Manchester rooflights for red brick, mills and estates

Manchester skylights and rooflights for red-brick houses, mill conversions and estate roofs

Manchester is built of red brick, cotton-trade architecture and later estates. A rooflight here has to suit a high converted-mill roof, a Victorian terrace or a low-pitched post-war slope, and the people living under it.

Conservation area and Article 4 checks made with Manchester City Council first
Converted mill: who owns the roof, who reaches the glass, which blind
Low-pitched estate roof or flat-roofed block: the window picked for the slope

6 road miles north-west of Stockport

Manchester sits in a bowl of land between the Pennines to the north and east and the Cheshire Plain to the south. Red brick is the material that characterises the place, and much of its architecture goes back to its days as a global centre of the cotton trade. Just outside the centre, many of its old cotton mills now hold apartments and offices. The buildings run from Victorian to contemporary, and the 1950s and 1960s council estates add a further layer.

Each kind of roof asks something different of a rooflight. A converted mill puts the glass high above a floor and often raises the question of who looks after the roof. A Victorian terrace has a loft that wants a window and a rear slope to put it in. An estate house has a low-pitched concrete-tile roof, and a flat-roofed block wants a flat rooflight. We begin each survey with the person who will use the room, and the fixed written quote follows.

What Manchester's mixed housing calls for

A place with this many building ages needs a broad shortlist. These five cover the lofts, flat roofs, dark landings and protected addresses that come up in Manchester.

Red brick, mills and estates: three Manchester questions

Three questions that come from Manchester's building history, from the redeveloped cotton mills to the protected streets near the centre and the post-war estates.

Who can reach the glass in a converted cotton mill?

Former cotton mills just outside the centre have been redeveloped as apartment buildings and offices. A mill roof is large, high and often shared. Light for a room beneath it is a design problem as much as a fitting one, and a good survey starts with a long look at the roof from outside and the rooms from within. If you live in one, the roof may belong to the building, so the first step is to ask whoever manages it what you are allowed to change.

Reaching the window

A window in a high ceiling is a window you cannot touch. A manual roof window can be opened with a pole, which suits a window used now and then. For one you open every morning, electric or solar opening is easier. Electric windows are wired to the mains, which is simplest when the ceiling is open. Solar windows need no cable. Our guide sets electric and solar opening against each other.

Blinds that work from the floor

On a tall window a blind is only useful if it runs from a remote or switch. Blackout suits a bedroom, and a light-filtering blind suits an open-plan room that gets bright. A sun tunnel is another route where a dark corridor sits under a roof void, as our sun tunnel pages show.

The outer pane

Glass at that height collects dust, and rain leaves a film. A pivoting window brings the outer pane inside. Others are reached from outside by a ladder or a window cleaner with a pole. We tell you which type you are buying before you order.

Mill-roof rule

Ask who owns the roof before you ask what the window looks like.

Does living near Albert Square or Castlefield change what we can fit?

Manchester has conservation areas including Albert Square, St Ann's Square and Castlefield. In Manchester, as elsewhere in England, the designation does not take away permitted development for a rooflight on its own, though an Article 4 direction can. We check your address with Manchester City Council before we quote and tell you what comes back. A street can look the same from end to end and still sit half inside a boundary and half outside it, which is why we look at the address and not the postcode.

Article 4 directions

Some parts of Manchester are covered by Article 4 directions, which are council orders that remove some permitted development rights in a defined area. What each one restricts is a question for the address, and we do not guess from the postcode. We check it with Manchester City Council before quoting, which is quicker than discovering it after the window has arrived.

Grade I landmarks and listed homes

Manchester's listed buildings include the Town Hall and the Albert Memorial, both at Grade I. Those are landmarks and not typical homes, but it is worth knowing whether yours is listed. If it is, adding or altering a rooflight almost always means applying for listed building consent first, and that consent settles the design. See the page on listed homes and conservation rooflights.

A rooflight that sits quietly

An older slate roof can suit a conservation rooflight even where none is required. It sits low in the slope, often with a slim central bar, and seen from the pavement it looks like part of the house. Our explanation of what makes a rooflight a conservation rooflight compares the styles. For the wider planning picture, read the planning guide.

Terms that come up on protected streets

Article 4 directions: Council orders that take away some permitted development rights in a set area.
Listed building consent (LBC): Consent needed to change a listed building in a way that touches its character.
Slim central bar: The thin upright on a conservation rooflight that echoes old roof lights.

What suits a low-pitched concrete-tile roof or a flat-roofed block?

