Wednesfield skylights & rooflights
Ashmore Park and March End.
Wednesfield houses, bungalows and extensions can have a rooflight, a roof window or a lantern fitted, and each suitable unit is priced alongside the others. The survey is free.
- Distance
- About 17 road miles north-west of central Birmingham
- Planning
- City of Wolverhampton Council
- Housing
- Semis and terraces from different decades, bungalows, and extended family homes
- Roofs
- Hipped and gabled tile, flat-roofed extensions and garages
Wednesfield roofs, and where daylight is missing
A semi in Ashmore Park with a dim kitchen?
A flat rooflight or lantern on a rear extension, compared on one quote.
A bungalow in March End with a roof room?
A roof window can bring light to a room in the roof, and we check the height for escape.
An old rooflight that has misted?
We look at the frame, then compare a new sealed unit with a whole new rooflight.
A new rooflight or a fresh one for an old opening
- New opening
- Replacement
Plenty of Wednesfield houses have a flat-roofed kitchen or garage added at some point, and an older rooflight on one may be past its best. That leaves two jobs: cutting a new opening where there is none, and renewing a unit in an opening that exists.
The quote compares what each job involves, so you see the cost and the work before you decide.
New rooflight
- Roof work
- A new opening, kerb and covering
- Building Regulations
- Notifiable as building work
- Light gained
- More than the room has now
- Cost
- Usually higher
Replacement unit
- Roof work
- Existing opening reused
- Building Regulations
- Notifiable if frame and glass change
- Light gained
- Clearer glass, same position
- Cost
- Usually lower
Reading the extension roof
At the back of a Wednesfield semi, a one-storey extension typically carries a flat roof finished in felt, EPDM or fibreglass, and which of these it is determines how a rooflight gets joined to it. A rooflight on a kerb needs the covering to turn up the kerb and finish beneath a flashing or an upstand, and each covering has its own method. Our page on rooflights on EPDM, GRP and felt roofs sets out the differences.
Age shows up in the details. A felt roof that is due for renewal is the best time to change the rooflight, because the roofer and the rooflight fitter then work on the same opening and the kerb is built to suit the new covering. The survey takes in the state of the deck and the roof edge, and anything that has to be sorted before the rooflight is fitted is named on the quote.
Reading the old unit
A rooflight with misting between the panes has a failed seal, and the frame around it may still be sound. In that case a new sealed glass unit fits the existing frame, and that is not notifiable. A frame that has warped, rotted or let water in is a different matter, and the whole unit is replaced.
A polycarbonate dome or lantern from an earlier extension is nearly always a whole replacement, for it has no separate glass unit to change. What to watch for is listed on our page about the signs a rooflight has failed.
Upkeep, access and the long view
A rooflight on a flat extension collects dust, pollen and the odd bird dropping, and on a Wednesfield terrace or semi the roof may have to be reached from a rear garden with limited room for a ladder. Glass with a self-cleaning coating lets rain carry the dirt off, which suits a unit you cannot easily reach. Our page on self-cleaning skylight glass compares the coating with plain glass.
Access to the roof matters for fitting as well as cleaning. A walk-on roof and a tall two-storey back have different needs, and the way the crew reaches the roof can affect the quote. We note at the survey where the ladders or scaffold would stand and whether the garden or a neighbour's boundary limits it, and the choices for getting up there are described under roof access for a rooflight. A rooflight that is easy to reach for its annual check costs little to keep in good order.
Put to us on the driveway
Can you see whether the frame is sound before you quote?
Yes: we examine it from inside, and from up on the roof when access is safe, then the quote says which route we would take and the reasons for it.
Garage conversions and rear extensions
A garage turned into a playroom or a study often has a low flat ceiling and one small window at the front. A flat rooflight lets daylight into the middle of the room, away from the street, and it keeps the walls free for storage and desks. A pair of smaller rooflights can serve a long, narrow room better than a single large one.
On a wider rear extension a lantern is the other option. It adds height and draws daylight deep into the room, but it needs a ceiling high enough to show it off. Our page on roof lantern installation shows the shapes, and flat roof rooflight installation covers the low-profile units.
Bungalows, loft rooms and the rules
- Bungalow
- Loft
- Rules
Bungalow lofts in Wednesfield and the room in the roof
Wednesfield has bungalows as well as taller houses, and a bungalow loft is the one place where a roof window can double as an escape route. Approved Document B accepts a window as the escape only from a storey whose floor is at most 4.5m above the ground. In a bungalow or chalet bungalow the roof room may have a roof window as its way out, inside that height, as long as the opening is wide enough and the window sits at a suitable level.
Two-storey houses are another story. Converting the loft means adding a protected stair, with the roof windows left to bring in light and air. We look at the plans at the survey and say which case applies. Our roof window fire escape answer sets out the rule, and the loft conversion roof window page covers the sizes.
