Brighter rooms in Tamworth: skylights and rooflights
Glascote terraces and Amington family homes.
Roof windows for loft rooms, flat rooflights and lanterns for extensions, each quoted side by side for your Tamworth house. The survey is free.
- Distance
- About 23 road miles north-east of central Birmingham
- Planning
- Tamworth Borough Council
- Housing
- Brick terraces and semis around Glascote and Bolehall, later estates in Amington and Stonydelph, newer building on the outskirts
- Roofs
- Concrete tiles on the later estates, clay or slate on the older streets, flat roofs on rear extensions
Which rooflight suits which kind of Tamworth roof
Is a loft bedroom possible on a Glascote terrace?
Often a pair of roof windows lights it, once we have checked the rafters and the head height.
What suits a flat kitchen extension in Amington?
Both a flat rooflight and a lantern go on the quote with their prices, which shows what the added height adds.
What about a bungalow roof in Wilnecote?
A roof window can light the rooms under the slope, and we check the opening size against the rafters.
Letting light into the roof space
- Fixed
- Opening
A roof space in Tamworth that is used for storage could often be a bedroom, an office or a dressing room. Whether a window is fixed or opens is the first decision, and it shapes everything after it, from the price to where the handle ends up.
A fixed window is the simpler unit and suits a room that has other ventilation. An opening one lets you air the room and, on some models, clean the outer pane from inside. Your quote sets the suitable ones in a row so you can weigh them yourself.
Fixed window
- Fresh air
- None from the window
- Cost
- Lower
- Suits
- Landings and stairwells
Opening window
- Fresh air
- Opens to air the room
- Cost
- Higher
- Suits
- Bedrooms and offices
Terraces, estates and the roofs above them
Around Glascote and Bolehall you will find older brick terraces and semis, and their roofs are often steeper than the roofs on later estates. A steeper slope gives more headroom under the rafters, which matters because a roof window should sit where a person will stand or sit beneath it. We measure from the floor of the loft upwards, and the quote shows each window at the height that suits the room.
Further out, in Amington, Hockley and Stonydelph, the houses are later and the roofs are usually lower in pitch and covered in concrete tiles. A concrete tile is heavier and thicker than a clay one, so the flashing kit has to be chosen for that profile. We note the tile type at the survey and quote the right kit with each window, which keeps the rain out where the window meets the roof.
Rafter spacing is the other limit. A window is made in set widths, and if the gap between two rafters is narrower than the window you want, the choice is a narrower window or a plan for trimming a rafter with a new header. Neither is difficult, but the second affects the price, so we say which applies before you decide. For the full range of sizes and opening types, see our roof window installation page.
| Item | Standard double | Laminated inner pane | Solar control coating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Bedrooms and offices | Rooms where noise or safety matters | South-facing slopes in summer |
| Rain on the roof | Audible | Quieter | Audible |
| Summer heat | Some gain | Some gain | Reduced gain |
| Winter warmth | Good | Good | Slightly lower sun gain |
| Cost | Lowest | Middle | Middle |
Bungalows and chalet bungalows
Bungalows turn up across the town, from Wilnecote to Belgrave, and a chalet bungalow already has rooms under the slope. For these, a roof window is a normal way to bring daylight in. Because the rooms sit within the height that an escape window can serve, a roof window can also double as the way out of a bedroom there, provided it is the right size and opens far enough.
A two-storey house is another matter: a loft conversion above a first floor needs a protected stair, so the roof window there supplies daylight and ventilation alone. We say which case yours is when we survey, and Building Control confirms the escape route on the plans.
- Head height measured from the loft floor
- Tile type noted for the flashing kit
- Escape route confirmed before sizing
Where the handle sits
An opening roof window comes in two main kinds, and the difference is in how it swings. In a centre-pivot window the sash rotates around a bar at its middle, which puts the handle along the top edge while the bottom half swings out. A top-hung window is hinged along the head and pushes out from the bottom, which puts the handle within reach of a person standing below it.
In a loft room with a low eaves line the window often sits near the floor, and a centre-pivot unit there keeps its top handle within reach from a chair or a bed. Higher in the slope a top-hung is easier to live with, because its handle sits on the bottom of the sash and nothing swings in at head height. The quote lists each model with the height of its handle, so you can picture the room before any work starts.
For a Tamworth loft room
Centre-pivot
- Opens
- Turns on a middle bar
- Reach
- Handle at the top
- Suits
- Lower in the slope
Top-hung
- Opens
- Hinged at the head
- Reach
- Handle at the bottom
- Suits
- Higher up, with a view
Asked on the phone
Will a south-facing slope overheat the loft room in summer?
Sun beating onto a south-facing slope is held back by a coating on the glass that cuts solar heat, and a blind outside the pane does more good than one hung inside the room. We compare both on the quote, and an opening window lets the warm air out in the evening.
Blinds and finishing
Blinds are a choice worth making early, because the window maker's own blinds are cut to fit each model, while a generic blind may leave gaps at the sides. A blackout blind is useful in a bedroom, and a pleated or roller blind is fine on a landing. We list the blind options with each window so the cost sits on one page.
