Honley rooflights for stone roofs beside the Holme

Skylights and rooflights for Honley's stone houses and valley terraces

Honley is a village on the banks of the River Holme, in a valley whose villages are commonly built of local sandstone under stone-slate or Welsh-slate roofs. We help you pick a rooflight that lies close to the roof and is easy to use.

Honley conservation area addresses checked with Kirklees Council before we quote
Low-profile rooflights set close to stone slate or Welsh slate
Stairwells and landings without a window: window or sun tunnel, decided at the survey

27 road miles north-east of Stockport

Honley lies in the Holme Valley civil parish within Kirklees, on the banks of the River Holme. St Mary's Church, Grade II listed and mostly Victorian, was built in 1843, and the village became an urban district in 1894. Local sandstone is the usual building material for the valley villages, and their roofs are stone slate or Welsh slate, Victorian terraces included. The railway station opened in 1850.

A stone roof is a particular thing to fit a rooflight into. The covering is a heavy natural material and the opening has to be made good around natural slate. In daily use that raises questions about how a window is reached on a steep slope, how it is shaded and who cleans the glass. And in a stone terrace the roof is not the only thing: a stairwell or landing in the middle of the house may never see daylight. We start every survey by asking who uses the room, and a fixed written quote follows.

Rooflights that suit stone and slate

Five choices for a Honley roof, from a slim rooflight set close to the slate to a tube that brings daylight down a stairwell.

Living with it in a Honley house

A cottage bedroom under stone slate wants a window opened by someone standing on the floor: handle, rod or remote.
A blackout blind in side channels suits a bedroom, and a pleated blind suits a spare room used for work.
VELUX electric and solar windows can carry a rain sensor, and it earns its keep when the house is empty on a working day.
A centre-pivot window turns so the outer pane can be cleaned from indoors, which matters on a steep roof.

Honley's stone houses and what they need from a rooflight

Four questions from living under a stone-slate or Welsh-slate roof, taken from the way the village is built.

Our cottage has a stone-slate roof. What kind of roof window sits right?

Holme Valley villages are commonly built of local sandstone, with roofs of stone slate or Welsh slate. Stone slate is a heavy natural covering, so the opening has to be made good with care. The survey starts outside on the roof, because the window and its flashing kit are chosen to match what is there.

Why a low-profile window

A standard roof window rises a little above the slate. A low-profile one sits closer to it, often with a slim central bar, and from the lane it looks like part of the roofline rather than something added. VELUX makes conservation roof windows of this kind, and our guide to what a conservation rooflight is explains the design. They are used on older roofs even where nothing requires one.

Using it every day

Being low-profile does not mean being awkward. It opens with a handle, a rod or a motor just as any other roof window does, and it takes a blind. In a bedroom under stone, a blackout blind in side channels shuts out the early light. In a spare room used as an office, a pleated blind cuts the glare on a screen. Ask for the blind with the window, as the kit is matched to the model.

The covering

If your roof is Welsh slate rather than stone slate, the covering is lighter and more regular and the flashing is different. The ground comes first, then the loft, and the product is confirmed before the quote is written.

A stone roof, room by room

Covering: Stone slate or Welsh slate, checked from outside
Window: Low-profile, set close to the roof
Flashing: Matched to the covering
Opening: Handle, rod or motor, chosen for the room
Blind: Fitted with the window, in side channels

We are near the church on Church Street. Does the village centre bring extra rules?

The conservation area in Honley was designated in 1973 and takes in the village centre. Standing inside one does not by itself remove the right to fit a rooflight, because the usual national rules still apply. Whether anything else bears on your roof depends on the house and on any earlier planning permission, and the planning guide sets out what changes the position. Kirklees Council tells us what applies to the address, so that is the first call we make.

Listed houses on Church Street

Historic England lists buildings on Church Street, including numbers 10, 12 and 14 and number 27, all at Grade II, along with the stocks and the gate piers at St Mary's. If your own home is on the list, then listed building consent is almost always the first step for a rooflight, and the consent decides the design. Our listed homes guide sets out the route.

What helps at the survey

If you can, bring any letter from the council about the house, a previous planning decision or a note about work done by an earlier owner. Planning permission granted earlier may carry a condition that removes rights you would otherwise have, and knowing that early saves a redesign.

