trust, ask the trust first. If you own your house outright, the decision is yours, subject to the planning and building rules. If your home is rented, or the title carries conditions from a former landlord, check what the lease or tenancy allows before you book a survey.

The council side

Irlam is a suburb in the City of Salford, so planning and building control questions go to Salford City Council. Irlam railway station, which opened in 1873, still serves the district. Public planning records show no conservation area in Irlam, but those records can be incomplete, so we put your address to the council before we quote. If a house is listed, listed building consent is almost always needed, and our page on listed homes and rooflights covers it.

Cost and timing

We keep the quote tied to the survey and to the exact work you want. Prices differ with the product, the roof and the access, and the quote reflects all three. For what shapes a price, read our costs guide, and for how the cost compares across the products, see the replacement cost page.

Making the choice together

Where more than one person lives in the house, it helps if everyone who will use the room is at the survey. The person who opens the window and the person who cleans it may not be the same, and the best choice usually suits both.

Irlam and surrounding streets

Irlam

Irlam falls comfortably inside the area we cover, roughly 30 road miles out from Stockport.

See if we cover your Irlam address

Irlam is 16 road miles west of Stockport, and our work covers the whole district, the older roads and the estates alike, wherever the roof is flat, tiled or slated. Type your postcode and we will say whether it is in range.

Nearest town pages

Before you book in Irlam

Which council handles planning for an Irlam house?

Salford City Council. Salford's building control team is one route, and a registered building control approver is the other. The national rules for rooflights are in our planning guide.

Do I need a loft for a sun tunnel?

You need loft space between the roof and the ceiling, because the tube runs through it. A roof window instead works where the ceiling follows the rafters. We look in the loft at the survey, measure the run from roof to ceiling and say whether a straight or a flexible tube suits the route, so there are no surprises on the day. See sun tunnels and roof windows.

Can the old window in our roof be swapped like for like?

If the size code matches a current window, the swap can use the same opening, with little work in the room below. See finding the size code and, if the opening has to change, this comparison of openings.

Is there a guarantee on the work?

Yes, a 10-year workmanship guarantee covers the installation, and makers' own product guarantees differ from one maker to another. The guarantee page explains ours.

Can a rooflight go into a flat roof over a garage that is now a playroom?

It can. The glass rests on a kerb or upstand on the flat roof, and the covering is dressed up to meet it. A garage turned into a living space comes under the Building Regulations as a whole, so we choose the rooflight with that in mind, and we explain the roof covering at the survey.

What happens after the survey?

You get a fixed written quote. If you go ahead, we explain the controls, the blind and cleaning when the job is done. Nothing is left for you to work out alone. The guide to living with a rooflight covers the same ground in writing, for anyone in the house who was not there on the day.

Free survey

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Tell us about the room and the roof. We visit, measure and send a fixed written quote for the job in Irlam.

Fixed written quote
We handle the Building Regulations notification where the work is notifiable
10-year workmanship guarantee

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