Droylsden rooflights, from 1930s estates to the canal marina

Rooflights and skylights for Droylsden's 1930s estates and canal-side homes

Droylsden grew as a mill town on the Ashton Canal, then took Manchester's overflow from the early 1930s. Its houses suit a rooflight chosen for daily life: who is home, who opens it and who cleans the glass.

Fairfield addresses go to Tameside Council before we put a figure on anything
Extension roofs behind the 1930s estates: flat rooflight or lantern, weighed up on site
Marina apartments: a rooflight takes planning permission, and the freeholder normally has a say

7 road miles north of Stockport

Droylsden grew as a mill town on the Ashton Canal in the mid-19th century, and the Fairfield Mills towel works held on until the end of the 1980s. From the early 1930s the town changed again. Its population grew rapidly as it became a housing overflow area for Manchester. More recently the canal-side marina has added houses and apartments to the mix.

For rooflights that history makes three groups. Households on the 1930s estates tend to ask about the extension at the back, and about being out at work all day with a window above them. Homes at the marina are newer, with modern roofs, and a shared roof and a freeholder in the case of the apartments. Streets near Fairfield raise a planning question before a design one. Our survey begins with who uses the room, then we put a fixed written quote in front of you so there are no surprises to open.

Rooflights for estates, extensions and the canal

The five below suit Droylsden houses, and each has a page that goes into detail.

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

What the day looks like under one

Both of you out until six: an electric or solar window with a rain sensor deals with the unexpected shower.
A kitchen at the back gets the afternoon sun, so a blind under the glass is worth planning in from the start.
The outer pane of a low extension rooflight is reachable from a ladder at the back door, and we show you where to stand it.
An apartment window you cannot reach is opened with a rod or a wall remote, picked at the survey.

From the overflow estates to the canal marina

Four everyday questions from Droylsden households, each one tied to how the town's houses came about.

We are both out at work all day. What happens if it rains while a rooflight is open?

From the early 1930s Droylsden grew as a housing overflow area for Manchester. Whatever the age of the house, a household may be empty from morning to evening, and a window left open for a warm kitchen is a window nobody is watching.

The sensor

VELUX electric and solar windows can have a rain sensor that closes them as soon as rain begins. It is fitted to the window, so it works whether you are upstairs or out. It does not replace judgement, though. On a day with a forecast of heavy rain, shutting the window as you leave is still the safer habit, and the sensor is there for the shower you did not expect.

Manual, electric or solar

A manual window has no sensor, so it is for rooms that stay shut when you go out. An electric window takes its power from the mains, so it needs a cable route planned when the ceiling is open anyway. A solar window carries its own panel and battery and needs no cable, which suits a room already decorated. Our page on rooflight rain sensors explains how the sensor behaves, and the guide to electric or solar opening compares the two.

Children at home

If children are in the house on their own after school, think about the room. A restrictor that holds a window slightly open is a common choice, but on the window that serves as the room's escape route, any lock or restrictor must still let an adult open it fully, and the means of escape is set out in the Building Regulations guide. Ask which window that is before you choose; the child-safe opening guide covers it.

For an empty house

A rain sensor covers the shower you did not plan for. It does not cover the storm you did.

Behind our 1930s house there is a flat-roofed extension. Do we need a lantern, or will a flat rooflight do?

Where a 1930s estate house has gained an extra room at the back under a flat roof, the question is how that room is used, because the room decides the rooflight. A galley kitchen and a family dining room want different things.

A flat rooflight

Low on its upstand, a flat rooflight gives a clean line from the garden. It is a good match for a narrow room, a utility or a downstairs bathroom. It can be fixed, or electric so a switch lets out the steam. The outside pane is easy to reach from a ladder at the back of the house, and some makers offer a self-cleaning coating that cuts the number of washes. The flat roof guide sets out the types.

A lantern

A lantern stands above the roof as a glass box, and it lifts the ceiling of a wide room so a table sits comfortably underneath. It also catches more of the afternoon sun, so ask about a blind under the glass or solar control glass if the garden faces south or west. The planning route for a lantern depends on the house and the extension; the planning guide is the first stop and we confirm the position for your address.

Look at the roof first

An old felt roof is easier to renew before a rooflight goes in than after. The page on a skylight in an existing flat roof explains what we check on the covering and the joists before we confirm the work.

