Rooflights and skylights for homes across Peterlee, by roof type

A rooflight job hangs on one early answer. The question is whether water runs off your roof down a slope, or lies nearly level and drains to an edge.

How to tell from the garden

Step back into the garden or the road and look at the part of the roof above the room you want lit. A slope with visible tiles or slates, and a ridge at the top, is a pitched roof. A deck that looks flat or almost flat, with a thin edge trim or a short parapet, is a flat roof. Some houses carry both, with a slope on the main building and a flat deck over a rear addition or garage. Each is treated as its own roof, with its own covering, its own drainage and its own rooflight options. Sometimes the cheapest way to brighten a house is to light the flat part first and see what difference it makes before touching the slope.

What the covering tells us

On a pitched roof, the type of tile or slate matters because the flashing that seals a window must suit it. On a flat roof, we want to know what the finish is, such as felt, a single-layer membrane or something else, because a new rooflight has to be joined into it neatly. In both cases we also look at the age of the covering. A covering that is tired is worth mentioning, because the area around a new opening is a natural moment to freshen it, and we say so when we see it.

Why two roofs on one house means two answers

The pitched roof over the bedrooms and the flat roof over the kitchen are separate jobs with separate products. We can survey both in one visit, and each part is quoted for what it needs, so you can decide to do one now and the other later.

If you cannot tell which you have, do not worry. That is exactly what the survey is for, and the first message to us only needs the address and the room.

A loft that becomes a bedroom or study is the most involved thing a roof window does, and the one most worth planning. Four matters come up at the survey.

How much glass

Houses face no Building Regulations rule about daylight levels, which leaves the amount of glass to comfort and taste. As a guide, a room that you sit in wants windows spread so that no corner stays dim. Two smaller windows can light a long loft better than one large one in the middle. We measure the slope and the rafters to see what fits.

Headroom and the sloping ceiling

Where a window sits matters for the person using the room. A window set too high leaves its sill out of reach, while one set too low can vanish behind furniture. We talk through where the glass should fall in relation to the bed, the desk or the chair by the wall, and we look at how the stair arrives in the room, since that fixes the usable floor.

Escape from a loft room

Means of escape comes under Approved Document B. A roof window counts as an escape window only for a room within 4.5 metres of the ground. Two-storey houses with a loft conversion are different: they need a protected stair, and no window replaces it. A single-storey house, such as a bungalow, is the case where a roof window can serve as the way out. Our fire escape answer gives the detail.

Insulation and the new ceiling

A loft room is only comfortable if the slope behind the plasterboard is properly insulated, and a window cut into it breaks that insulation. The surround of each window is therefore detailed so the insulation continues round the frame without gaps. We describe this on the quote, because it is one of the things that separate a neat job from an uncomfortable room in winter. The roof window itself must also meet the limiting U-value for its type.

Notifying Building Control

Converting a loft is building work, and so is cutting in the windows. Both are notified to Building Control, the local authority or a registered building control approver. In Peterlee that means Durham County Council.