Penkridge rooflights and skylights, fitted and signed off
Pillaton, Whiston and the old centre.
Flat rooflights, lanterns and roof windows for Penkridge houses, farm buildings and extensions, each written quote comparing the units that suit your roof. We survey for free, at your door.
- Distance
- About 25 road miles north-west of central Birmingham
- Planning
- South Staffordshire Council
- Housing
- Older brick houses and cottages, newer estates, and converted farm buildings
- Roofs
- Pitched tile and slate roofs, with flat-roofed extensions at the back
What a roof can take in Penkridge
A tiled farmhouse extension near Levedale?
A long flat rooflight or a lantern, depending on the span and the ceiling.
A barn conversion with a vaulted ceiling?
Roof windows in the slope, with the opening type chosen for the height.
A brick cottage near the centre of Penkridge?
A conservation rooflight may sit best, so we check the address first.
Extensions, kitchens and a bit of fresh air
- Fixed
- Opening
- Lantern
A kitchen or garden room with a flat roof often needs two things from its rooflight: light across the room and a way to let warm air out. A fixed unit gives the first. An opening one gives both, for a little more outlay and a little more wiring or hardware.
We price the two together so you can decide how much the opening is worth to you.
Fixed rooflight
- Light
- Full, with no moving parts
- Air
- None
- Cost
- Lower
Opening rooflight
- Light
- Full, from a hinged sash
- Air
- Warm air can escape
- Cost
- Higher
Raised during the survey
Does an opening rooflight need to be electric?
Not necessarily. A unit worked by hand is fine where you can reach it, and an electric one suits a high slope and can close on its own when a rain sensor is fitted.
Extensions at the back of older houses
In Penkridge and the lanes around it, the houses range from older brick homes close to the centre to newer estates on the edges. Plenty have been extended at the back with a flat-roofed kitchen or a garden room, and it is the roof of that extension that takes a rooflight. A sound roof can simply have the new opening cut into it, whereas a covering nearing the close of its service is better re-laid with the opening as one combined job.
Measurements are taken of the room underneath and of the roof above it. In a long, narrow kitchen two small rooflights in a row, or one elongated flat unit, tend to work well, while a squarer room can carry a lantern above the table. Our flat rooflight sizes for an extension page explains how the span and the ceiling affect the size.
Barn conversions and vaulted ceilings
Around the edge of the town are converted farm buildings, where a high vaulted ceiling shows the roof timbers from inside. A roof window in that slope floods the room with light, though its handle will sit well out of reach if it is hung high.
On a centre-pivot window the sash swings about a bar through its middle, and it normally goes lower down the slope, within easy reach. A top-hung window opens outward from the top edge, so its handle sits low and the view out is clearer. For a high vault, an electric opener is often the sensible answer. Our top-hung and centre-pivot windows page compares them.
| Item | Centre-pivot | Top-hung |
|---|---|---|
| Handle | At the top edge | At the bottom edge |
| View | Pane turns across the opening | Pane lifts out and up |
| Best for | Lower positions, within easy reach | Positions higher in the slope, with a view |
- Span and ceiling height measured
- Opening type and reach agreed
- Covering around the kerb checked
Open country and the weather
Roofs on the outskirts of Penkridge are more exposed to wind and rain than roofs in the middle of a built-up street. Flashing, kerbs and the way a unit is fixed matter more where the weather arrives unhindered.
We fix and flash each unit to the maker's instructions for the covering. Lanterns and flat rooflights take a kerb or an upstand that lets the roof covering rise round them. The details are on the quote, and we explain them on the day.
Glass for a south or west facing extension
A garden room that faces south or west can feel like a greenhouse by mid-afternoon in summer. Glass with a solar control coating reflects part of the sun's heat before it reaches the room, and it still lets daylight through. The trade-off is a slight tint and a little less free warmth in winter.
Triple glazing improves the winter figure further and is heavier, so the frame and the kerb have to carry it. In an existing home, Part L (2021) asks a rooflight for 2.2 W/m²K, a figure that double glazing generally reaches. Our page on double and triple glazed rooflights compares them.
| Item | Clear double | Solar control | Triple |
|---|---|---|---|
| Summer heat | Highest of the three | Reduced | Reduced a little |
| Winter warmth | Good | Slightly less free gain | Best |
| Weight | Standard | Standard | Heavier |
| Cost | Lowest | Middle | Highest |
Hallways, landings and dim bathrooms
Older houses near the centre of town often have a hall that runs straight to the stairs with no window, and a landing lit only by borrowed light. A sun tunnel is the modest answer where the roof void allows a tube. It lights the space without a view and without a vent, so a bathroom with a tunnel still wants an extractor.
A roof window is the bigger step, since it needs a pitched roof with clear rafters above the room, and it brings in air and a sky to look at. The quote sets the two against each other, drawing the tube route or the rafter layout, so you can see what each demands of the roof before committing.
