Ampfield
What changes when the roof belongs to a cottage, a barn or an annexe?
Ampfield is scattered rather than compact, so each roof is closer to its own case than part of a street
Ampfield is a village strung along the A3090 between Romsey and Winchester, 8.4 road miles north of Southampton, with woodland close on most sides and houses set well apart. There is no terrace to learn from and no single estate that sets the pattern. A cottage with clay tiles stands near a twentieth-century bungalow, and a former farm building has been converted a short way off. A survey here begins with the roof in front of us and the builder's drawings, and with very few assumptions.
That is a good reason to talk early. Rooflights in a village like this tend to go into larger projects: a barn conversion, a rear extension to a country house, a loft that has become a bedroom suite, an annexe for a relative. In each one the roof is only a part of the work, and the rooflight succeeds when its opening has been planned into the frame.
Older cottages and their tiles
The older cottages in and around the village often have clay plain tiles, small and thin, laid over timber that has moved a little over the years. Natural slate appears on later buildings. On such a roof a rooflight must sit low and unobtrusively. A conservation rooflight has a slim metal frame, a single glazing bar and a shallow profile, so that the glass sits close to the plane of the tiles rather than standing above them. The conservation rooflights page shows what the units look like.
The work around the opening is the delicate part. Old rafters are rarely evenly spaced, battens may be rotten at the edges, and the tiles around the unit will need lifting, sorting and relaying, with some replaced. We measure from inside the roof and outside it, then pass the roofer the cut-out dimensions for that particular unit before a tile is touched. The roofer or the carpenter trims the timbers and makes good the tiles to match.
Positions are chosen from within too. In a cottage bedroom with a sloping ceiling, a rooflight low in the slope gives a view out from a bed, while one high up brings light into the middle of the room. The two have different effects, and standing in the room with a tape measure is the surest way to choose.
Country houses and their rear extensions
Larger houses on bigger plots tend to grow at the back, where the garden is. A single-storey addition for a kitchen and family room is the usual shape, and a roof lantern is a natural centrepiece: the ridge of glass picks up light from all four sides and gives the room a high ceiling without raising the walls. Lanterns come in several sizes and finishes, and the roof lantern page shows the choices. On a country property the frame colour is often chosen to match the windows and doors already on the house.
Because a lantern stands on its own kerb, the kerb is built by the builder's carpenter, to a height and footprint we supply. If it is built wrong, the lantern either does not fit or sits too close to the roof covering, so the dimensions are written down and confirmed before the roof deck goes on. This is the most common place for a hurried job to go wrong, and the one we take most care over.
Later houses and bungalows in the village
Not everything in Ampfield is old. There are houses and bungalows of the later decades of the twentieth century with concrete tile roofs and plain, regular rafters, and these are straightforward for a roof window. Their owners typically want a loft room, a brighter landing or a rear window for a bathroom. A sun tunnel suits the landing and the bathroom if the run through the loft is clear. Where the roof space is deep enough for a proper conversion, the window sizes follow the floor plan.
Barn conversions and big roof slopes
A converted barn or stable is a different animal. The roof is long and uninterrupted, the frame is often oak or softwood trusses with wide spacing, and the new insulation and lining mean the room below has a high, open ceiling. Large rooflights suit it, or a run of them along the slope, and the spacing follows the structural bays rather than a catalogue size. Where the roof is a tiled or profiled sheet, the covering decides the flashing and the fixing.
Barn roofs are also where we meet the question of bats. These animals and their roosts are protected by law, and old timber-framed buildings are exactly where they live. If there is any sign of roosting, the owner or builder takes advice from an ecologist before work begins, and our programme follows theirs. We place a rooflight order only when the roof is clear to proceed, and that includes any advice the ecologist has given about timing and method.
Warmth is the other question with old roofs. When a cottage roof is opened up for a rooflight, the insulation around the opening is usually improved at the same time, and the glazing has to meet the limits set for existing homes. The energy rules for existing homes treat a roof window and a kerb-mounted rooflight as different products with different heat-loss limits, and the glazing specification has to meet whichever applies. The quote says which limit applies to the chosen unit and what it achieves, and our rooflight U-values guide sets out the figures.
Trees, moss and leaf fall
Ampfield is wooded, and a roof under trees collects leaves, moss and green growth that a roof in the open does not. A rooflight set low in a shaded tile slope will gather debris on its upper edge and needs the odd clean. We discuss whether a self-cleaning coating suits the position, and we choose a frame and flashing detail that lets water run away from the glass instead of sitting against it.
Annexes, garden rooms and outbuildings
Spread-out plots give room for an annexe, a garden office or a studio in the grounds, and these small buildings usually have flat or low-pitched roofs. They are ideal for flat rooflights, which can be fitted on a kerb with the roof covering dressed up it. A small building with one flat rooflight in the middle and glazed doors at the front feels very different from the same building lit from one side.
Power can be a question in an outbuilding. An electric opening rooflight needs a supply, and so does a rain sensor. If the building is a long way from the house, the cable run is a job for the electrician, and it should be known before the unit is chosen. If the supply is unreliable or absent, a manual opener is a sensible alternative. Our manual and electric comparison sets out the differences.
Getting the glass to the roof
In a village like Ampfield, access can matter as much as design. A lane may be narrow, a drive soft and long, and a roof may be at the back of the property, a long way from where a lorry can stop. A lantern or large flat rooflight is heavy, and it arrives on a pallet. We ask at the survey how the unit will reach the roof, whether by crane, by hoist or by hand, and we write the answer into the quote, so that nobody finds out on the morning of the fitting.
Listed buildings, conservation and the council
Planning in Ampfield sits with Test Valley Borough Council. For a modern house, a rooflight can often be fitted under permitted development, which the rooflight planning guide explains. An older property may be different: if it is listed, a change to its roof needs listed building consent, and permitted development does not apply. Our listed building consent page explains that route.
There is a simple way to find out whether a building is listed. The National Heritage List for England is held by Historic England, and the council's planning pages cover conservation areas and any restrictions on a property. We check an address before ordering and report what we find. The council decides, and if consent is needed it must be in place before the roof is opened.
Working to the building programme
Rural projects can stretch over months, and a rooflight is among the longer-lead items. Our quote names the unit, the glass and the build and delivery wait. We place the order once your builder can tell us when the roof will be ready, then work backwards from that day. Both you and your builder receive the arrival date in writing after the maker confirms it.
The order of trades is simple to state. The roofer or tiler prepares the opening, we fit the rooflight, the electrician finishes anything electrical and the plasterer or joiner completes the reveals. On an older building a joiner may make up the lining in timber, in which case the reveal dimensions are given to them with the opening size. Old walls and rafters are seldom square, so the joiner usually wants the finished window and its depth in hand before cutting any timber, and we supply both when the order is confirmed. Where the roof is being stripped and re-covered for other reasons, the sequence is simpler still, because the new tiles, battens and flashings go on around the rooflight and not the other way about.
If you are considering a project here but have not yet appointed anyone, we are happy to look at the property first. A survey and written quote give you figures and sizes to share with an architect or builder, and the design can then be drawn around the rooflights rather than altered later to fit them.
The drive north to Ampfield covers 8.4 road miles, which keeps a survey visit, a second look with the builder and fitting day within reach of a site programme that has little slack.
