Skylights & rooflights in Upton
Upton is a compact village with open country on its edges, and its roofs take what the weather sends. A skylight here has to shed rain that arrives from the side as well as the sky. We install and replace rooflights, roof windows and tubes, and choose frames and flashings for exposed slopes.
An exposed village and the roofs it asks of a rooflight
A village of this size has no tall buildings to break the wind, and the roofs at its edge face fields rather than neighbours. That suits a rooflight in one way, because there is plenty of sky, and tests it in another. The flashing, the glazing bars and the way the sash seals all work harder on an exposed slope. Our survey notes the weather side first, because it settles the rest.
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Slopes that face open ground
A roof window on the edge of the village gets rain driven across it, not just down it. The flashing kit has to be laid to shed sideways water, and the head of the frame needs a clean upstand so that nothing creeps behind. The wind that loosens a poorly set flashing is rarely the one that blows on survey day, so we ask what the house has been through in past winters.
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Small houses, small lofts
The older houses are modest in size, with shallow lofts and short rafters. A roof window here is chosen for the gap it has to fit, and a sun tunnel can be the neater answer for a landing or bathroom. Where a loft is already a room, we measure from the floor, not from the ceiling joists, so the sill height is comfortable when seated.
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Glass that has to keep the heat in
A loft bedroom under an exposed slope is cold in winter if the glazing is poor. The thermal performance of the unit matters here more than in a sheltered street, and so does how well the frame sits against the rafters.
What the roofs of Upton are made of
Upton is small enough to take in at a glance. The older centre has brick terraces and short rows of cottages, some with slate and some with the tile that replaced it. Those lofts are shallow and the rafters are close, so a roof window is a compact one and the flashing is dressed to suit the roof covering around it.
Between those older rows and the open fields sit the semis and bungalows of the later twentieth century. Their roofs are simple pitches in concrete tile, and the bungalows in particular have deep plans where the hall and the bathroom sit in the middle of the house with no outside wall. A tube is the natural thing to try there, and a roof window is the answer if the roof space is also to be used.
Shinwell is counted with Upton here, and the newer houses on the village edges use trussed rafters, and a truss does not allow a new opening to be cut as an old rafter would. A designed trimmer carries the cut truss, and we agree it with you before ordering.
Some of the houses have had their back walls opened up for kitchen extensions, which adds low, near-flat roofs to the village. A small lantern or flat rooflight suits those, and the covering gets our attention before anything else. Felt that has been down a long time is not worth joining a new upstand to.
Because Upton is exposed, we think about wind uplift and driven rain when we choose the frame. A larger opening lid on a tall unit is more of a sail than a small one, and a motor on a high rooflight needs a rain sensor so that it shuts itself in a shower.
Fields, hedges and the occasional tree decide a good deal about a village roof. A slope under a large tree collects leaves and moss, which block the drainage channel round a flashing and hold water against the frame. We look for what stands near each roof, and where a tree overhangs, we say plainly that the rooflight will need clearing from time to time.
Barn-style conversions and extended farm cottages are a possibility on a village edge, and they bring their own timbers. Old purlins and hand-cut rafters do not follow a standard spacing, and the opening is framed to the roof as it is, not to a catalogue size.
For a bungalow with a windowless hall, a sun tunnel is the lightest answer, so it helps to know how one ages. The dome on the roof is the outside part and takes the weather. The tube inside is a smooth reflective pipe that stays clean, and the ceiling diffuser can be unclipped and changed from the hall without touching the roof. The flashing around the base of the dome is the part to inspect from the roof. At survey we look in the loft for the straight run the tube needs, and for insulation that must be fitted snugly round it so the ceiling below stays warm. In a roof space that was never boarded, we also note where a crawl board is needed and where cables or pipes sit in the way.
Rooflights suited to Upton homes
The range here leans on thermal performance and weather-tightness. Roof windows and tubes for the village houses, flat rooflights and small lanterns for the extensions, and electric-opening units where a rooflight is out of reach. Each quote sets out the unit and its wearing parts, and how every one gets renewed. The first question for an exposed roof is how much weather it takes, and the answer shapes the whole specification.
Energy Efficient RooflightsFor a loft room on an exposed slope, where the glazing and the frame decide whether the room is comfortable in January.
Roof WindowsFor terrace and cottage lofts in the old village, cut to the spacing of the rafters and weathered into the existing roof.
Sun TunnelsFor a bungalow's inner hall or bathroom, where a tube across the loft is simpler than a full window.
Flat Roof RooflightsFor the low roof of a kitchen extension, where a flat rooflight brings daylight in without a tall profile.
