Homes in the foothills of the Pennines

Skylights and rooflights for Mossley homes in the Pennine foothills

Mossley grew fast in the 19th century and now rises into the Pennine foothills. Whatever the age of your house, we start with who opens the window, how high it sits and what the room is for.

Your address checked with Tameside Council before any quote is written
Loft rooms in 19th-century houses: reach and blinds settled before the window
A sun tunnel or a roof window for a dark landing, picked by how it is used

11 road miles north-east of Stockport

Mossley is a town in the foothills of the Pennines, roughly 140 metres above sea level at the centre. It grew during the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century. The Huddersfield Narrow Canal has listed bridges and locks here, the former town hall is listed, and the railway station sits on the Huddersfield line.

We do not know what is on your roof until we have looked, and a town that grew in the 19th century has houses of every kind by now. So the questions we ask are about use. Is the window going into a loft bedroom, a landing or a kitchen? Who will open it, and can they reach the handle? What happens to the blind, the glass and the floor underneath when the weather turns? The survey answers those on your own roof, and the fixed written quote follows from the answers.

Four that suit a Mossley roof

Older loft rooms, dark landings and a listed address point to these four, each picked for the way the room is used rather than for the catalogue page.

Mossley's loft rooms, wet days and listed neighbours

A town of 19th-century growth, canal listings and hillside weather raises practical questions, and these four come up first when we survey in Mossley.

Which opening method suits a loft window set high in an older Mossley house?

Mossley grew during the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century. If your house dates from that growth, the loft is the room most likely to need light, and a window there ends up high in the slope, often above the height you can reach from the floor. We cannot tell from the street what covering is on your roof, so the survey begins on the roof itself. The covering decides which flashing kit goes with the window, and the rafters decide how wide the window can be.

Handle, rod, remote or sun

A window within arm's reach can have a plain handle. A higher one can be worked with a telescopic rod, which is fine for a window opened now and then. If a loft bedroom window will be opened every morning, a remote-controlled electric or solar one is less of a chore. Electric windows need a cable run to the motor, which is simplest when the ceiling is open for a conversion anyway. Solar ones need no cable through the plaster, which suits a replacement in a room you have just decorated.

The blind goes with the window

On a high window we choose a blind that works from the same remote, or from the same pole. A blackout blind is the usual pick for a bedroom, while a landing or a study may need only a light filtering one. Our page on blinds and controls for windows out of reach lays out the options.

Who actually uses the room

A teenager's bedroom, a guest room and a home office under the same roof can end up with different windows. We ask who will be in the room, at what hours, and whether anyone finds stairs or stretching difficult. That tells us more than the roof does.

Before anyone quotes a size

Say who will open the window and how often. The answer picks the handle, the rod or the motor.

What if I leave the window open and rain starts while we are all out?

A window left open on a dry morning is one way a room under the roof gets wet. A manual roof window stays exactly as you left it, so the habit of closing it before you leave is the only protection. Some makers offer a restrictor catch that limits how far the sash opens, a sensible middle position for a bedroom, though it does not keep the rain out.

A window that closes itself

Certain electric and solar windows from VELUX are sold with a rain sensor. When it detects rain, it closes the sash. That helps where the house is empty for most of the day, or where the window sits over a staircase you cannot easily get to. Not every make or model has one, which is why we confirm it for the window you are choosing. Our page on rain sensors on electric windows shows how they work.

Keeping the outside clear

Rain washes a pitched window but leaves streaks. Some centre-pivot roof windows swivel round so the outside glass is cleaned from the room, and we show you how at handover. A fixed window on a roof you cannot reach needs a different plan, such as a long-handled brush from a safe position, or a clear understanding of when someone will go up.

Children and older relatives

In a child's room, the question is how far the sash can open. Some makers offer restrictors, though one fitted to the escape window for that room has to let an adult open it right up, and we explain them at the survey, with notes on child-safe opening to read afterwards.

Opening it, and closing it again

Manual handle: Stays as you left it; you close it
Restrictor: Limits how far the sash opens; some makers offer one
Electric: Opens and closes from a remote or wall switch
Solar: The same, with no cable through the ceiling
Rain sensor: Fitted to certain VELUX electric and solar windows; closes the sash

Will a sun tunnel really lighten a dark landing or bathroom?

