Skylights and rooflights for Barnton's old village cottages and estate extensions

In the old village the row on Bell's Brow, built as back-to-back houses in 1810, still stands, and a house like that has little roof to work with. Older cottages and terraces more often have slate than tile, and slate sets the flashing kit that goes round the window.

Fit the window to the room

In a small room the window is a big part of the wall, and the biggest is not always best. A compact roof window between two rafters gives a room light without cutting through timbers. Because the slope is low, the handle may be near enough to reach by hand. That decides between manual and electric opening, and in a cottage manual is often right.

Dark landings

Where a cottage has a landing with no window, a sun tunnel is the smallest change that makes a difference. It brings daylight through a tube from a roof dome to a ceiling diffuser. See which rooms suit a sun tunnel for how to judge it. A sun tunnel does not open, and nobody needs to work a blind on it.

A blind for a cottage bedroom

In a small bedroom the bed is often within a step of the window. Light arrives early and close, and a blackout blind earns its keep. Look at the blinds and controls page for what is on offer.

Where the window goes

On a low cottage slope the window usually goes on the side of the roof that faces the garden, where the light is better and the view is of something you want to see. We mark the position from inside the room, standing where you would stand, because a window that looks right from the loft hatch can be wrong from the bed.

Flashing on slate

The page on flashing for slate and tile explains why the kit follows the covering.

The planning data records no conservation area in Barnton, but that dataset can be incomplete, so we never take it as the last word. Instead, your address goes to Cheshire West and Chester Council for a look-up ahead of the quote. That way the answer is known before you see a price.

The normal route

Householders can usually add a rooflight under permitted development, within limits. Those limits are not repeated here. They are in the planning guide, along with the extra conditions that apply to a slope facing the side.

If your house is listed

Barnton's Christ Church, completed in 1842, is listed at Grade II. If your own house is listed, listed building consent will almost always be required for a new rooflight, and that consent governs what you can fit. If yours is not listed, the survey simply confirms the ordinary position and moves on to the choice of window, the controls and the blind. Our page on conservation rooflights for listed houses describes the route.

Old planning conditions

One more thing is worth asking about. Planning conditions attached to an earlier permission, such as the one that built an estate house or its extension, can remove permitted development rights. If you have the paperwork, bring it to the survey.