Skylights and rooflights over Seghill's darkest room
Seghill is a large village, 8.3 road miles north of Newcastle, in Northumberland County Council's area. Seghill homes vary, so begin with the gloomiest room. Tell us if you live in a whole house or in one flat of two, and we will go through what the roof over it can carry.
The room that stays dark all day
A former pit village on the Northumberland coalfield has homes built in different hands and different decades, so no two Seghill roofs can be assumed alike. The trouble tends to show up inside instead: a landing with no glass, a bathroom on the inside of the plan, a loft bedroom lit by one small gable window. A skylight lights those rooms from above, and the rules depend on the house.
The rooflights we fit in Seghill
We choose each unit once we have stood under the roof it is meant for. Roof lanterns, Flat roof rooflights, Roof windows, VELUX windows, Electric rooflights, Energy efficient rooflights, Misted rooflight replacement, Walk-on rooflights, Conservation rooflights, Sun tunnels.
Seghill, room first
Start with the room, end with the ceiling
Four questions follow, taken in order: the dim room, the unit suited to the roof over it, the people whose approval the job needs, and the steps that lead from the first visit to a finished ceiling.
Which room in my Seghill home needs a skylight first?
Short answer
Begin with the room you flick the light on in at lunchtime. What lies over its ceiling, whether loft, flat section or another storey, settles what can go in.
Walk through the house on a bright morning with the lights off. The rooms that stay murky are your candidates. In a village like Seghill, which grew around its pit and has since taken in newer building, you cannot guess the layout from the postcode, so we begin with what you tell us and what we see on the survey.
The usual suspects
A landing is the first place to look. It sits at the top of the stairs, often with doors on every side and nothing to let daylight in. A bathroom set against the middle of the house is the second. A loft that has become a bedroom or an office is the third, and a kitchen that was extended backwards, away from the original windows, is the fourth. Each of these has a ceiling, and above the ceiling there is either a roof slope, a flat roof, or an upper storey. That one fact trims the shortlist fast. It also stops anyone, you or us, getting attached to a product the roof cannot host.
What sits over the ceiling
Slope directly overhead: a roof window in that slope is the obvious candidate. Loft void between ceiling and covering: a tube-style sun tunnel can pass light through the void into a small room. Flat roof above: flat rooflights and lanterns come into play. Another floor on top: no skylight can reach that room, and the survey is where we tell you so rather than promise something the structure rules out.
Use the checklist before we visit
You do not have to settle any of this yourself. A few minutes of looking round makes the visit quicker, because you can point to the room, say what is above it, and tell us whether the house is yours outright or one of two flats. That last detail changes who has to give permission, which a later chapter covers.
Notice these before the survey
- Which room needs its light on at lunchtime whatever the weather?
- What lies over that ceiling: loft void, flat roof or a second floor?
- Is the roof over the room sloped or flat, as far as you can tell from outside?
- Do you want fresh air in that room as well as daylight?
- If you share the building, who does your title or lease say owns the roof?
What goes in the roof once the room is chosen?
Short answer
Pitched slopes suit roof windows, flat roofs suit flat rooflights or lanterns, and tiny rooms below a loft suit sun tunnels. Room size, wish for fresh air and roof covering refine the pick.
Treat the choice as three families, each tied to a roof shape. Once you know which family applies, the details are easy to talk through at the kitchen table, and the survey fills in anything the table cannot settle.
Pitched slopes and roof windows
This type is set into a slate or tile slope, flush with it. Bedrooms in the loft, studies under the rafters and landings with a slope directly overhead all take one well. Because it lies with the slope, the view out is of sky and roofline, which suits a room you want bright without feeling watched. Our roof window page lists the sizes and the opening styles. The VELUX range is a familiar name, and we fit it, though the product that suits the opening is what counts. Sizes are quoted in the maker's code, and the written quote spells the size out in plain measurements.
Flat rooflights and lanterns for flat roofs
Where a flat roof covers a kitchen or a garden room, a flat rooflight sits on a raised upstand, which is commonly around 150mm above the finished roof surface, though each maker sets its own minimum. A lantern rises above the roof in a more architectural shape and gives light on several sides. Both appear on our flat roof rooflight page, with notes on glass and opening.
Sun tunnels for small, enclosed rooms
A sun tunnel is a tube with a dome on the outside and a diffuser in the ceiling. It carries daylight through a loft to a landing or a cloakroom that has no wall to the outdoors. It brings light and not a view, which is exactly right for a room you only walk through.
