Hythe
Which Hythe roofs get a rooflight, and what do the shore and the shipping do to it?
Cottage tile near the pier, inter-war and post-war estates behind, and newer waterside housing built around the marina
Hythe is on the western shore of Southampton Water, facing the docks and the city across the water. Hythe Pier reaches far out into the water, and for generations it has been the village's ferry link to the city. By road the drive from our base takes you the long way round the head of the water, so a survey here needs a planned trip and not a quick detour. We make it worthwhile by seeing the roof, the room below it and the builder's plans in one visit wherever we can.
The village has grown in layers. An old waterside core along the High Street and the streets nearest the pier gives way to Edwardian and between-the-wars housing, then to estates built in the middle of the last century that blend into Dibden Purlieu. At the water's edge sits a more recent marina village. Each layer has its own sort of roof, and its own typical rooflight job.
Old houses along the High Street and by the pier
The streets close to the pier hold the oldest houses: small brick cottages, terraced rows and a few larger older houses, with roofs in slate or clay tile and old chimneys to work around. Some of the rooms in these roofs are tiny, with sloping ceilings and little headroom, and a roof window has to be placed with the floor and the slope in mind. Put too low, it only lights a knee-high wall; too high, it shows you sky and not the room.
Where the front slope faces the street, a slim unit sitting down in the covering is the better choice. At the back, a regular roof window is easier to place and less visible. Old rafters may be thinner or more irregular than modern timber, so the builder checks the section before cutting, and we send the opening dimensions beforehand so the timber for the trimmers can be ordered with the rest.
Standing in the attic with a tape is the only way to place a window in a room like this. We mark the sill and head positions from inside, check what is above and below on the slope, and look for the purlin, the chimney breast and the stair well that all compete for the same stretch of roof. A window that looks right on the drawing can land behind a purlin, so the drawing is checked against the timbers before the opening is cut.
Headroom in these little rooms is rarely generous. The choice between top-hung and centre-pivot changes how much of the room is usable when it is open, and a long-arm pivot with the bar higher up the frame lets a person stand closer to the glass. We talk through which works for the use of the room, whether a bedroom, a study or a landing, and note the choice in the quote.
Dibden Purlieu, Hardley and the post-war estates
Behind the village, much of the housing is semi-detached or bungalow, with concrete tile roofs of moderate pitch. These are houses that family life outgrows, and the answer is usually the loft or a rear extension. A loft conversion on one of these roofs needs windows that suit the pitch and the rafter spacing, and a bungalow loft needs thinking through from the stairs upward, because the position of the stair decides where the headroom is.
Extensions on these houses commonly have flat roofs, often with a plain plastic dome or a pair of small windows that gave little light when they were built. Replacing one with a modern double glazed unit during a re-roof makes sense: the opening is already there, the covering is being renewed, and the new kerb can be insulated properly. We size the replacement to the existing opening where we can and tell the roofer if the kerb has to change.
Flat roofs from those decades may well be past the age at which a covering is expected to be replaced. The old kerb tells us a good deal: its height, its material, whether it was built in timber or in blockwork, and what condition the insulation beneath it is in. A kerb that is too low for modern flashing, or damp inside, is better rebuilt while the roof is stripped than built over, and the quote says which of those your roof needs.
Where an old dome is simply swapped for a new rooflight of the same footprint, the work is quick. Where the family wants a bigger unit, the joists around the opening may need to be altered, and that is a job for your builder with a size we have given them in writing. Increasing the opening is an easy thing to ask for and a slower thing to build, so it is better decided before the roof is stripped.
Marina-side homes
The marina village has terraced and town-house style homes and flats built round the basin. These are newer buildings, and their roof build-ups and insulation depths differ from those on an old house, so the kerb heights and fixings are worked out from what we find at survey. The managing company for a development of this kind may have rules about external changes, and a letter to them at the start saves time later.
Houses beside a marina feel the wind and the salt. Salt on glass and on metal frames is a fact of life by the water, and we talk about frame finish and cleaning at the survey. On a flat roof near the shore, uplift at the edges is a concern for the roofer, and the upstand we specify has to leave room for the fixings he wants.
Houses close to the water face the weather head-on, and an opening rooflight can serve them well in a kitchen or bathroom with steamy air to shift. Electric units are controlled from a wall switch, a remote or a smart home system, and a rain sensor closes the glass when a shower arrives. The electrician brings the cable in at first fix, while the ceiling is still open, which is why we ask for the unit to be chosen before the wiring is run.
If a management company is involved, we suggest sending them a short pack before anything is booked: the position of the unit on a roof plan, the make and model, the colour of the frame and the name of whoever is doing the work. A drawing gives the company something definite to approve, which a phone call cannot. We can prepare the pack from our survey, which saves your builder an afternoon.
Looking across the water
From upper windows in Hythe the view runs across the water to the docks and the city. Glass facing the water collects salt and grime, as it does anywhere on an estuary, and access for cleaning matters. A rooflight on a pitched roof that cannot be reached from a ladder is a poor choice if you expect to wash it, so we discuss reach and the use of a pole during the survey, and where a unit would be awkward to reach, we say so before the order.
Self-cleaning coatings help where rain washes the glass regularly. On a low-pitched roof, or one sheltered by a wall or trees, they do less, and we explain that rather than promise more than the coating can deliver.
Planning and building control for a Hythe address
Hythe addresses fall under New Forest District Council. For a house with its permitted development rights intact, rooflights often need no application, though that depends on the roof and how far the unit projects; our guide to rooflight planning permission lays out the national position. Listed buildings, flats and houses where a condition or a direction has removed those rights are the exceptions. The planning history for your address is looked up beforehand and reported to you, and the final say rests with the council. An old decision notice for an earlier extension on the house is worth looking out too, as any conditions on it can affect new glass.
Building Regulations are a separate matter and apply either way. Building control is notified by us when a rooflight is new, or when a whole unit with its frame is swapped. Replacing only a sealed glass unit is a different job and does not need that notification. The quote says which applies to yours.
How a Hythe job is ordered
If a builder is already on the job, our first step is to find out when the roof will be open. The unit is agreed with you, the kerb or opening dimensions go to the builder in a short written sheet, and we time the order so the glass is ready around the point the roof needs it. The time the maker needs appears in the quote, and a confirmed delivery date follows once the order is in.
The work then runs in a set order. The roofer lays the membrane or covering around the opening, the electrician runs any cable for an electric unit, we fit the rooflight, and the plasterer finishes the reveal last. Written down at the start, the order stops the trades tripping over each other on a small site.
For a plain like-for-like swap, say a worn-out roof window or a clouded dome on an extension, we survey, quote in writing and arrange the fitting around you. Because the road runs round the head of the water, we plan the survey and the fitting visit around your dates so neither trip is wasted.
Hythe is 10.5 road miles south of our Southampton base. The drive goes round the head of the water, so we fit survey and fitting visits into one trip where we can.
