A skylight or rooflight for your Lye home
Wollescote semis and older Lye terraces.
New rooflights, and replacements for tired ones, in Lye houses and extensions. Once you have had a free survey, a written quote arranges the suitable units in one comparison for you to read.
- Distance
- About 15 road miles west of central Birmingham
- Planning
- Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council
- Roofs
- Terraces and semis, some with older flat-roofed extensions that suit a new rooflight
Lye roofs that are ready for a better rooflight
A misted rooflight on a Wollescote kitchen extension?
A new sealed glass unit if the frame is sound, a whole new rooflight if it is not.
A yellowed plastic dome over the back room of a Lye terrace?
A glass flat rooflight that fits the same opening, or a larger one.
An old roof window on a Stambermill semi that no longer shuts?
A like-for-like roof window, with a new flashing kit for the covering.
A glass unit or a whole rooflight
- Glass unit
- Whole unit
Where an older Lye rooflight has fogged glass but a frame that still looks sound, a new sealed unit is often all it needs. A warped frame, or seals that have worn away around it, means the whole rooflight comes out and a new one goes in.
At the survey we assess both routes, and the quote puts a price on each, which shows you what the additional work would buy.
New glass unit
- Frame
- Kept as it is
- Cost
- Usually lower
- Notifiable
- No
Whole new rooflight
- Frame
- New, to current standards
- Cost
- Usually higher
- Notifiable
- Yes, and we handle it
| Item | What it points to | Usual answer |
|---|---|---|
| Mist between the panes | A failed seal in the glass unit | New sealed unit in the old frame |
| Draught around the edge | Worn seals or a frame that has moved | New seals, or a whole new rooflight |
| Yellow, crazed plastic | An old polycarbonate dome | Glass rooflight in the same opening |
| Damp stain on the ceiling | Water getting past the kerb or the covering | Look at the kerb and the covering first |
Reading the signs on an older extension
Rooflights on older extensions in Wollescote and across Lye tend to show their age in a few predictable ways. The first is mist between the panes, which tells you the seal in the glass has failed, and the glass unit can be swapped on its own if the frame is still in sound condition. The second is a frame that rattles or lets in air, and that frame has usually reached the end of its useful life.
A damp mark on the ceiling beside a rooflight is not always the rooflight. Water can enter at the kerb, at the flashing or through a worn covering around it, and a new glass unit will not stop that. We look at the whole opening, so the quote deals with the cause rather than the symptom. To see how a failed seal is told apart from a failed frame, read our page on misted rooflight replacement.
Plastic domes and old lanterns
Some older Lye houses still carry a dome or lantern made of plastic or polycarbonate that was put in years back. They darken and crack with age, and the thin sheets lose heat in winter and gain it in summer. A glass rooflight or lantern made to the same opening keeps more heat in, lets more light through and stays clear for longer.
We check the kerb before we measure. If it is low, split or out of square, the quote includes the work to raise or rebuild it, so the new covering can be turned up against it. Our page on replacing a polycarbonate dome sets out the glass choices, and the page on roof lantern reglazing explains when an old lantern frame can take new glass instead.
A question before the quote
Can I keep my old frame and fit modern glass in it?
Sometimes. A new sealed unit can sit in the old frame when that frame is sound and its glazing rebate is deep enough to hold it. Where the frame is too thin for a modern double-glazed unit, a whole new rooflight is the sensible choice, and the quote shows you both.
- Seal, frame and kerb all inspected
- Cause of any damp traced before quoting
- Glass unit and whole unit priced side by side
Adding light where there is none
- Roof window
- Flat rooflight
New openings in the village's houses
A house in Lye that has never had a rooflight can be given one in a roof window or a flat rooflight, depending on the roof. On a pitched roof, a roof window is set in line with the tiles. Where a kitchen or utility room has a flat roof, the choice is a flat rooflight, or a lantern if the ceiling has space to rise into it.
A new opening is building work, so it falls under the Building Regulations. Building Control is notified by us, and you are given the certificate once the work is finished. Rooflights commonly fall within permitted development, and the conditions attached to that right are described in our rooflight planning guide. Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council receives and decides applications for Lye, and our check of your address, which includes whether it sits in a conservation area, is made at the survey.
For a new opening
Roof window
- Roof
- Pitched, tile or slate
- Light
- Directional, with a view
- Opens
- Yes, in most sizes
Flat rooflight
- Roof
- Flat, with a kerb
- Light
- Even, from overhead
- Opens
- Fixed or electric opening
Warranty and Building Control
The quote names the maker of each unit and sets out the maker's warranty beside our 10-year workmanship guarantee. Replacing the whole rooflight is a matter for Building Control, whom we notify, and Part L (2021) requires the new unit in an existing dwelling to be no worse than 2.2 W/m²K, the figure set for a rooflight. The quote then gives the matching figure for every option it compares.
A question at the door
Can the new rooflight open, to clear cooking steam?
