Skylights & rooflights in Timsbury Stone terraces, steep gardens and lofts that want a window

Think too about the outlook. In an attic the sill is low, because the roof slopes right down to the floor at the eaves, and a window that begins near the floor shows the garden to someone sitting on the bed. Windows set higher show only sky from a chair. Steep Timsbury slopes let you have it either way, and the surveyor will stand in the room with a tape to show you the difference before anything is ordered.

Stone roofs and what lies beneath them

Terrace roofs in a village like this get little attention until someone cuts into them, and the cutting is where the surprises are. Old rafters can be narrow and irregular, ridge lines can sag after a century, and some houses have been re-roofed at different dates along the same row. The surveyor goes up into the loft before looking at the outside. If the rafters will not take a wide opening without trimming that weakens them, a narrower unit, or two side by side with a rafter between, often works better than a single big one.

Cooling the house from the top down

The real gain in a terrace comes from the stair. Houses in these rows are two rooms wide and two deep, and the stair usually climbs between them. Once an attic window opens, the whole stair becomes a chimney: warm air rises from the kitchen and bedrooms, goes out through the roof, and is replaced by cooler air from whichever windows below are ajar. On a close July evening you can feel the draught on the landing within a few minutes. It will not turn a heatwave into a cool spell, and nobody should expect that, but it takes the edge off the top floor.

Listed buildings and the council

Some Timsbury buildings are listed, and some streets may lie within a conservation area. The local planning authority, Bath and North East Somerset, handles both, so a call to its planners before you commit is wise, especially for a front slope. Our planning guide explains what the council will want to see. Where the front slope is protected, the opening unit can go on the rear, leaving the street side alone. That arrangement suits most of the terraced rows, where the back slope looks over gardens and is seen by nobody but the owner and the odd passing bird.

The conservation rooflight suits these roofs because its thin frame and central bar sit low in the slope. It opens on a hinge, and owners are often surprised how much air a small one moves through a narrow attic. Whichever unit is chosen, swapping a whole one is notifiable, which we take care of. The regulations page sets out what that involves.

Bungalows, chalets and storey-and-a-half houses

Mixed in with the older stock are bungalows and chalet-style homes built later, frequently with bedrooms tucked into the roof. Those rooms rely on small dormers or roof windows, and the unit sizes can be too modest for the room. Where an upstairs room in a chalet bungalow depends on its window for escape, the dimensions of the opening and the sill height both have to be right, and the tape measure comes out at the survey. A taller house with a loft conversion works otherwise: the stair carries the fire protection, and the window concentrates on daylight and ventilation.

Because the village is hilly, wind can be brisk on the exposed side of a ridge. That is no reason to avoid an opening unit, but it does affect which kind. A top-hung roof window opens outward and upward, which keeps rain off the opening, and its hinges and stays are made to hold the sash steady in a gust. In an exposed spot the surveyor may also suggest a rain sensor, even on a window you can reach, so the sash closes itself if you are out when a squall comes through.

Choosing between solar, mains and a pole

How high the unit sits settles how it is worked. A handle is fine at arm's height. Further up, the choice is a long operating pole, a mains motor, or a motor charged by a small solar panel built into the frame. Hillside kitchens often have high ceilings at the back because the floor level drops with the garden, which tips the choice towards a motor. Solar is tidy where the plaster is new and a cable run would mean cutting into it. Mains is neat where the room is unfinished.

Estates and roof lanterns

Newer homes on the edges of the village tend to have simpler roofs and bigger rooms. Their loft conversions are usually straightforward, with one roof window at the back and perhaps another at the front. Extensions often include a roof lantern or a large fixed rooflight, and these hold the afternoon heat. Adding opening vents, or swapping the fixed unit for one that opens, cools the room without needing the doors thrown wide.

The villages around share much of this. Paulton and Peasedown St John have similar terraces and estates, and the costs page lists what moves a quote. For a longer look at opening units generally, our fresh air page is the place to start.