Rooflight and skylight installation in Tiptree

Predictable roofs

That makes it one of the more predictable places we work. Trussed roofs, concrete interlocking tiles, few planning constraints outside the older core, and a lot of houses built to similar patterns in similar decades.

Where housing is consistent the right answer tends to be consistent across a street, which makes surveying quicker and replacement work predictable.

The standard jobs

Rear extensions with flat roof rooflights, loft rooms with roof windows between trusses, and a steady flow of replacement work on units fitted in the 1990s and early 2000s that are now misting.

Bungalows

There is a lot of bungalow stock here, which suits rooflights better than almost any other house type: every room has roof directly above it. That makes sun tunnels into internal bathrooms and hallways practical, and a lantern over a central living space a real option.

Skylight and rooflight work we cover in Tiptree

Roof lanterns, flat roof rooflights, roof windows, VELUX replacements, conservation units and sun tunnels, all surveyed before they are quoted. We also work in Kelvedon, Tollesbury and Layer-de-la-Haye.

Twentieth century village, twentieth century roofs

Tiptree grew substantially through the twentieth century and the housing reflects that. There is far less pre Victorian building here than in the villages to the north, and correspondingly far less of the conservation constraint that dominates places like Coggeshall and Dedham.

For rooflight and skylight work that is good news. Most Tiptree properties are permitted development, most roofs are straightforward, and the questions are technical rather than heritage.

Extensions and the flat roof detail

A large share of Tiptree properties have gained a rear extension at some point, and that is where most of the skylight work here happens.

The detail that decides whether a flat roof rooflight lasts twenty five years or causes trouble in three is the kerb, and it is worth understanding because it is where cheap quotations save money.

Height. At least 150mm of upstand. A rooflight bedded straight onto a flat deck sits in whatever water the roof holds, and every flat roof holds some.

Fall. The deck falls away from the kerb rather than toward it, so water cannot pond against the seal. On an older or self built extension this is the thing most often missing.

Insulation on the outer face. The item nobody mentions and the one that matters most for how the room feels. A 1200 by 1800 rooflight has six metres of perimeter, and an uninsulated timber kerb punching straight through the roof insulation presents close to a square metre of poorly performing envelope. It costs a sheet of rigid board and an hour, it disappears under the covering, and that is precisely why it gets skipped.

Continuous vapour control. Sealed to the frame, so warm moist air from the room cannot reach the cold side of the construction and condense inside it.

When comparing quotations, ask directly whether the kerb is insulated. It is the fastest way to tell who is detailing the job and who is fitting a unit.

Loft conversions and escape windows

The cut roof properties here convert well, and the measurement that decides it is straightforward.

Measure from the top of the existing ceiling joists to the underside of the ridge. A floor structure, insulation and plasterboard will consume a great deal of that, and the working rule is that you want comfortably over 2.4 metres to end up with a usable room. Below about 2.2 metres the answer is usually no without raising the roof, which is a different project.

In a habitable loft room the roof window is normally doing two jobs. It provides daylight, which is a comfort question. It also frequently carries the means of escape duty under Building Regulations, which is not optional and which brings a minimum clear openable area, minimum opening dimensions, and a maximum height of the bottom of the opening above the finished floor.

The consequences catch people out. A centre pivot window is elegant and often unsuitable as an escape window, because the sash sits in the middle of the opening and obstructs it. A top hung unit that swings clear gives the full opening and is usually what gets specified. And setting a window high in the slope for a better view of the sky can put the opening out of reach for escape purposes.

All of that is settled at design stage rather than at order stage, because reversing it after the unit has arrived is expensive. Where an alternative escape route exists the requirement may be met elsewhere, and the roof window is then free to be chosen purely for light.

Blinds, noise and comfort

Three things worth settling before the unit is ordered.

Blinds. Mass market roof windows have clip in blackout, pleated and venetian blinds that fit exactly and cost far less than a made to measure blind fitted to a reveal. Order a blackout blind with the window where it is going over a bedroom; retrofitting is possible and fiddlier.

Shading. Internal blinds control light and privacy and do relatively little about heat, because the sun has already entered the room before the blind stops it. An external awning intercepts heat outside the glass and is dramatically more effective on a south or west facing unit.

Noise. Rain on a roof window is louder than people expect, particularly in a room directly beneath it. An acoustic laminate inner pane cuts it substantially, costs a modest premium at the point of order, and cannot sensibly be added later because the labour and access are the same as replacing the whole unit. Over a bedroom or study it is usually worth it; over a kitchen usually not.