- Height of the opening above ground
- Opening size against the rule
- Rafter gaps and tile type
| Item | Who | What we do |
|---|---|---|
| Planning | City of Wolverhampton Council | Study the address, then draw up plans if an application turns out to be needed |
| Building Regulations | Building Control | Whenever a job is notifiable, make the report to Building Control |
| The sealed glass unit alone | Not notifiable | Replace it in a sound frame |
Wednesfield sits in the West Midlands county, and City of Wolverhampton Council decides planning there. That single authority covers the high street and the homes around it, so planning questions, including whether permitted development reaches your own house, are for City of Wolverhampton Council.
No application is needed for plenty of rooflights and roof windows when they follow the conditions in the rooflight planning guide we have written. On a listed building, a rooflight requires listed building consent whatever that right allows, whereas an ordinary house can lose it if the council has attached a planning condition or made an Article 4 direction. Your address gets checked before any unit is suggested, and the decision is the council's.
Warmth, glare and the glass specification
For an existing home, Part L of 2021 puts a ceiling on the heat a new rooflight may lose: the rooflight limit sits at 2.2 W/m²K, while a roof window must meet the window limit, which can be met with Window Energy Rating Band B or with 1.4 W/m²K. Our quotes show units that meet the limit for their type, and the glass choice then sets how the room behaves through the year.
A south-facing kitchen extension can gain a lot of sun, and glass with a solar control coating tames it though the light it lets through is a touch cooler. A north-facing room under the slope gains little sun, so a plain clear unit with a good winter figure suits it better. The options are compared on our energy efficient rooflights page, and for the work itself there is a 10-year workmanship guarantee, with the unit's own warranty supplied by its maker.
Put to us on a first call
Will a rooflight stop me using the roof for solar panels?
It need not. We note the position of the panels or the planned array at the survey and keep the rooflight clear of it, so the two sit on the same roof.
Glass for a bright extension
Clear double glazing
- Summer heat
- More passes through
- Light
- Brightest
- Price
- Usually lower
Solar control glass
- Summer heat
- Less passes through
- Light
- Slightly cooler
- Price
- Usually higher
Covering Wednesfield: Ashmore Park and Heath Town
We survey across the town, from Ashmore Park and March End to Wood End, Heath Town and the streets around the high street.
Nearby places we cover
Questions on Wednesfield roofs
Which council handles planning if I add a rooflight to my Wednesfield semi?
Wednesfield planning matters are decided by City of Wolverhampton Council. Plenty of rooflights fit within permitted development under the terms of our rooflight planning guide, but on a Wednesfield house the answer can shift where the building is listed, where Article 4 controls cover the street, or where an old approval left a condition behind. Your address is looked at during the survey.
Can a misted rooflight be fixed without replacing the whole unit?
Where the frame is in good order, it can take a fresh sealed glass unit. A failed frame means a whole new rooflight. See replacing a misted sealed unit for how we decide.
Can a roof window be an escape route in a bungalow?
For a room in the roof of a bungalow or chalet bungalow, a roof window can serve within 4.5m of the ground, once it meets the opening and level rules. A house with two storeys calls for a protected stair. We check the plans and say which applies.
Our flat roof is old. Should the covering be done first?
Doing the covering and the rooflight in the same visit is usually the tidier route, since the kerb can be built to suit the new covering. We can quote around your roofer, or price the roof work with the job. Our roof lantern on an existing flat roof answer has more.
Do you travel out to Ashmore Park and March End in Wednesfield?
From Birmingham city centre, the drive to Wednesfield is around 17 road miles north-west, with both areas well inside our 30-mile coverage. Surveys are at your home, whichever side of the town you live.
Can you fit a rooflight to a garage conversion?
A garage conversion with a flat roof is one of the simpler jobs, and a flat rooflight over the new room is the usual choice. We check the roof deck and the finished ceiling height, and compare a lantern where the room has height for one.
Do hipped roofs make a roof window harder to fit?
A hipped roof has sloping ends that can shorten the usable run of rafters, so the position of the window matters more than on a plain gable. We measure the slope you intend to use and quote the sizes that fit, with the flashing matched to the tile on your house.
Can a roof window be fitted into a room that already has a sloping ceiling?
Yes, and it is a common request for a bedroom under the slope. We check how the plasterboard is fixed, whether insulation sits between the rafters and how deep the splay for the lining needs to be, then quote the window with its lining kit so the finish inside is neat.
Is the frame colour my choice on a flat roof extension?
Frame finishes vary by unit and maker, and the quote lists the colours offered for each option. On a flat roof extension the frame colour is often chosen to match the windows and the fascia, while a roof window on a tiled slope usually looks best in a dark grey.
What would I be reading in the quote for my Wednesfield roof?
Each suitable unit is laid out on the same measures: glazing, frame, how each one opens, how long the maker takes and what it costs, with more than one maker shown whenever the roof permits. Each unit's lead time is the typical range the maker gives, set beside it.
Is there a certificate at the end of a Wednesfield rooflight job?
Notifiable work, such as a new opening or a complete replacement unit, brings one: Building Control is notified by our team, and the certificate arrives after sign-off. To see the figures for your own roof, book a free survey.
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