Skylights & rooflights in Hellingly

In the village, nothing can be assumed. Roofs there may have been altered, patched and extended over a long period, and the structure under the covering needs to be seen before anything is promised. We look at the timbers from the loft as well as the covering from outside.

The Grade I manor and the old churchyard mound are part of what gives the village its character, but for a homeowner they matter only in one way: they tell you that the centre is a place where history is looked after, and that the council will expect care. We do not assume that every old building is listed or that every old roof is protected. We find out house by house, and the survey notes record what we learned.

Older roofs have another feature that matters for a rooflight: their timbers can be larger, and spaced differently from a modern roof. That can be a help, where a wider gap between rafters allows a bigger opening without cutting any, and it can be a hindrance, because the same rafters may be harder to trim safely. We measure rather than guess.

Two parts of Hellingly, two approaches

Area	Roof character	Our approach
Historic village	Mixed ages, altered over time	Careful survey of timbers, conservation products
Roebuck Park estate	Planned group, similar roofs	Standard roof windows and flat rooflights
Extensions anywhere	Flat roofs and kerbs	Lanterns or flat rooflights

On the estate, the question is usually more routine. A house with no direction or planning condition on it normally keeps its permitted development rights for rooflights within the usual limits, but newer estates sometimes carry a condition that removes them, so check the original planning permission too. Flats in a converted building are different, because the roof may belong to someone else, and the leasehold guide covers who to ask.

Inspection of the structure and the new unit falls to Wealden's building control team. The Building Regulations guide gives the background.

Where an address is in or beside the conservation area, the look of the finished roof counts for more than it does elsewhere. Frame colour, how far the unit stands above the covering and the neatness of the flashing all show from the road. A conservation rooflight is designed to keep those to a minimum, and we show you the section drawing before you commit.

If the house is a flat or a maisonette, ask who owns the roof before you ask anyone else. In a converted building it is usually the freeholder, and a written licence for alterations may be needed. That is a matter between you and the lease, and we do not give legal advice, so check your lease first.

Access in the village and on the estate is a different problem in each place. The older streets can be narrow, with houses close to the road and little room for a scaffold. Estate roads may be wider, but plots can be tight, and parked cars can be the obstacle. In both places the question is how glass, a tower and the people to carry it reach the back or the top of the house.

We deal with it on paper before the day. The access plan in your quote names the route, the scaffold or platform, and who applies for any licence. If the scaffold must stand on a pavement or a parking bay has to be suspended, that licence comes from the highway authority, which here is East Sussex County Council. You do not need to chase the county yourself: our licence and bay suspension guide shows how the application goes.

On a village street with houses close to the road, a delivery of glass may need a short, agreed pause in traffic, or a smaller unit that two people can carry safely. We would rather change the product than the safety of the route, and we raise this at the survey so that it is part of the quote and not a late surprise.

Where there is no side access at all, a mobile platform can reach a front slope from the road, or a unit can be carried through the house with the floors and walls protected. Neither is ideal, and both need to be agreed before the glass is ordered.

Village cottage or estate house

Extensions on either type call for a flat roof rooflight or maybe a roof lantern, depending on the room. A middle landing or a bathroom with no outside wall is a job for a sun tunnel. If you want a loft window you can open from below, electric opening rooflights avoid the pole and the stretch.

The loft itself is part of the decision. A room that will be slept in needs a window that opens and a view of the sky when you lie down. A room that will be used as an office needs light without glare on a screen, and that is a question of where the opening sits relative to the desk. A storeroom needs only enough light to see by. Each of those leads to a different size and position, and each is easier to settle on paper than on site.

For energy performance, the energy efficient range is worth reading. A loft room under a poor unit is hot in summer and cold in winter, and a better unit changes that noticeably.

Check also what is around the unit. A frame sits in a bed of flashing, which sits on battens and felt, and all of it ages together. Taking out an old unit gives a look at the roof under it, and where that material is tired we say so before the new unit goes in. That is better than fitting a new unit into a tired surround and finding the problem returns.

Replacing is also the point at which to ask for something better: more light, an opening unit, or a change of size. A bigger opening means trimming the roof structure, which makes it a different job from a straight swap, and we tell you which it is when we quote. The costs page sets out what changes the figure.

The first question in a place like Hellingly is whether the house is allowed to have a rooflight at all. If you are in the village, the answer starts with your address and ends with the council. If you are on the estate, it may be simpler, but a quick check costs nothing.

Another is how much disruption to expect on the road. Every visit is booked, and the access plan covers parking and timing, so any obstruction lasts only as long as the work needs.

On an estate house, you may wonder whether a loft that already has a hatch and a boarded floor is ready for a window. Often it is, but the real questions are the height under the ridge and whether the roof structure can take a new opening without extra support. We look at both on the visit and say plainly if a trimmer or a beam would be needed.

In the village, the worry may be different: whether a rooflight will spoil the look of the house from the lane. A well chosen unit is nearly invisible from the road when it sits on the rear slope, and we advise placing it there where the layout allows. If the only sensible position is on the front, a slim conservation unit is the right choice.

Should you wait for better weather? A dry spell is welcome, but we do not need a perfect week, because the opening is covered at every stage and we do not leave an opening that is not watertight.

A last question is how long the roof stays open. For a single roof window it is a matter of hours, and the weatherproofing is ready before the old unit comes out. For a lantern on an extension it takes longer, and we plan the work around the forecast and agree the timing with you.

As for what the survey involves: We come to the house, look at the roof and the loft, measure the opening you have in mind and discuss the options. Then we write a fixed quote with the access plan attached. There is no charge for it. You can request a survey or call 01273 282313, and the main Brighton & Hove page shows everything we install.