Where a rooflight is allowed, the choice usually comes down to how quietly it sits in the roof. Our page on choosing covers the options.

Near the church

Ask the council about the address before the design is settled, not after. The house usually answers more than the street does.

Our roof is steeply pitched. How do we open the window, and what if it rains?

A steep roof slope puts a window high and sometimes awkwardly placed. That is a daily-use question more than a structural one. Think about where you will stand to open it and how often you will be doing so.

Reaching it

A top handle is easy if the window sits over a landing you can stand under. If it is over a bed or a stair, a telescopic rod handles the occasional opening. For a window opened every day, a motor on a wall remote saves a climb, and a solar motor needs no cable chased through the ceiling plaster. Our page on electric or solar opening compares the two.

Rain while you are out

With a VELUX electric or solar window, a rain sensor can shut it as soon as it rains. For a house that is empty during the working day, that matters, and the rain sensor page explains how it behaves. A manual window has no sensor, so it is for rooms you leave shut.

Cleaning the outside

The outer pane of a window on a steep slope is not something to reach from the outside. A centre-pivot roof window turns over so the outer pane can be cleaned from indoors, and we point out which models do; see centre-pivot or top-hung. Ask about that at the survey, because it depends on the window you choose.

When the slope is a problem

Some slopes are too steep to put a ladder on in any comfort. If that is your roof, say so at the survey. We choose the window and the opening method with that in mind, and we show you at handover how the controls and the blind work, so you are not left guessing on the first wet morning.

The loft room

If the loft is becoming a new floor, that floor needs a safe way out, set out in the Building Regulations guide.

The stairs and landing in our terrace have no daylight at all. Would a sun tunnel help?

In a stone terrace the stairs often run up through the middle of the house, with a wall on each side, and the landing at the top depends on whatever light the bedroom doors let through. If the loft above the landing is empty or lightly used, a sun tunnel is an option worth looking at.

How it works in the house

A sun tunnel has three parts: a dome on the roof, a tube across the loft space and a diffuser set into the ceiling. It does not open and it gives no view, so there is no handle, motor or blind to deal with. It does need a hole cut in the ceiling plaster for the diffuser, and a clear route through the roof space. A rigid tube suits a straight run. A flexible one bends round a rafter or a tank, and the rigid or flexible tube page explains the difference.

Or a window

If you want to look out as well as light the stairs, a roof window over the stairwell does that. It takes a rod or a motor and a blind, and the choice is the same as in any other room. The room-by-room guide helps you compare.

On a stone-slate roof

A sun tunnel dome sits on a flashing that suits the covering, as a window does. Outside inspection comes before either product is confirmed.

Honley and beside the Holme

Honley

The ring on the map is a straight-line radius of 30 miles round Stockport. Honley falls inside it, and the postcode check settles whether the road distance does too.

Does our Honley coverage include you?

We cover Honley, 27 road miles north-east of Stockport, including the village centre by St Mary's Church and the houses on the banks of the River Holme. Put your postcode in and we will confirm the address.

Nearest town pages

Honley rooflight FAQs

Which council deals with planning in Honley?

Kirklees Council. Honley is a village in the Holme Valley civil parish, in Kirklees. Either the council or a registered building control approver can do the building control, and the council is who we ask about conservation area questions.

Can an old roof window in a stone cottage be replaced like for like?

Often, yes. A new window of the same size fits the opening already there, so the lining indoors can usually be left alone while the flashing around the slate is renewed. The label on the old frame carries its size code, which the replacement guide shows you how to read.

Will you need to see inside the house as well as the roof?

Yes. The survey covers the roof from outside, the loft if there is one and the room under the opening, and we ask who uses it. The survey costs nothing, and a fixed written quote comes after it.

Can a rooflight go into a stone-slate roof without damaging it?

Yes, with care. The flashing kit is matched to the covering so the slates lie properly around the frame. The roof is inspected from outside before the product is confirmed. See roof window flashing.

How do we find out whether our road is in the conservation area?

Kirklees Council publishes conservation area maps, and the boundary is also on planning.data.gov.uk. Tell us your address at the survey and we will go through it with you.

Our landing has no window. Is a sun tunnel an alternative to a roof window?

It can be, where there is loft space above for the tube. It lights the landing but does not open and gives no view. A roof window does open and gives a view, with a rod or motor to reach it. The room usually decides.

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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 Honley.

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