Skylights & rooflights in Yate Built for a growing town, and still short of fresh air upstairs

Which way the slope faces

In a town of repeated layouts, the main thing that varies from one house to the next is orientation. It decides more than the street name does. A rear slope facing south or west gets strong afternoon sun and wants a sash that opens wide, perhaps with a blind fitted at the same time. A slope facing north gives softer, steadier light and rarely overheats, so a fixed unit can be the sensible pick there, with the opening ones placed on the sunny side. We say this at the survey rather than assuming every unit should open.

Choosing the unit for a loft

If the loft is becoming a room, the back-slope roof window is the main choice. Rear slopes are quieter, hidden from the close, and let the room look over the garden rather than the road. A roof window that tilts out from a handle at the top is easy to reach beside a bed, and a small trickle vent along the top rail admits a little air overnight with the sash closed. For a home office, two smaller windows side by side can suit the slope better than one big one, because there is a clear view out from a desk and the rafters are trimmed less heavily.

The older stone houses

Not everything in Yate dates from the expansion. The original village has older stone houses, with thick walls, small attic spaces and roofs that look nothing like the estates around them. A heavy stone house stays cool in the morning and holds its warmth late into the evening, so an attic room can still be stuffy at bedtime after a sunny day. A conservation rooflight in the rear slope, slim framed with a central bar, opens enough to let the room cool and does not shout from the road. Should the house be listed, or fall inside a conservation area, the rules shift, and the rooflight planning page lists the questions to put to South Gloucestershire Council first.

Swapping a whole unit on any of these roofs is notifiable, and the Building Control paperwork is ours to deal with. The regulations guide says more. On an older stone roof we also look from the loft side, since hand-cut rafters seldom sit where a neat drawing would put them, and we say if a smaller window suits them better.

Lanterns and larger glazed roofs

Some Yate extensions have a roof lantern: a raised glass crown on a flat roof, usually over a dining area. Lanterns look wonderful and hold on to heat, and many can be fitted with vents along the sides of the crown. At survey we check whether the existing frame can take an opening vent or whether the vents need a new frame. The roof lantern page sets out the options.

Conversions on the closes

A loft conversion in a two-storey Yate house follows a rule that surprises people: nobody climbs out through the roof window if there is a fire. A protected stair provides the escape. The window's job is daylight and a supply of air for whoever sleeps or works up there. For a bungalow that has been taken up into the roof, the position differs, and a roof window can be what those upstairs rooms rely on for escape, which puts the opening dimensions and sill height under the measuring tape.

Neighbouring places have similar stock. Across at Chipping Sodbury the old high street gives way to the same kinds of postwar roofs, and Iron Acton mixes village cottages with newer closes. Whatever the house, the costs page breaks down where the money goes, and our fresh air page shows how the opening choices work. With the figures laid out line by line, weighing one large unit against a pair of smaller ones takes a few minutes at the kitchen table.

Choosing between motor, solar and a hand pole

Reach decides how a unit is worked. Anything within arm's length can have a plain handle. Anything higher up wants a long pole, a motor wired to the mains, or a solar-charged motor with its own small panel. In a Yate kitchen extension the ceiling is often well beyond a pole, so the choice is between wiring and solar. Wiring suits a room still being built or one where a spur is easy to run from the lighting circuit. Solar suits a finished room with fresh decoration. Either way a rain sensor can sit alongside the motor, and both can be shut from a wall panel, so the room is sealed again when the household goes out for the day.