Skylights and rooflights for Thornley stair heads and washrooms
Thornley is a village 22.6 road miles south-east of Newcastle, in Durham County Council's area. Some homes here need daylight in a gloomy room, and some need an old, clouded rooflight swapped for a new one. Both start with the room.
The cloudy dome over the stairs
Thornley grew up around a colliery sunk in 1835 and shut in 1970, and the houses built for that community have been altered many times since. Look up in one and you may find a rooflight that has clouded over between its panes, or a stair head or washroom with no light at all. Either way the answer is overhead, and the first step is to name the room that needs it.
What a surveyor weighs up on a Thornley roof
A surveyor chooses between these only after looking at your actual roof. Roof lanterns, Flat roof rooflights, Roof windows, VELUX windows, Electric rooflights, Energy efficient rooflights, Misted rooflight replacement, Walk-on rooflights, Conservation rooflights, Sun tunnels.
Thornley rooms
Dark rooms, clouded rooflights and who signs it off
A Thornley job starts in a room, either one with no daylight or one whose old rooflight has failed. This guide moves from that room to the replacement or new unit, to the question of who decides, and finally to the survey and the day itself.
Which room in my Thornley home needs a rooflight, or a new one?
Short answer
The room where daylight is poorest, for instance an upper landing, a bathroom with no outer wall, a rear kitchen or a room in the roof. If an existing rooflight has clouded between its panes, the room beneath it is your starting point too.
There are two kinds of Thornley job, and they begin the same way. In one, a room has never had enough daylight. In the other, a room did have a rooflight and it has stopped doing its job. Spend ten minutes in the room around noon and you will see which story is yours. Bring a torch to any loft hatch you can open, but leave the roof itself to us.
A room that never had light
Think of the places a builder could not reach with a wall window: the top-of-stairs landing, the bathroom sandwiched between two bedrooms, the kitchen tucked into the end of a later addition. In an attic bedroom the sloping ceiling can swallow what little a gable window gives. All of these have a roof overhead, and a roof can pass daylight down.
A rooflight gone cloudy
A sealed double-glazed unit holds a thin layer of dry air or gas between its panes. Once that seal fails, damp air creeps in and a grey film forms on the faces of the glass. No cloth will reach it. The room dulls, and the glass stops insulating as it was built to, which you may notice as a cold patch on the ceiling in winter. Then the question is whether new glass will do or the whole unit should be replaced. Our misted rooflights page explains the choices.
Why a council estate matters, or does not
Thornley lost two estates of twentieth-century council housing to demolition when the population fell after the pit closed. What remains is a mix, and we do not assume anything about yours from that. Houses and flats follow different rules, so our first question is which kind of home you have.
Before the surveyor arrives, a little preparation makes the visit more useful. A checklist is a sensible way to go about it. Take a note of how the room is used, who uses it and when, because a study used in the evening has different needs from a bathroom used at dawn.
Work out your room before the survey
- Note which room feels darkest between ten and two
- Check for grey film or beads of moisture inside any existing rooflight
- Look at what lies over the ceiling: loft, flat roof or a neighbour's floor
- Confirm your tenure, house or flat, and for a flat read the lease
- Decide whether you want light only or fresh air as well
How do I replace an old or misted rooflight in Thornley?
Short answer
Out goes the old unit, the opening is examined and a new rooflight takes its place, perhaps at the same size. The new unit meets the Part L limits for an existing home. Fresh glass alone does not always do the job.
Swapping a rooflight sounds simpler than a new one, because the hole is already there. That helps, yet the job still needs care. The frame, the flashing and the roof around the opening all have to be looked at, since they were made for the unit that is leaving.
Same opening, better unit
If the opening is in good order and the dimensions suit, the new unit simply takes the old one's place. Where the old one was a plastic dome, you might step up to a glazed unit. If it was a roof window, the new one can be larger or open differently. A flat rooflight on an existing home should meet a limiting U-value of 2.2 W/m²K, and a roof window 1.4 W/m²K or Band B, so a new unit usually insulates better than one that is decades old.
When the whole unit goes
Sometimes only the sealed glass has failed and the frame is fine. At other times the frame has aged badly, the seals are tired or the flashing no longer fits. The survey tells us which. We say plainly whether new glass is enough or the unit should change, and the quote reflects that.
Flat roofs and pitched roofs
On a flat roof the upstand under the unit is commonly around 150mm above the finished roof, and we look at how it was built. Pitched roofs need a flashing kit to match the covering, and a replacement window normally brings a fresh kit with it.
