Skylights & rooflights in Wotton-under-Edge Hillside houses under the Cotswold scarp

For houses like this, a conservation rooflight is the natural first idea. The narrow frame and the single centre bar are modelled on the old iron skylights that used to light mill floors and stairs, and a good one reads as part of the roof from below. Several are hinged along the top with a long rod to work them. When the roof is stone tile, the main question is flashing: stone is thick and uneven, so the usual factory kits do not seat properly and the edges are made up on site.

The hillside changes the air

Slope shapes how a house feels. A terrace stepping up the hill may have a back bedroom that looks down across the valley, with a roof that catches sun all afternoon, while the front rooms sit in shade. Fresh air moves differently here, too. On a still evening the warm air in a hillside home has no obvious way out, because the stairs are narrow and many windows face the same direction. An opening unit set well up the pitch gives it one, and a window downhill lets cooler air walk in to replace it.

Mill conversions and big roof spans

The old mills are a different challenge. Their roofs are broad, the ceilings high, and the stairs, if there is one, rise through a tall void. Conversions into flats and houses often leave a landing at the top with no outside window, so heat gathers there and the air above the stair never moves. Large roof windows, or a row of them, solve daylight, and fitting them with motors makes opening them easy even when they are far overhead. A rain sensor shuts them when a shower arrives, which matters when nobody is home.

Flats and maisonettes are different for planning, because the usual rights for houses do not apply to them, so check with the council before assuming. The planning permission guide lists who needs what. For listed buildings, consent is always needed first. And above the town, the hills fall within the Cotswolds National Landscape, which is another reason to keep every roof change tidy and in character.

Whatever the roof, we begin with the structure. A stone or clay roof may need extra trimming around the opening, which is why we measure between timbers and discuss the size honestly rather than promising a big unit everywhere.

Brightness is the second half of the story. Houses on the lower streets of Wotton often have a hall or landing that only ever sees a bulb. Wiring a switch does nothing for the sense of space, whereas a window above the stairs lets the morning in and makes the whole upstairs feel larger. Combine that with a sash you can open, and the house is lighter and fresher without a single wall being moved.

Where a sun tunnel or small unit helps

Landings and bathrooms are the dark corners of the estates. A sun tunnel brings daylight down a shaft through the loft, and a compact roof window does the same job and opens as well. Over a shower, the open sash lets steam rise out, and the vent slot keeps a little air moving once the sash is closed again.

Rear extensions on a slope

Behind a house on a sloping plot, the kitchen or garden room normally has a flat roof capped by one fixed pane of glass. Sun pours in and the heat stays. Trade it for a flat-roof unit with an opening sash, or a lantern with opening vents, and the hottest air finally has a place to go. Where reaching the glass is awkward, an electric version opens from a switch or remote.

Replacing a unit whole, frame and glass, is building work, and notifying Building Control comes with our service. If the glass has misted between the panes, the misted or failed rooflight page explains when only the sealed unit changes. For the wider picture of why opening beats fixed in a warm house, read about fresh air rooflights.

Choosing where the window goes

In a hillside house, a roof window can frame the hill itself, the sky above the escarpment, or the tops of the trees in the valley below. The right position depends on where you sit or lie in the room, so we mark it out on the slope with you before anything is cut. A few centimetres up or down changes the view more than you would expect, and it changes how the sash swings, too. A bed placed under the lowest point of a sloping ceiling will not want a sash that opens into it. Sit in the room and look up: you will see at once which part of the slope shows the sky and which only shows the neighbour's chimney. Tell us what you want to look at, and the unit goes where it can see it.

Weight and access matter on a hill. Scaffold on a steep street takes planning, and terraced neighbours often share a roofline and a lane. Tell us who shares your wall, and the access can be arranged to suit them as well as you.

We also visit Charfield and Dursley nearby, and the costs page lists the main reasons one Wotton quote differs from another.