Rooflights and skylights to suit Aldridge roofs
Leighswood extensions to village-centre lofts.
Lanterns for kitchen extensions, flat rooflights for converted garages and roof windows for lofts, each compared on one written quote. We survey free, at your house in Aldridge.
- Distance
- About 13 road miles north of central Birmingham
- Planning
- Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council
- Housing
- Interwar and post-war semis, detached family houses and newer estate homes
- Roofs
- Tiled pitched roofs, flat-roofed extensions and converted garages
Aldridge roofs that often need a rooflight
A converted garage in Leighswood with a dark middle?
A flat rooflight lets daylight in where there is no outside wall to borrow from.
A detached house with a plain flat roof over the kitchen extension?
A lantern adds height, and a flat rooflight keeps the roofline low.
A semi with a roof you would like to use?
A roof window can light the loft, subject to the rafters and the stair.
Frames, glass and where the light goes
- Aluminium
- uPVC
Most lanterns are built on either an aluminium frame or a uPVC one, and the two behave differently on a family extension. Aluminium is strong enough for slim bars and large spans. uPVC is warmer to touch and often costs less, with chunkier bars that suit smaller openings.
Our aluminium and uPVC lantern comparison goes into the detail, and the quote puts the suitable frames next to each other.
Aluminium lantern
- Bars
- Slim, so more glass
- Span
- Larger openings
- Finish
- Wide colour range
uPVC lantern
- Bars
- Thicker, with more frame
- Span
- Smaller openings
- Finish
- White or a few woodgrain colours
Garages that became rooms
A garage turned into a playroom, an office or a utility room keeps its flat or low-pitched roof, and it often keeps a single small window or none. Daylight then has to come from above, and a flat rooflight does the job with the least disturbance to the roof.
The roof of a garage was never built to be a ceiling, so the survey looks at the joists, the insulation above them and the covering. A rooflight needs an upstand to sit on, and the upstand needs a covering that turns up it. If the covering is due for renewal, that is the time to add the rooflight.
Which unit for which room
| Item | Converted garage | Kitchen extension | Loft room |
|---|---|---|---|
| Usual unit | Flat rooflight | Roof lantern or large flat rooflight | Roof window |
| What it adds | Even daylight from above | Height and a bright centre | Light, air and a view |
| Fresh air | Only if it opens | Only if it opens | Opens as standard on most |
| Main check | Joists and covering | Kerb height and opening size | Rafters and the stair |
Heat, glare and blinds under a glass roof
A kitchen extension with a lantern over it gets a lot of sun, and a south-facing roof can turn the room warm by the afternoon. Glass with a solar control finish lets less heat through, and a blind inside the lantern shades the room when the sun is strong. A roof that faces north needs little of either, and clear glass gives it the most light.
Blinds are best chosen before the lantern is ordered, because the frame has to carry the blind's fixings neatly. An electric blind can run from the same remote as an opening vent. Our solar control rooflight glass page explains the coatings, and the quote prices the glass choices side by side.
Ventilation matters as much as glass. A closed glass roof traps warm air, and an opening vent at the top of the lantern lets it escape. It will not remove every trace of condensation in a kitchen, but it helps the room breathe.
Glass for a sunny extension
Solar control
- Summer heat
- Reduced
- Tint
- Slight
Clear
- Summer heat
- Higher
- Tint
- None
Heard on the driveway
Can the new rooflight open on a converted garage?
Some can. On a flat roof an opening rooflight is usually motorised, which means a power supply, whereas a manual one needs a handle you can reach. We price the fixed and opening versions together so you can weigh the extra.
Putting a loft to use
A semi with a tiled roof has space in the loft that a roof window can turn into a bedroom or an office. Either the window fits between the rafters, or the quote has to include a plan for trimming them, and the flashing has to match the tile. We check both at the survey.
In a two-storey house the escape route from a loft conversion is a protected stair, because a roof window on the upper storey cannot serve as the way out. Our loft conversion roof window guide explains where the windows should sit, and your builder agrees the stair.
Who decides, and how we fit
- Planning
- Fitting
Walsall Council and your address
Aldridge is a town in the borough of Walsall, and Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council makes the planning decisions for it. Permitted development covers a good deal of Aldridge rooflight and roof window work, though the conditions in our rooflight planning guide must all still be met. Listed buildings are a separate matter: listed building consent is needed for any rooflight, whatever that right allows. Separately, an earlier planning consent may have restricted the right on a house, and an Article 4 direction in the area could do the same.
We look at the address before we write the quote. If the council needs an application, we supply the drawings it asks for, and the decision stays with the council.
- Existing kerb or upstand height measured
- Roof covering checked before the opening is cut
- Opening size matched to the room below
Heard on a first call
Who signs off the work once it is finished?
Building Control. We make the notification wherever the work needs one, and once Building Control has signed the job off, the certificate is yours to keep.