What narrows the field
Three things decide between the options in a given room. First, size: a bathroom wants a small unit and a bedroom wants a large one. Second, air: some people want a window that opens or a unit with an electric motor, and others want the daylight alone. Third, the roof covering and the structure under it, which we see at the survey. Glass gets named in the quote. Laminated inner panes go over rooms people use, and the paperwork says so.
Will the kind of building I live in decide who has to approve the work?
Short answer
It can, because the house type matters more than the room. A house usually works within permitted development. A flat, upstairs or down, needs planning permission from Northumberland County Council, and a listed house needs listed building consent.
People often assume the answer depends on how large the rooflight is or how big the room is. In practice it depends on what kind of building you live in. One kitchen skylight might be a simple job next door and a planning application two doors down.
A whole house of your own
Most rooflights on houses fall under permitted development, within set limits, which means no planning application is needed. The exact limits sit in our rooflight planning guide, where they are easier to follow than in a paragraph on a village page. Two things can take that right away: an Article 4 direction on the area, or a condition attached to an earlier planning permission for the house. We ask about both at the survey.
One flat of two
A flat has no householder permitted development. Either half of a Tyneside flat counts, the upper or the lower. Northumberland County Council is the body to apply to for a new rooflight on a flat, whatever its dimensions. Who owns the roof is another question. Look in your title or lease. It names the roof's owner and says whether the other flat's owner has to consent to work overhead. Read it, and talk to the person downstairs or upstairs, before money changes hands. What we say here is general, not advice on one address, and a solicitor can say more.
When the house carries a listing
A listed house keeps its permitted development rights on the planning side. Even so, almost any rooflight on it needs listed building consent, and that consent decides the job. Ask the council before you set a date.
Where the room fits in
The room matters for a different reason: it tells us whether the job is notifiable. Cutting a new opening in a roof is building work, so it is notified to Building Control, either at the local authority or at a registered building control approver. If the work calls for it, we send that notification ourselves. The survey establishes whether it does.
What happens between the survey and the finished ceiling?
Short answer
You get a no-cost survey, then a written quote that stays put unless the job changes. Once you accept, we deal with Building Control, fit the unit and hand over a ten-year workmanship guarantee on paper.
The route is short. Seghill is a village, and the visit comes to your door.
The survey
We visit you, inspect the room, enter the loft where access allows, and study the roof from the outside. The opening you have in mind gets measured, the roof build is noted, and if the building is shared we ask who owns what. Nothing is charged and nothing is signed. A price from a photo or a phone chat would only be a guess, because the roof decides what is possible.
The quote
Afterwards a written quote arrives with a fixed price, naming the product, its size and the work covered. That figure moves only if the job moves, say you switch to a bigger unit. Wondering how a quote is put together? Our costs explainer lists the factors that push a price either way, and holds back any figure that could mislead on your roof.
Before the work
A flat, or an area with a restriction, means the planning side is settled first and the date follows. Where the work is notifiable, the Building Control notification is ours to send, not yours to chase.
The day itself
The fitting runs in order: open the roof, set the unit and weather it, then line and finish the inside round the opening. A sun tunnel is a lighter undertaking than a lantern, so the visit length follows the job. When we agree the date we talk the sequence through.
Afterwards
You get the ten-year workmanship guarantee in writing. Neighbouring places such as Seaton Delaval sit close by, and the same steps apply there.
Our view: choose the room first, let the roof narrow the product, and settle who has to agree before you order anything.
Practical points before you book a Seghill survey
Is a sun tunnel the answer for a landing with no outside wall?
Often it is. The tube starts at a dome on the roof and ends in a ceiling diffuser, passing through the loft in between, so the landing needs no outer wall. The loft and roof covering are viewed on the survey before we agree to it. Read more on our sun tunnel page.
My Seghill house is in a row. Does a neighbour have to agree?
For a house you own outright, a rooflight on your own roof does not need a neighbour's agreement, though a party wall can bring other duties we will mention at the survey. If you own one flat in a shared building, your title or lease decides who must agree, so read it first.
Should I choose a roof window that opens?
Pick an opening unit when stale air is the problem, in a bathroom or a loft bedroom say. A fixed unit costs less to run and suits a landing that only needs daylight. Electric opening is an option on some units, and we cover the trade-offs in the quote.
Is the survey really free if I decide not to go ahead?
Yes, the visit is free even if you say no, and nobody names a price beforehand. Our fixed written quote follows, and you can keep it as long as you like before replying. Ask for one through our quote form or on WhatsApp.
Do you only work on roofs in the village itself?
No. Seghill is one of many places we cover. Our patch reaches a thirty-mile road radius from the city, taking in villages and towns across Northumberland, Tyneside and County Durham, all on the same survey and quote process.