Astley rooflights for pit-village rows and newer estates

Rooflights and skylights for Astley's colliery-village terraces and estates

Astley had a cotton mill, the Bridgewater Canal and coal mining, and its houses run from brick terraces to later estate houses. We help you choose the rooflight that suits the room under the roof and whoever opens it.

Slate on a colliery-village terrace and concrete tile on an estate house are fitted differently
Address checked with Wigan Council, including the Astley Village conservation area
A dark landing may need a sun tunnel rather than a window

18 road miles north-west of Stockport

Astley is a village on the far-eastern edge of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, and its houses follow its working history. The Bridgewater Canal reached the village in 1795 and the railway in 1830. The cotton mill was built in 1833, the mill closed in 1955, and the last coal came to the surface in 1970. Brick terraces of the colliery-village kind commonly have natural slate roofs. Later estate houses commonly have concrete tiles.

Those two roofs ask different things of a rooflight in daily use. A terrace usually raises the question of a small loft room, a window that has to be opened and shaded by someone who may be standing on a bed, and a landing that never gets daylight. An estate house with a rear extension raises the question of a flat roof, a pane of glass that needs cleaning from outside, and a kitchen that gets the afternoon sun. We start every survey by asking who uses the room, then price it in a fixed written quote.

Four ways to bring light under an Astley roof

Each of these matches a roof you will find here, from slate over a terrace loft to a flat roof behind an estate house.

A fitter fixing a timber trimmer beside a roof window opening in a loft, insulation between the rafters

Using the window once it is in

A terrace loft bedroom is opened every morning, so we ask whether a handle, a rod or a motor suits whoever sleeps there.
A bedroom under slate wants a blind that closes fully. A landing or stairwell may want nothing at all.
A flat rooflight behind an estate house is easiest to reach from a ladder at the back, and we point out where the ladder should stand.
VELUX offers a rain sensor with its electric and solar windows, and it shuts the window at the first rain, which helps when the house is empty.

What Astley's mill, pit and estate houses ask of a rooflight

Four questions that come from the way the village was built: slate over a terrace loft, tiles on an estate, a flat extension roof and an old village core.

Which roof window suits the loft room in a brick terrace with a slate roof?

A brick terrace from a colliery village commonly has a natural slate roof. Slate is a hard surface to work around, and it settles the first practical question at a survey: which flashing kit goes with the window. The flashing is the metal and lead work that seals the gap between the glass frame and the slates, and each kit is made for one type of covering. We look at the slate from outside before we say a word about the glass. Our guide to roof window flashing for slate and tile goes through how that works.

The room decides how it opens

A loft room under a terrace roof is a small space, so think about where you will stand to open the window. If the top handle is within reach from the floor, a plain manual window is the simplest thing to live with. If it sits over the stairs or above a bed, a telescopic rod will do for now and then, while a window opened every day suits an electric or solar motor with a remote on the wall. Solar means no cable is chased through the plaster, which matters in an old room you would rather leave alone.

The blind goes in with the window

Order the blind at the same time. A child's bedroom under slate wants a blackout blind that runs in side channels, and the same remote can often work both the window and the blind. A box room used as an office may want a pleated blind that takes the glare off the screen without darkening the room.

Before the work starts

Notifiable work goes through the Building Regulations notification, which we handle. If the loft is becoming a new floor, that floor needs a safe way out, and our Building Regulations guide explains what the design has to cover. Our guide to roof windows in loft conversions covers sizes and positions.

A terrace loft bedroom, line by line

Covering: Natural slate, so the flashing kit is a slate one
Window: Roof window in line with the rafters
Opening: Handle if you can reach it, otherwise rod or motor
Blind: Blackout, fixed at the same visit
Handover: Controls and blind shown before we leave

Our estate house has a dark landing. Would a sun tunnel work, or does it need a window?

Later estate houses in the village commonly have concrete tiles on the roof, and a landing between the bedrooms can borrow light from the stairs and little else. If you have ever turned the landing light on at breakfast, you know the problem. There are two ways to solve it, and the choice comes down to what you want from the opening.

A roof window gives a view as well as light

A roof window over a stair void lights the landing and the hall below, and it can open. But it sits where the stairs are, and a high window over a stair is the hardest kind to reach. If you choose one, plan the opening method at the start. A rod hangs on a hook by the stairs and a motor can be switched from the landing wall. Our guide to blinds and controls shows what the choices look like in use.

A sun tunnel lights without a view

A sun tunnel starts as a dome on the roof, runs as a tube through the loft space and ends as a diffuser in the ceiling below. It does not open and gives no view, so there is nothing to reach and no blind to fit. It does need an opening in the ceiling for the diffuser, and a clear run through the loft from roof to ceiling. Where there is a loft above the landing, that run is often there. The room-by-room sun tunnel guide says where one works well.