Electric & Opening RooflightsFor a high unit over a stair, with a rain sensor so it closes by itself in a shower.
VELUX WindowsFor replacing a worn window of the type already in the roof, matching the size code to the existing opening.
Planning, Wakefield and the village roofs
Wakefield Council
Upton sits in the Wakefield district, and our checks run against the council's planning records for any address in the village. Any protected-street boundaries around Upton have not been released by Wakefield into the government dataset. So the check is done by hand: during the visit we pull up Wakefield's mapping and look for your road.
A rooflight in a house is generally allowed without a planning application, and the conditions that decide it are national. The linked guide on rooflight planning and Building Regulations holds the full detail, so this page leaves it out. The two cases we raise early are a tall lantern on a low roof and any property that has been split into flats.
On a village edge, a tall unit can be seen from some way off across open ground. That is a point of design as much as law, and we talk it through with you.
Conservation areas
Nothing on Upton's protected streets has reached the government dataset from Wakefield, so during the visit the surveyor opens the council's mapping and finds your road on it.
Upton and its neighbouring former pit villages
South Elmsall is the nearest town, a little over a mile to the south, and South Kirkby is 2.2 miles to the south-west. Hemsworth is just under three miles west, with Ackworth Moor Top about the same distance to the north-west. Fitzwilliam is four miles west. Thurnscoe is southward, Grimethorpe south-westward and Havercroft westward, each between four and five miles away. We cover all of them, and every place has its own page, written for its own housing. Upton's open village edge has little in common with a Thurnscoe estate road, so we do not treat them the same. If you know someone in one of these places with a rooflight, go and look at it, and tell us what you thought. We write each page for its own housing, so if you live between two of these places, read both.
Upton
From a survey in Upton to the years after
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On the slope
Reading the weather side of the roof
Upton is 29.4 road miles from Sheffield, around 37 minutes to the north-east. We take the time to look at which way the roof faces and what shelters it, since that decides the flashing kit and the glazing. Indoors we mark the dark spots and in the loft we check the rafter gap and the run for any tube. We also ask how the loft is used, whether it is boarded, and what is stored in it, so that the day of the work runs smoothly.
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The install
Weathering an exposed opening properly
The flashing goes on in order from the bottom of the frame to the top, with the side pieces overlapping so that wind-driven water runs away from the joint. On a flat roof we seal the kerb to the covering and run a water test before we pack up. Scaffold or a roof ladder goes up only where the pitch and the ground allow it, and we say at survey how access will be arranged, since an open village edge can mean soft ground at the back of a house.
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First gale
How a new unit copes with a proper blow
After the first hard wind, check that the sash still sits square and that any motor has closed on its own if it has a rain sensor. Look at the reveal inside for any sign of water. If anything has shifted, tell us, because a fault in the first season is a fitting fault.
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Year 8
The seal check your life plan sets
Seals on an exposed slope work harder. Your life plan names them, along with the glazed unit and any drive for the sash, and says how each one is changed. We would look at the seals around the eighth year here. Our workmanship is covered by a 10-year guarantee.
Upton: rooflight questions from the village
Will a roof window leak on an exposed slope?
Not if it is flashed properly. The kit is laid in order, with side pieces overlapping so wind-driven water runs off. We choose the kit for the exposure of the roof, and the first heavy rain tells us whether the job was done well. Where a tree or a high hedge stands close, we also allow for leaf fall round the frame.
Which is better for my bungalow hall, a tube or a roof window?
A tube is quieter work and loses little loft space, so it leads our thinking for a hall. A roof window brings more light and a view, and suits a loft that is also a room. At survey we look at the roof space and tell you which makes sense.
Can a motorised rooflight close itself in rain?
Yes. Electric-opening units can carry a rain sensor that shuts the sash when a shower starts. The motor and the sensor are listed in the life plan as parts that will eventually need replacing.
Is Upton close enough to the other villages for one trip?
Yes. South Elmsall, South Kirkby and Hemsworth are all within a few miles, so a survey in Upton can sit alongside others nearby.
Does Upton have any protected area I should check?
The national dataset cannot tell us, because Wakefield has not released its boundaries there. Wakefield's mapping for your road decides it, and the surveyor looks it up during the visit.
Our Upton bungalow loft has never been boarded. Can a sun tunnel still go in?
It can. An unboarded loft only means we lay crawl boards across the joists for the day, so nobody steps between them onto the ceiling below. We trace the route from the slope to the hall ceiling, move the insulation aside only along that line and lay it back snugly round the tube afterwards. If cables or pipes cross the run, we either route around them or say at survey that a short bend is needed. The boards come up again when we leave, unless you would like them kept for later checks.