Extension at the back, side by side

Narrow room: Flat rooflight on an upstand
Wide room: Lantern over the table
Sunny garden: Blind or solar control glass
Opening: Fixed, or electric from a switch
Glass outside: Ladder at the back, or a pole

We have bought at the canal-side marina. Can we put a rooflight in our home?

The canal-side marina development includes both houses and apartments, and the answer to the question depends on which one you own. A modern house roof and an apartment roof are very different problems.

If it is a house

For a roof window in a modern house roof, the survey looks at the fixings and the rafters. The planning guide sets out the limits for a house roof, and if the property has had planning permission with conditions attached, those conditions can take away permitted development rights. That is something we ask about at the survey. Look in your paperwork from the developer for any such condition.

If it is an apartment

A rooflight on a flat needs planning permission, and the freeholder usually has to consent as well, because the roof belongs to the building rather than to you. If there is a management company, it will have a view too. Come to us with that conversation started and we can help with what it needs to see.

Daily use in a new roof

In an apartment under a modern roof, the first question is how the window is reached, and the second is the blind. A rod or a wall remote handles the first. A pleated or roller blind that runs in side channels handles glare in a bright room. Our blinds and controls guide sets out the types.

The Building Regulations notification for notifiable work is ours to handle.

We live near Fairfield. Will the conservation area change anything?

Fairfield is recorded as a conservation area in Droylsden. A house within it can still take a rooflight under the usual rules, because a conservation area on its own does not remove that right, and the planning guide sets out what does. The answer for your house depends on the building, and Tameside Council can tell us, so we ask before we quote.

Listed buildings around the square

Droylsden's entries on Historic England's list include 20-23 and 23a Fairfield Square and the Fairfield Moravian Church, both at Grade II*, and at Grade II the canal bridge and the former packet boathouse beside the Ashton Canal. If your home is on the list, the first step is listed building consent, which is almost always required, and that consent decides the design. The listed homes guide sets out how to apply.

A rooflight that sits quietly

Where the address is sensitive, a conservation rooflight is worth considering. It is low, slim and set flush, so from the street it reads as part of the roof. It is still a roof window to use: it opens with a handle, a rod or a motor and takes a blind. You do not give up the daily comfort for the look.

Bring anything you know about the house to the survey, such as a previous planning decision or a note from the council. It saves a step.

Heritage words you may be sent

Listed at Grade II*: A high grade of listing, applied to a building of more than special interest.
Fairfield: A part of Droylsden recorded as a conservation area.
Permitted development: Building work a householder may carry out with no planning application, so long as it stays inside limits set nationally.

Droylsden and the roads around it

Droylsden

The map ring marks 30 miles from Stockport in a straight line, and Droylsden sits well inside it.

Is your Droylsden address in our area?

Droylsden is 7 road miles north of Stockport, and we cover it from the older streets of Fairfield to the estates and the canal-side homes. Enter a postcode below to check an address.

Nearest town pages

Droylsden: first things to check

Which council handles planning in Droylsden?

Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council. Droylsden is a Tameside town. Building control sits with the council, though a registered building control approver is the other route. The council is also who we ask when your address is near the Fairfield conservation area.

Can the old roof window in our 1930s house be swapped without redoing the room?

Often. A window of the same size as the old one goes into the opening already there, and the lining indoors can usually be kept. The old window's label shows its size code, set out on the size code page; the same-opening guide covers the difference.

Will a skylight make our extension too hot in summer?

It can, which is why we ask which way the garden faces. A blind fitted under the glass, or solar control glass, takes the edge off a sunny afternoon. The solar control glass page explains what the coating does and does not do.

Is a sun tunnel worth considering for a hallway?

It can be, where there is loft space above the hall. A dome on the roof, a tube through the loft and a diffuser in the ceiling bring daylight down, with no opening and no view. The diffuser needs a hole in the ceiling. See sun tunnels.

Does the age of the overflow-estate roof matter for a new window?

It matters for the flashing and the fixings, which we check from the roof and the loft at the survey. A roof from the 1930s may have been recovered since, and what is on it now is what the flashing kit has to match. The flashing page explains the matching.

What does the survey involve?

We look at the roof from outside, then the room from inside, and ask who uses it and how. The survey is free, and the fixed written quote that follows reflects what we found on your roof.

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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 Droylsden.

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We handle the Building Regulations notification where the work is notifiable
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