Skylights & rooflights in Winford Hillside bungalows, village stone and new infill

Escape from a room in the roof

There is a safety rule that applies to this kind of house. Where the house is a chalet bungalow or bungalow, a single roof window may be the exit from an upstairs room. So the opening has to be big enough, and its lower edge low enough, for a person to climb through. The rules are explained on our page about roof windows as a fire escape, and we measure the room against them at the survey rather than guessing from a photograph.

Winford falls in North Somerset Council's area, and our planning guide explains when a rooflight needs to be raised with the council. Most do not, but it is a quick check and worth making before ordering.

The converted loft and the stair

Not every bungalow has been converted. Some still have a loft that is used for boxes and little else, and the rooms below depend on small windows at the front and back. Here the choice can be lighter touch. A sun tunnel through the roof brings daylight down onto a hallway ceiling through a reflective tube, and a ventilation kit can add a measured amount of fresh air to the same opening. For a bathroom set deep inside the house, that may be all it needs. Our guide to the sun tunnel for a bathroom shows how it works.

Because bungalow roofs are low, a ladder reaches them easily and the working conditions are good. Lower eaves also mean a shorter carry for the frame and the glass, which keeps the handling simple on a narrow plot. A single-storey roof is also easy to inspect from outside, so we can see the covering, the ridge line and any earlier work before we quote, and tell you which parts of the slope are clear of chimneys, vents and pipes. Dormers add complexity: a window cut into the cheek of one is a different job from a window set into a plain slope, and a dormer with a flat roof of its own can take a small flat rooflight instead. We note the roof covering, the pitch and the condition of the felt at the survey, because those decide the flashing and the weathering around each frame.

A brand-new opening through the tiles or slates is building work. The timbers around it must be framed in properly and the finished job has to meet the regulations, which is why the Building Regulations guide is worth a read before you commit. Should the house be old or in a protected area, North Somerset Council can say whether consent is needed, and a conservation rooflight is usually the most sympathetic unit for the front of an old house.

Newer houses on the side streets

Between the older houses sits newer infill, brick homes built along side roads and short closes in the later twentieth century. These have uncomplicated roofs with plain tile or concrete tile covering, which make them straightforward for roof windows. The usual project is a loft bedroom or an en suite, and the usual question is how large the window should be. A larger unit lets in more daylight and more air, but it also needs a bigger opening in the roof, which may mean cutting a rafter. Our guide on going bigger in the same opening explains what is possible without any structural work.

The flat roof at the back

Many Winford homes have gained a rear extension, and the extension usually has a flat roof. A fixed rooflight in that roof gives good daylight, but in a room with bifold doors facing the garden it can become a heat trap by early afternoon. Replacing it with an opening flat rooflight is a direct fix. The unit tilts up on motorised arms, lets the hottest air leave at the ceiling and its rain sensor pulls it shut at the first spots of drizzle.

Trading a fixed pane for an opening one brings a new frame, and a whole new frame is notifiable building work. A pane that has misted inside is a different matter, handled under misted and failed rooflights, where only the sealed glass may need replacing. If the old unit is failing anyway, ask at the survey whether its frame could give way to one that opens.

The village sits only a short way from Chew Magna and its neighbours, so a visit here rarely means a long detour for anyone. If your neighbour has had a roof window fitted, ask to see the room it serves. It is the quickest way to see what a similar unit might do for yours. For Chew Magna or Long Ashton the same logic applies, and the costs page shows how the figure is built.

The ground itself matters in Winford, and so does the angle of each roof. Houses on the hill have roofs that face different ways within a single street, so each slope we might use gets its own compass check. A window facing south gives the brightest room and the most heat; one facing north gives steadier daylight and a cooler room. For a bedroom the cooler slope is often the better place for the opening, with a blind or solar-control glass on the sunny side if the room needs a second unit.

Nothing here needs a major rebuild. A survey is a look at the roof, a few measurements and a conversation about how you use the room, followed by a written quote that shows how each unit could open and what that adds.