Planning, older buildings and sign-off
- Planning
- Older roofs
- Sign-off
Rooflight planning in Penkridge
South Staffordshire Council decides planning for Penkridge. Many rooflights and roof windows are permitted development, and the conditions that apply are laid out in our rooflight planning guide. Where a Penkridge house is listed, listed building consent comes first, however those rights read, and an earlier permission's condition, or Article 4 where it applies, can end them for an ordinary house too. A converted barn or farm building often carries conditions from its conversion permission, which is one reason we ask for the paperwork at the survey.
If your home is a listed or older building, or lies inside a conservation area, we check the address and talk through what is likely to be asked. The council decides, and the application is easier when the unit has been chosen with the roof in mind.
For an older tiled or slated roof
Conservation rooflight
- Frame
- Slim, dark, often a glazing bar
- Sits
- Low in the slope
- Cost
- Usually higher
Standard roof window
- Frame
- Wider, more finishes
- Sits
- A little proud of the slope
- Cost
- Usually lower
Older roofs close to the centre
Brick cottages and houses near the centre often have clay tile or slate on old timbers. A conservation rooflight follows the line of the roof more closely than a standard window, and it carries the same modern double glazing. Our conservation rooflight installation page shows the options.
Every unit on the quote is chosen for the Part L (2021) limit that applies to its type: a rooflight gets 2.2 W/m²K as its limit, while a roof window must reach 1.4 W/m²K or Band B on the window energy rating, with the maker's data sheet showing which applies.
Replacing an old dome or lantern
Extensions added a few decades ago often carry a polycarbonate dome or a lantern with plastic sheets. After years of weather those panels cloud and yellow, and the seals around them can open. A glass lantern or a flat rooflight made for the same opening is the usual replacement.
Before quoting, we check the kerb it sits on, the deck below and the covering up to its edge. A low or damaged kerb is priced separately on the quote, whether it needs raising or rebuilding, so the whole cost of a proper finish is visible. Our polycarbonate dome replacement page sets out the steps.
- Kerb height and condition checked
- Deck and covering inspected
- Old unit removed and the opening made good
Raised on the driveway
When does a rooflight job need Building Control?
A rooflight opening newly formed in the roof is building work in itself, and swapping the whole unit together with its frame is notifiable. A sealed glass unit alone is not.
Sign-off and the guarantee
On notifiable work Building Control receives our notification, and the certificate comes to you after the final sign-off. Keep it with the house papers.
You are covered on the workmanship for 10 years by us, and the maker's warranty applies to the unit as well. If an older lantern on your extension has misted or let in water, our page on signs a rooflight has failed explains what to look for before you call.
Whiston, Levedale and the rest of Penkridge
We survey across Penkridge itself and out to Pillaton, Whiston and Levedale in the same parish.
Nearby places we cover
Asked by Penkridge homeowners
Which council would I apply to for a rooflight on a farmhouse extension near Levedale?
South Staffordshire Council. Permitted development takes in many rooflights, with the conditions given in our rooflight planning guide, and the address gets checked at the survey for a listing, an earlier condition or an Article 4 direction.
Do you survey out at Whiston and Pillaton as well as in Penkridge itself?
Both lie in the parish. Penkridge stands 25 road miles or thereabouts out from Birmingham, to the north-west, so the whole parish falls within the 30-mile area that we serve. We come to the house for the survey whichever part of the town or the surrounding lanes you live in.
Can a barn conversion have roof windows?
A converted barn or farm building may carry conditions from its conversion permission, so we ask to see the papers and the council decides. The roof timbers also set where a window can sit, and we measure them first.
Fixed or opening: which rooflight for a kitchen extension?
A fixed rooflight gives light and costs less. An opening one lets warm air and cooking steam out, though it adds a motor or a pole. We quote both when the roof suits them.
Can I add a rooflight to a flat roof that is due for a new covering?
That is the easiest moment. The kerb or upstand, the new covering and the glass can be arranged as one job, so the edges are not done twice. We can quote with your roofer's covering in mind.
What does a rooflight add to a hallway with no window?
Through a dome on the roof, a tube and a ceiling diffuser, a sun tunnel can carry daylight down to a hall or landing. It lights the space without a view. See our sun tunnel for a hallway page.
Are electric rooflights hard to live with?
They work from a switch or remote and can close on their own with a rain sensor. They need a power supply to the unit, which we plan at the survey. What happens in a power cut is covered on our power cut page.
What do I get in the written quote?
Each suitable option appears with the same lines: glass, frame, opening method, price, and the lead time the maker typically gives. Where the roof can take them, units from several makers appear side by side.
Will the glass make my garden room too warm?
Solar control glass cuts the heat coming into the garden room, and a blind made for the unit adds to the effect. We note which way the roof faces at the survey and put the glass options in matching rows on the quote.
Can you replace a cloudy plastic dome on an old extension?
A glass rooflight made to the opening is the normal replacement. The kerb and the deck are checked first, and a kerb that needs raising is shown on the quote under a heading of its own. A whole-unit replacement is notifiable, so Building Control hears about the dome swap from us as part of the job.
How do I book?
Book a free survey, and we will come to your Penkridge house, take measurements of the roof and the room under it, then send the written quote.
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.