Concrete tiles

On a concrete tile roof the flashing kit is chosen to match the profile of the tile, so we check the tile before we confirm the product. The price is set in the fixed written quote after the survey, not before it.

Landing or bedroom

Light a landing with a sun tunnel if nobody needs to open it. Choose a roof window where the room needs air, a view or a way to look out.

Behind the house there is a flat-roofed extension. How do we keep the glass clean and the room comfortable?

A flat rooflight turns a rear kitchen or dining room into a bright room, but you will see it every time you look up, so it is worth thinking about how it lives. The glass sits on an upstand that is built into the flat roof, and the roof covering is dressed up around it. Our guide on upstands and coverings explains why we look at the roof itself first.

Cleaning from outside

The outside of the glass collects dust, pollen and the occasional bird visit. On a single-storey extension you can usually clean it from a ladder at the back door, with a soft brush or a water-fed pole. We talk through the safe way to reach it at the survey. Some makers offer a self-cleaning coating on the outer pane, which helps between washes but does not replace them.

Opening and shading

An electric flat rooflight can be worked from a switch on the wall or a handset, so a kitchen can let out cooking steam without anyone climbing onto a chair. In a room that gets afternoon sun, a blind under the glass or solar control glass keeps the table usable at lunchtime. We ask which way the garden faces before we suggest either.

Planning

Planning permission is often not needed for a rooflight on a house, and the planning guide explains where the limits fall. A flat is different: planning permission is needed for a rooflight there, and the freeholder will normally have to agree. On an extension still to be built, the rooflight is assessed with the extension, and we confirm the position for your address before you commit.

Terms for a flat roof

Upstand: The raised kerb around the opening that the rooflight sits on.
Flashing: Metal or lead sealing the join between the frame and the roof covering.
Outer pane: The sheet of glass on the weather side, the one that gets dirty.
Solar control glass: Glass coated to cut the heat that comes through on a sunny afternoon.

We live near the old village centre. Does that change what we can fit?

Astley Village is a conservation area, designated in 1989. Being inside one does not by itself stop you adding a rooflight to a house in England. What can matter is the house itself: an earlier planning permission may carry a condition that took away its permitted development, and a listed house has its own consent to get. The planning guide sets out what changes the position, and we check your address with Wigan Council before we quote.

Listed buildings in the village

Historic England lists buildings in Astley, including Astley Vicarage at Grade II* and the former Manor House Farmhouse at Grade II. The winding house at the mining museum is listed too, though nobody lives in it. For a listed house, listed building consent is almost always required first, and the consent sets the design. The listed homes guide explains how it works.

An older roof, a slimmer window

Even where nothing requires it, a low-profile window suits an older roof better than a standard one. It sits close to the slate, often with a slim central bar, and from the road it reads as part of the house. You still get the same daily comforts: a handle, a rod or a motor to open it and a blind to shade it.

What to bring to the survey

If you know whether the house is listed or has had an extension approved, say so at the survey. It saves time and avoids a wrong turn in the design.

For the old village

Ask the council about the address first. The right rooflight for an older roof is rarely the one with the thickest frame.

Across Astley

Astley

The ring on the map is a 30-mile straight-line radius around Stockport, and Astley falls inside it, so the postcode check tells you the rest.

Is your Astley postcode covered?

We cover Astley, 18 road miles north-west of Stockport. Enter your postcode and we will confirm that we work at your address.

Nearest town pages

Astley rooflight questions

Which council decides planning for a house in Astley?

Wigan Council, since Astley is in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan. For building control you can use the council, or hire a registered building control approver instead. The survey includes asking the council about your address.

Our terrace roof is slate. Can the old roof window be replaced without redoing the room?

Often, yes. A new window the same size as the old one fits the existing hole, so the plaster lining around it can usually stay. The label on the old window gives its size code, explained on the size code page, and the same-opening guide covers the rest.

Is a sun tunnel an option for an interior landing?

It can be, where there is loft space above to carry the tube from the roof to the ceiling. It brings in daylight but does not open or give a view, and it needs a hole in the ceiling for the diffuser. See sun tunnels.

Can an extension roof take an electric rooflight?

Usually. An electric flat rooflight is fitted to an upstand on the flat roof, with the cable run planned at the survey. A wall switch or a handset works it. Our guide on electric or solar opening compares the two.

What if my house is listed?

Listed building consent is almost always required before a listed house gets a rooflight, and it is a separate application from planning permission. We talk through the options, then the consent decides what goes in.

Free survey

Book your free survey

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

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

Request my survey

OrWhatsApp 07880 284133