A landing or bathroom may have no outside wall to put a window in. A sun tunnel is built for that. A small dome sits on the roof, a tube runs across the loft, and a diffuser panel in the ceiling spreads the light. For that to work the ceiling has to be opened for the diffuser, and the loft above has to allow a clear run for the tube. We look in the loft before we say yes, because a water tank, a beam or a bend in the route can settle the question.

What it will and will not do

A sun tunnel brings in daylight. It does not open and it gives no view, so it suits a room you pass through or wash in rather than one you sit in all day. That is also its attraction in daily use, because there is no handle to reach, no blind to lose and no sash to leave open when it rains. Our page on rooms where a sun tunnel works goes through the usual candidates.

Rigid or flexible

A straight run between roof and ceiling can use a rigid tube. If the route has to bend round something, a flexible tube is the usual answer. Each has its own look from below, and the difference between them is explained on rigid and flexible sun tunnels compared.

When a roof window is better

If the landing has loft space above and you also want to see the sky, or the room needs to open, a small roof window may suit better. We talk through both at the survey and tell you which we would choose for that room and why.

Landing or bathroom

If nobody sits in the room and nothing needs to open, a sun tunnel is the simpler job.

Do the listed canal bridges and the old town hall change anything for our house?

Historic England's entries for Mossley include the Huddersfield Narrow Canal's Micklehurst Bridge and Lock and Winterford Bridge and Lock, and the former town hall with the war memorial in front of it. Those entries are for the structures named. They do not make the houses beside them listed. If your house is on the list, a new or altered rooflight would, in almost every case, call for listed building consent, and the consent settles the design. Our page on rooflights on listed homes sets out the steps.

Who we ask about your address

Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council is the planning authority for Mossley. Before we quote, we check your address with the council. You can look yourself on planning.data.gov.uk, though that dataset can be incomplete, so we ask the council rather than rely on it alone.

A house with no listing

Where nothing is listed, adding a rooflight in England is usually permitted development, within limits set out in the planning guide. A slope facing the side of the house carries extra conditions, which the same guide explains. A condition attached to an earlier planning permission can take permitted development away, which can happen on a house that came with a planning permission of its own, so we look for it.

A new floor in the loft

A loft conversion brings a safe way out of the new floor into the design, and the Building Regulations guide explains what that involves. Notifiable work is notified to building control by us for the roof windows we put in.

Four terms you may hear

Statutory list: The national register of listed buildings, kept by Historic England.
Planning condition: A requirement attached to an earlier permission. It can take permitted development away from a house.
Notifiable work: Building work that must be notified to building control, which we handle for our roof windows.
Flashing kit: The metal and sealing parts that seal the join between window and roof covering against rain.

Across the whole town

Mossley

On the map, Mossley sits well within the circle drawn around Stockport.

Enter your Mossley postcode

We cover the whole of Mossley, 11 road miles north-east of Stockport, and a postcode check shows straight away whether your street is on our survey route.

Nearest town pages

Mossley rooflights: points to clear

Which council decides planning for a Mossley house?

Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council. Building control can be done by the council's own officers, or by an approver registered for building control. Where the work is notifiable, we handle the notification for the roof windows we fit.

Can a sun tunnel brighten a dark landing?

It can, if there is loft space above. A small dome on the roof is joined by a tube to a diffuser in the ceiling. It brings in daylight but does not open or give a view. Sun tunnels explains how it is fitted.

Can an old roof window be replaced without disturbing the room?

It can be. If the new window is the same size as the old one, it can use the existing opening and the plaster lining inside is left alone. The label on an old VELUX window carries a size code; keeping the same opening explains what we look for.

Do you need to see the roof before giving a price?

Yes. We survey first, look at the covering and the rafters, and then give a fixed written quote. A price from a photograph would be a guess, and the roof covering decides the flashing.

Is a roof window a good idea for a loft bedroom?

Usually, provided you can reach it and shade it. The two choices that matter are the opening method and the blind. We settle both for that room. See roof windows for loft conversions for sizes and positions.

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