A kitchen rooflight can be made to open by hand with a pole, or by an electric motor with a rain sensor. Both versions appear on the quote together, and the electric version calls for a power supply to be run up to the kitchen opening, which we plan with your electrician.
Kitchens, steam and an opening rooflight
A kitchen extension holds steam and cooking smells, and a rooflight that opens lets them leave through the highest point of the room. A hand-operated unit costs less and has fewer parts to go wrong. A button or a remote opens the electric unit, which suits a rooflight that sits out of reach above a worktop, and, where one is fitted, a rain sensor closes it again if the weather turns.
An opening rooflight helps with ventilation but does not replace an extractor over the hob. Our page on electric opening rooflights explains the motors, the sensors and what happens if the power fails.
Larger extensions and a lantern
Where an extension is wide enough, a lantern is more than a replacement for a dome. It lifts the ceiling in the centre of the room, it lets light in on all four sides, and it gives the room a shape of its own from the garden. Frames come in aluminium or a timber-look finish, in a grey or white to go with your windows, and the glass is picked for the direction the roof faces.
Next to a flat rooflight a lantern is usually the heavier unit, which is why the beams and walls beneath it must be sound enough to carry it. We look at the beams and the walls under the opening, and if a lantern asks for more support than the extension has, we say so and show a lighter option beside it. Our comparison of a roof lantern and a flat rooflight sets the two out, and the page on roof lantern installation covers sizes and shapes.
A roof window that has stopped closing properly is usually the sash or the hinges, and the rest of the opening may be fine. We open up the inside lining and the flashing to see, because a window fitted years ago may sit in a flashing kit made for a different tile. The new window takes a kit matched to your covering, whether that is plain clay tile, a profiled concrete tile or slate, and the quote lists the kit as its own line.
If the old window is a different size from any current one, the nearest standard size is compared with a made-to-measure unit. A standard size is quicker and costs less, while a made-to-measure unit fills the old opening exactly and avoids new work on the rafters. Our flashing kit page shows how the kits differ by covering.
Wollescote, Stambermill and the rest of Lye
We fit rooflights across Lye, including Wollescote, Stambermill, Careless Green and the streets around the centre.
Nearby places we cover
Questions from Lye
My rooflight has misted. Do I need a whole new one?
Not if the frame is sound. A new sealed glass unit can go into the existing frame, and we say on the quote whether that is possible. If the frame has failed, we price a whole new rooflight.
Which council do I apply to about a rooflight on a Stambermill semi?
Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council. When permitted development applies is explained in our rooflight planning guide, though a condition on the property, an Article 4 direction or a listed building can alter the position.
Why does the ceiling show a damp mark below the rooflight?
Water may be entering at the kerb, the flashing or the covering around the rooflight. At the survey we examine the whole opening, then say whether the cause lies in the glass or in the roof around it.
Will a glass rooflight look different from my plastic dome?
It will look cleaner and flatter, with a slimmer frame and glass that stays clear. Frame colours and glass types are shown on the quote, which lets you judge the difference from your plastic dome before you commit.
Do you cover Lye as far out as Careless Green?
Lye stands about 15 road miles west of the centre of Birmingham, so Lye is among the places the 30-mile area we cover takes in. The survey itself happens at your own house, whichever part of Lye you live in.
Can a replacement roof window keep the size of the old one on my semi?
It can be. We match the old opening so the tiles and the rafters stay as they are, and our page on replacing an old VELUX window explains the size codes. A larger window is possible, with a wider opening.
Do replacement rooflights have to meet the current regulations?
A whole new rooflight does, because replacing the frame and the glass is a controlled fitting. The quote sets out the figure for each option, and we notify Building Control where the work is notifiable.
Should the new rooflight open or stay fixed?
A fixed one is simplest and keeps the cost down. An opening one lets steam and warm air out, and it is worth pricing for a kitchen. We write both onto the quote with the glass, so you can see what the opening adds.
My house is on a terrace. Does that change the roof work?
It can, since a terrace roof often has a party wall running through the loft and less room to work from. We look at how the roof can be reached, and the survey notes where the scaffold would stand.
Is the work covered if something fails later?
On the fitting you have our 10-year workmanship guarantee, and the unit itself is under its maker's own warranty. Both are written on the quote beside the glass and the frame.
Which glass suits a rooflight over a family kitchen?
Rain carries dust off a flat pane more easily with a self-cleaning coating, while a roof in strong afternoon sun suits solar control glass. Where both matter, the quote shows how each glass is built and what it changes in the light, and you choose the balance. Our page on self-cleaning skylight glass explains the coating.
Will I see the units compared before I agree to anything?
The free survey is followed by a written quote which compares each suitable unit, listing lead time, opening, frame and glass for every one. To compare them on your own roof, book a free survey.
Book your free survey
It starts with a free survey and plain advice. No pressure, just clear options for your home.
Fill in the form and we will be in touch to arrange a convenient time.