Extensions, permission and sign-off
- Flat
- Lantern
- Council
Flat rooflights and roof lanterns belong on a rear extension with a flat roof, where they bring light into the deepest part of the room. A flat rooflight is a pane or a pair of panes set low in the roof, while a lantern rises above it with glass on every side. The lantern puts light into the middle of a deep room and gives the ceiling some height, and the flat unit asks for less space above the roof and usually costs less.
The condition of the flat roof matters as much as the unit. If the covering is old and due to be renewed, fitting the rooflight at the same time means the new covering can be dressed up the kerb in one pass. We quote the opening and the kerb, and we work with your roofer if you have one, or include the roof work in the job where that suits you better. Our pages on roof lanterns and on choosing between a lantern and a flat rooflight go into the shapes and the trade-offs.
Asked at a first visit
Can the lantern go where the old plastic dome is?
Usually the existing opening is a starting point, and we measure it and the kerb around it. If the old kerb is too low or too weak to carry glass, the quote says what has to change.
When a Tamworth home needs consent
Planning decisions for Tamworth are made by Tamworth Borough Council. Whether permission is needed at all is the first question on a Tamworth house, and for many rooflights and roof windows permitted development applies, on the conditions explained in our rooflight planning guide. A rooflight in a listed Tamworth building is a separate matter, because listed building consent is required there no matter what the permitted development rules say. Whether the right has been withdrawn from any other house, through a clause in the original planning approval or an Article 4 direction, is something we check against the address.
Should your address sit in a conservation area, or you suspect a condition on the house, we look into it before we quote, and the final decision rests with the council. A slim conservation rooflight sitting low in the tiles is often worth adding to the comparison when the front slope is involved, and the finishes are laid out on our conservation rooflights page.
Signed off and guaranteed in Tamworth
Cutting a way through a Tamworth roof for a rooflight is building work under the Regulations, and when an existing unit is swapped whole, frame and glass included, it ranks as a controlled fitting needing notification. A change to the sealed glass unit on its own falls outside that. We send the Building Control paperwork ourselves on any job that falls under notification, and the completion certificate is passed to you to file with the deeds and house papers.
The maker's warranty protects the glass and frame of the finished unit, and the fitting itself is covered by our own 10-year workmanship guarantee. An older rooflight that has fogged between the panes may only need a new sealed unit, and our page on misted rooflight replacement explains when that is so.
Covering Tamworth: Glascote and Amington
We survey across Tamworth, including Glascote, Amington, Wilnecote, Bolehall and Belgrave.
Nearby places we cover
Things Tamworth owners ask
Who has the final word on a rooflight for a Glascote or Amington house?
Tamworth Borough Council. Permitted development reaches a lot of Glascote and Amington rooflight jobs, and our rooflight planning guide sets out the conditions it depends on. A listed house, or an Article 4 direction or planning condition affecting the street, would change that. Our check starts from the address, and the decision is the council's.
Can a terrace roof in Glascote take two roof windows?
Frequently it can, if the rafters leave a wide enough gap and the loft has the headroom beneath. Rafter gap and headroom are both measured on the visit, and the quote then lists the windows that fit, along with a plan for trimming any rafter in the way.
Do you cover Tamworth's outer estates such as Stonydelph and Hockley?
Tamworth, Stonydelph and Hockley included, lies in the north-east, a road journey of about 23 miles from central Birmingham, and comfortably inside the 30 road miles we cover around the city. Surveys happen at your house, so there is no trip for you to make.
Do you replace a cracked or misted rooflight on a rear extension?
Where the frame is still sound, we can usually get away with replacing the sealed glass unit alone. A failed frame means a quote for a new rooflight, and the same quote flags any trouble with the kerb or the roof covering around it on that extension.
Which window suits a bungalow bedroom?
A roof window that opens, sized so that it can also serve as the way out of the room if the bedroom sits within the escape height. We check the size, the sill height and the opening angle at the survey, and we compare opening types so you can see how far each one swings. Where Building Control needs a certificate for the work, we handle that notification and pass the certificate to you at sign-off.
Is a rooflight the same thing as a skylight, or do they differ?
Skylight is the everyday word and rooflight is the trade word, and they cover the same range of units from flat glass panels to lanterns and roof windows. We use both, and the quote names the exact type.
Can a dark landing or stairwell be lit from the roof?
A fixed roof window or a small flat rooflight over the stairwell brings daylight down into the hall. Where the roof space above is a cold loft, we also look at how the light is carried down, since a short insulated shaft is often part of the quote.
Do you work with my builder?
Yes, and the sequence of work is settled with your builder up front, whether the rooflight goes in during a loft conversion, an extension build or a new flat roof covering. We supply the quote for the units and the fitting, and your builder keeps the rest of the job.
What happens once I ask for a survey at my Tamworth house?
Arrange your free survey, and after we have measured the roof and the room under it you receive a written quote setting each suitable unit beside the others.
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