Council estates of the 1950s and 1960s in England typically have concrete interlocking tiles on low-pitched roofs, and some have flat-roofed blocks. Where a Manchester house sits on an estate of that period, the roof shape decides the window.

Low-pitched tiled roofs

On a low pitch, a roof window sits close to horizontal, so rain runs off more slowly and the flashing matters more. The kit is chosen to match the covering, and the window is chosen to fit between the rafters. We measure the roof and do not rely on drawings. The centre-pivot and top-hung roof windows page explains how the two opening types behave on a shallow slope, which matters when you reach for the handle.

Flat-roofed blocks

A flat rooflight is mounted on an upstand formed in the roof, with the roof covering dressed up around it. If the covering is tired, it is usually better to renew it with the rooflight, and our guide to upstands and coverings explains why. Where the roof is shared, ask the managing body first.

Dark landings

If the stair landing is dark, a sun tunnel can bring light without a window. It does not open and shows no sky, but it asks nothing of you. A roof window is the better choice where a loft is becoming a room. Either way, the Building Regulations guide covers means of escape for a new bedroom, and on a notifiable job the Building Regulations notification for the windows we fit is ours to see through.

Two estate roofs, two windows

Low-pitched tiles: Roof window with a kit matched to the tile
Flat-roofed block: Flat rooflight on an upstand
Dark landing: Sun tunnel, if there is loft space above
New loft bedroom: Roof window, blind and an escape route

Is a roof window the right start for the loft of a red-brick terrace?

Manchester's buildings run from Victorian to contemporary, and red brick characterises Manchester. A loft in a house like that often wants one thing above all: daylight where there is none. A roof window is the usual way to get it, and a rear slope is usually the easiest place to put one.

Whatever the covering

Roof coverings differ from house to house, and we do not assume one. The flashing kit is chosen to match what is on your roof, and the window size follows the rafters. Both are measured at the survey. When an old window is being replaced, the new one often fits the opening of the old, which saves disturbing the room inside.

Opening and blind

If the loft is a bedroom or a study that you open every day, an electric or solar window is easier on the shoulders than a pole. If the loft is occasional space, a manual window will do. Blackout is the usual blind for a bedroom, and it should run from the window's own remote. The options are listed in our blinds and controls guide.

Rain when nobody is in

A loft window left ajar on a warm morning is the one that catches the shower. On VELUX's electric and solar roof windows a rain sensor shuts the window at the first drops. Manual windows have none. The rain sensor guide explains how they work.

Making the room

Turning a loft into a bedroom is building work, and the roof windows are part of it. Our roof windows in loft conversions page deals with sizes and positions.

Cleaning the glass

A loft window high on a rear slope is not one to lean out of. A pivoting model turns the outer pane inward for wiping from the room, and others need a ladder. We name which kind you are choosing before you order, because a window that cannot be cleaned easily tends not to be cleaned at all.

Reaching Manchester addresses

Manchester

Manchester lies north-west of Stockport and near the centre of the map's ring, which is drawn as a straight 30-mile radius rather than as road miles.

Is your Manchester address in reach?

We work across Manchester, 6 road miles north-west of Stockport. Enter your postcode to confirm that your address is inside our area, and we will offer you a free survey.

Nearest town pages

Manchester homes, plainly answered

Who handles planning for a house in Manchester?

Manchester City Council. It deals with planning. Building control is a separate choice, and a registered building control approver can take it on instead of Manchester City Council. Before quoting, we put your address to the council.

Can I add a rooflight to a flat in a former mill?

First ask whoever manages the building, because the roof may belong to the building and not to you. A flat has no householder permitted development rights, so a rooflight on one needs planning permission as well. Once both are in place, we survey the roof and recommend a window; the planning guide explains.

Is a red-brick terrace roof any harder to fit than a newer one?

Not harder, but different. Each covering needs a flashing kit matched to it, and we check the covering and the rafters at the survey. See roof window flashing for slate and tile.

Will a replacement roof window mean redecorating the room?

Often, yes. A replacement of the same size can use the existing opening, so the lining inside is left as it is. The size is coded on the old window's label, so we can match it. See new opening or same opening.

What will I be shown before you leave?

We go through the opener, the remote, the blind and how to clean the outside glass with you in the room. It is the last part of the handover, so none of it is left to a leaflet.

Does a rooflight need a blind?

That depends on the room. A loft bedroom wants a blackout blind, while a landing or a stairwell often wants none. A kitchen that gets strong sun may be better with solar control glass. See blinds and controls.

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