What goes on the written quote
| Item | Option one | Option two |
|---|---|---|
| Glass | Standard double glazing | Solar control or self-cleaning glass |
| Frame | uPVC or a basic aluminium section | Slim aluminium in a colour of your choice |
| Opening | Fixed | Manual or electric vent |
| Maker | One maker's range | A second maker's range, where the roof allows |
| Lead time | The maker's typical lead range for this unit, shown on the quote | The maker's typical lead range for the second unit, shown on the quote |
Putting the options in one table means the price of each choice is visible. If the second column costs more for a reason you value, you see it, and if it does not, you can leave it out.
Access, scaffolding and the day itself
Reaching a roof safely comes first. A single-storey extension roof can often be reached with a ladder tower, while a pitched roof calls for scaffolding or a platform, and the quote names which one the job needs. We tell you where the access goes, how the opening is protected from rain while the work is under way, and what is covered up each evening. If a delivery is needed for a large lantern, we agree where it can be left safely and who needs to be at home to receive it.
A roof window in a tiled slope means lifting tiles, cutting the battens and fitting the flashing, and the roof is made watertight again before we leave. A lantern or flat rooflight on an extension is lifted into place once the kerb is ready, then sealed into the covering. Inside, the ceiling opening is lined and made good, and we protect the floor and furniture while the work goes on.
Some owners choose to have the ceiling finished by their own plasterer, and the quote can show the opening left ready for it. Either way, you know who does what before the day starts.
Replacing an old unit
Some rooflights installed years ago on Aldridge extensions are a polycarbonate dome or a plastic lantern with milky or scratched sheets. Replacing them with glass improves the light, and a modern unit has better thermal performance. Part L 2021 allows a rooflight fitted to an existing dwelling no more than 2.2 W/m²K, measured as heat loss through the glass and frame.
A whole replacement, frame and glass, is notifiable. Replacing just the failed sealed unit, with the frame left sound, is not. Our signs a rooflight has failed page lists what to look for before you book.
Same size or a new size
Where the opening is the same size, a straight swap is quick. A change of size means cutting the roof, and the work is planned around the weather and the covering.
Your 10-year workmanship guarantee covers the fitting, and the maker's warranty covers the unit.
Around Leighswood, Barr Common and Aldridge
We work across Aldridge, from Leighswood and the streets around the town centre out to Stubbers Green, Barr Common and Bourne Vale.
Nearby places we cover
About rooflights in Aldridge
Does Walsall Council need to approve my rooflight?
In Aldridge the planning decisions are made by Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council. Permitted development reaches a number of rooflights in Aldridge, with the conditions to follow set out in our rooflight planning guide, and ahead of any quote we search the address for a listing, for an Article 4 direction and for any condition on the property.
Would a lantern or a flat rooflight suit a kitchen extension better?
A lantern gives height and a bright centre over a table. A flat rooflight is lower and often costs less. The quote shows both where both would work, and our page on a roof lantern or a flat rooflight gives more detail.
How do I light the middle of a converted garage?
A flat rooflight is the usual choice, because the roof is flat or shallow and the room has few outside walls. We check the joists, the insulation and the covering first, and the quote includes any work to the upstand.
Can a rooflight go in a roof that has solar panels?
A roof window or rooflight needs clear space for the flashing and the panels need their own spacing, so we plan the positions together at the survey. We agree a layout with you before we quote.
What happens to the Building Regulations when I replace an old lantern?
A lantern replaced in full, frame and glass, falls in the controlled-fitting group, so Building Control must be told, and we do that on your behalf. Swapping just the sealed glass, where the frame is sound, needs no notification.
Will a roof window be noisy in the rain?
Glazing in a roof carries more rain noise than a wall window. Laminated glass and a good seal reduce it, and the quote can compare a standard pane with a quieter one for a bedroom.
Can a rooflight make a south-facing extension too hot?
It can, which is why we quote solar control glass and an internal blind or an opening vent for roofs that face the sun. A roof facing north needs less. We look at the orientation and the room at the survey.
What should I check before I get a rooflight quote?
Look at the roof from inside and outside. Note the covering, any leaks or staining around an old unit, and the size of the opening you would like. Photographs help, though we measure at the survey, and the quote reflects what we find rather than the estimate.
Can I choose the colour of a lantern frame?
Aluminium frames come in a wide range of colours, often with a different shade inside and out, so a dark grey outside can sit beside a white ceiling. uPVC frames come in fewer finishes. The quote lists the colours available for each frame you are comparing.
Do I need scaffolding for a roof window?
On a pitched roof the work usually needs scaffolding or a safe working platform, and the quote says which. For some single-storey extensions, a tower or ladder access is enough.
How do I get the written quote?
A quote follows the free survey and lines the suitable units up against each other for an Aldridge roof, comparing them on glass, then frame, then how it opens, then lead time, then price. Book a free survey to begin.
Does your area take in Aldridge and the streets round Leighswood?
Aldridge lies 13 road miles north of the middle of Birmingham, so the town is well inside our 30-mile area. Surveys happen at your home, wherever in the town it is.
Book your free survey
It starts with a free survey and plain advice. No pressure, just clear options for your home.
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