Skylights & rooflights in Frampton on Severn Around the long green and out across the vale

Timber and tile

Older roofs in the village need care because the timbers are hand-cut and rarely regular. A rafter may sit a little off line, or a purlin may carry load in a way a drawing would not predict. We look at the structure from inside the roof space, trace where the main timbers run, and say frankly if one larger unit would cut too much and two smaller ones would suit better. If the project replaces an existing rooflight with a whole new frame, it is notifiable work, covered in our Building Regulations guide.

Chimneys shape the options. Many of the older houses have stacks on the gable walls or through the ridge, and a rooflight cannot straddle one, so the positions on either side are the ones that count. At the survey we mark them from the loft, and the quote shows how the opening unit lines up with the bed, the stair and the door, so you can picture the draught before any work starts.

Rear wings are common in the larger houses by the green: a former dairy, a scullery, a wash-house or a coach store, now used as a kitchen or a utility. Many have low roofs, some flat or shallow, and little daylight because a garden wall runs hard against the window. A flat rooflight over the room brings in sky light from above, and an electric opener lets cooking steam out of the top. Set low behind the main roof, it hardly shows from the green.

A house can divide the work between its slopes. The side facing the green keeps its original look, with at most a single small conservation unit left fixed if the council prefers that. The garden side takes a roof window that opens fully, so the bedroom gets both a view of the orchard or the field and plenty of air. Where opening beats fixed is covered room by room in our fresh air rooflights guide.

Flat roofs behind the house

A typical extension at Frampton is a kitchen or garden room across the back with a flat roof, looking down a long garden. A large fixed rooflight on the sunny side makes the room bright but lets it overheat. Add a flat roof rooflight that opens, and the hottest air escapes at the top. With the garden doors open at the same time, the draught crosses the room and clears it quickly. A lantern over the room can follow the same principle: ask about a roof lantern.

Power is a practical question out in the village. A new cable to a ceiling may mean chasing a wall in a finished room, which is why electric and solar opening options are compared at the survey. Solar needs no mains cable at all, which suits a finished room, and a small panel on the unit charges the motor from daylight. For a new build or a room still being plastered, mains wiring can go in alongside the other trades, which keeps the cost of an electric opener low and the finished ceiling clean.

Blinds deserve thought here, since the sun that crosses the vale in summer is strong. A blind that fits inside the reveal keeps an east or south bedroom usable at dawn and at noon, and costs little to specify when the window goes in. Autumn mornings bring mist off the water, and a window that tilts helps steam leave a bathroom quickly once the shower is switched off.

Sun direction matters a great deal on an open site. Glass tuned against the sun, plus a blind, helps the south and west slopes. A north slope can take clearer glass and more daylight. We talk through these choices on site, standing under the actual roof, because the right glass depends on how the garden faces and what stands in the sun's way.

Our work reaches Frampton on Severn and the villages along the canal, and it extends to neighbouring Stonehouse and Cam. For a feel for what a project costs, the costs page covers the main factors.