Where you want a different position or a larger opening, it stops being a swap and becomes a new opening, which has its own rules, set out in the next chapter. Choosing a bigger unit also means more of the roof timbers are touched, so it is worth saying early if you are tempted.
Does replacing or adding a rooflight in Thornley need Durham County Council?
Short answer
Durham County Council hears applications for flats and listed houses. An ordinary house usually comes under permitted development within set limits. Whether a like-for-like swap needs anything more is settled at the survey.
For planning in Thornley, the body to ask is Durham County Council. Which rule applies depends on what you own, and on whether the job is a straight exchange or a brand new opening.
Houses
Most rooflights on houses come under permitted development within set limits. We do not list the limits on every page, because the planning permission guide does it properly. Exceptions are an Article 4 direction and a condition attached to an earlier permission, and either can take the right away. A conservation area alone does not. If you are unsure whether a direction applies to your road, the council can tell you.
Flats
Flats have no householder permitted development. So Durham County Council's planning permission is required for a new rooflight in any flat. An exchange of one unit for another is a separate question, and we answer it at the survey rather than guess. Either way, check the lease for the roof's ownership and for any right a neighbour has to block the work.
Listed houses
A listed house keeps its permitted development on the planning side, but almost any rooflight on it needs listed building consent. That consent decides the job, swap or not.
Building Control
Cutting a new opening in a roof is building work, so it goes to Building Control, either the local authority or a registered building control approver. If the job has to be notified, we send the notification. For a swap, the survey tells you whether it applies.
Our view: settle the permission route for a flat or listed house before ordering, because a delay there costs more than a delay at the survey.
What happens first at a Thornley survey, and then on fitting day?
Short answer
A free survey opens the job, then a fixed quote in writing. When the day comes, either the old unit is taken out or a fresh opening is cut, and then the rooflight is fixed, sealed and lined. The paperwork finishes with a workmanship guarantee that lasts a decade and is set down in writing.
We name no price ahead of the survey, and the survey itself is free. A visit gives us the facts, and it gives you a chance to ask what you like.
At the survey
We start in the room, go up through the hatch if a loft exists, and finish outside with the roof itself. For a swap we also look hard at the old unit: how it was fixed, how the flashing was laid and whether the timbers around it have moved. For a new opening we judge the rafters or trusses, because cutting into a truss frame means an engineer must design the opening. We also note how the house is used, where furniture stands and which way the sun reaches the roof, since all of these shape the choice of glass.
- Roof covering and the way it laps
- Timbers around the opening, old or planned
- Size of unit the structure allows
- The way to reach the roof safely
The quote
The written quote is fixed. It sets down the product, its size and the type of glass, and the figure is only reopened if the job itself changes. Where planning permission is needed, we suggest holding the order until it is decided.
Fitting day
For an exchange, the old unit is lifted clear, the opening is made ready and the new rooflight is bedded and sealed. For a fresh opening, the roof covering comes up, the timbers are framed, and then the unit goes in. The inside lining is finished so that the splay brings light into the room.
Afterwards
We handle the Building Control notification where it applies. Your ten-year guarantee on our workmanship arrives in writing, and the guarantee page has the terms. Wheatley Hill is a short drive away, and to book a visit you can use the quote form.
Thornley rooflight queries
What makes a rooflight cloud over between its panes?
The seal around the sealed glass unit has let go, so moist air has entered the gap and condensed on the inner faces. It cannot be cleaned out, and drying the glass from the inside does not bring the seal back. A survey tells you whether new glass will do or the whole rooflight should be replaced.
Can a plastic dome give way to a glass rooflight?
Often, yes. Glass gives better insulation and a clearer view of the sky, and the upstand under the dome may be reusable. A glazed unit is also heavier than a dome, so the survey looks at the deck and the timbers before we promise that the same upstand can stay. The survey checks the opening and the structure, and the quote names the new unit and its size.
Which council would I deal with in Thornley?
Durham County Council. A flat or listed house here sends its application there, and the council is also the local authority for Building Control. You can use a registered building control approver instead, and we handle the notification either way.
Is a new rooflight cheaper than a swap?
Not necessarily. A swap saves cutting into the roof, but the frame, the flashing or the upstand around the unit may still need to be replaced, and a lantern or a roof window can be heavier to handle than the dome it replaces. The costs page lists what moves the price, and the fixed quote after the survey gives the real answer for your roof.
Do I have to be in during the work?
Someone should be available to let us in and to approve the finish of the lining once the unit is fitted. We will agree the arrangements with you when the date is set, and the work will not start until the quote is accepted.