Dome rooflight in a tiled roof above a brick extension

Coalville

Brighter Coalville terraces with rooflights and skylights

25.9 road miles south of Derby, in the old coalfield country of north-west Leicestershire.

Terrace kitchens run deep and dim from the back door to the sink. Tell us where you work and we begin the survey at that worktop.

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Long terrace kitchens and rooms lit from one end

Single roof window in a bare sloping ceiling — A bare sloping ceiling with one roof window, and a room left dim below it.

An attic bedroom whose far corner stays dim beyond the dormer.

What works on a Coalville roof

On a pitched terrace roof the choice lies between roof windows and VELUX windows, while a kitchen extension can have a roof lantern where it is wide, or a flat roof rooflight where it is not; a windowless landing suits a sun tunnel.

Terraces and their extensions make up much of what we are asked to light here. The main house has a pitched roof over the loft, the back kitchen has a lower roof, and sometimes a flat one. Each piece of roof wants its own answer. We work from the room outward, so the unit for the kitchen is chosen for the worktop, and the one for the landing is chosen for the stair.

The full guide

A Coalville worktop, and the roof over it

Cooking and washing up happen at a particular stretch of worktop, and that stretch is where good light matters most. This long read follows a terrace kitchen up through its roof and covers the sizes, the fitting and the paperwork.

Worktop run
Fitting sequence
The paperwork
Getting in

Callout 1

Lighting the stretch of counter you actually use

The typical terrace kitchen is long and narrow. A window sits at the back end, a door at the other, and the worktop runs between them. By the time the daylight reaches the middle of the counter, it has gone, and the under-cabinet lights come on in the afternoon.

Kitchen layouts and the roof answer

Common terrace kitchen shapes and what suits each.
Kitchen	Roof above	Unit	Lights
Galley, original	Pitched slope	Roof window	Worktop run
Back extension	Flat roof	Flat rooflight	Table or island
Wide extension	Flat roof	Roof lantern	Whole room
Pantry or utility	Lean-to	Small unit	Sink area

The answer is to bring light from above the worktop itself. Either a roof window or a flat unit set over the counter lights the surface where chopping and pouring take place, and it removes the shadow cast by your own body when you stand at the window end. Beneath a sloping roof, set a roof window into the slope; on a flat-roofed extension, use a flat rooflight.

The position is worked out by looking at the room as it is used. Where is the hob? Where do you stand to prepare food? Is there an island or a table that wants light too? We chalk the proposed edges of the opening on the floor and the ceiling so the position can be judged by eye before an order goes in.

Glass and tiling behind the worktop reflect more light than dark units, and a white or pale splashback helps a rooflight do its job. We do not tell people how to design a kitchen, but a quick note at the survey about finishes costs nothing and sometimes saves a second lamp.

Heat and steam matter over a hob. A roof window that opens lets cooking steam out, and an electric opening version removes the need to reach a handle above a worktop. A fixed unit is simpler but gives no ventilation, so an opening one is the usual choice for a hob. In a flat-roofed extension, an opening rooflight can serve the same purpose.

If you work at the sink more than the hob, we light the sink. If the table is where the household gathers, we may suggest a second unit. Every choice starts with the spot and the way you use it, and the quote lists each unit as its own line.

Light the counter where you stand, not the middle of the floor.

Callout 2

What happens on the roof, step by step

The roofing stage is shorter than people expect. A straightforward single unit tends to take a day or two at roof level. The sequence is the same on most pitched roofs, with details that change by covering. Materials are checked before the day, the opening is marked out from the loft side, and the roof is made weathertight before the end of each working day.

The covering sets the flashing. Slate and plain tile are laid in courses that overlap, and the flashing is built into those courses. Interlocking concrete tiles use a different profile of flashing. We bring the correct kit to the job, having confirmed the covering at the survey.

Inside, the floor is protected and the shaft is built after the roof is sealed. Plastering and decoration follow, and the room is yours again.

Weather and timing

The roof is opened only when the forecast allows, and a temporary cover is kept ready. If rain arrives sooner than expected, the opening is covered and made safe until the work can continue. That is part of planning the job, not an extra, and it is why the roof is never left open overnight.

From first cut to a sealed roof

Sheet up and mark out
Dust sheets down, loft cleared, the opening marked from inside.
Raise the slates or tiles
Covering lifted, a rafter trimmed where needed, the frame set.
Flash and seal
Flashing built into the courses and checked for weather tightness.
Form and finish the shaft
Boarded, insulated and splayed so light spreads into the room.
Walk round with you
Unit tested, site cleared, guarantee given in writing.

Callout 3

Planning in North West Leicestershire

North West Leicestershire District Council decides planning in Coalville. For a house, permitted development is the usual basis, and our planning guide explains its limits alongside the official source. Flats and maisonettes follow another route, and most work on a listed building needs consent beforehand.

A conservation area for the town centre was once under consideration, so if your house is in or near the centre, ask North West Leicestershire District Council whether a conservation area or an Article 4 direction applies. Permitted development survives a conservation area on its own; what can take it away is an Article 4 direction, and listed buildings need consent whatever the roof. We can go through the answer with you before the survey.

Next come the Building Regulations. A hole cut through the rafters alters the structure and is building work, which means the paperwork goes to the local authority or a registered building control approver where it is called for. Swapping a unit like for like is regulated as well, and roof windows and rooflights each have their own Part L limit.

Flat roofs have their own approach. On a flat roof the rooflight stands on a kerb, which is waterproofed into the covering. Replacing a flat rooflight like for like is regulated too, to the Part L limit for rooflights. Our guide to flat rooflight kerbs and upstands explains the build-up.

What goes in the written quote

The unit: type, size code and glazing
The roof work: covering, flashing and trimming
The inside: shaft, insulation and finish
Access: scaffold, route and loft floor
Notification: sent in whenever the job requires one

Callout 4

Getting glass to a terrace roof

Terrace access can decide a job. A row of houses with no rear lane means glass and materials come in by way of the hall or a shared passage. A rooflight unit is not heavy, but it is awkward to carry down a narrow hall past furniture.

The route is checked on the survey visit, tight turns are measured, and we write the access arrangements into the quote. If scaffold or a ladder needs neighbour agreement, we say so early. That keeps the day itself calm.

Neighbours matter in a terrace. Scaffold sometimes needs to stand on a shared passage, and a roof edge may sit over a party wall line. We raise this with you before the date is fixed, and we keep to the agreed working hours so the street stays on good terms with you.

A coal town of red-brick terraces

Coalville is a town of about 22,000 people on the A511, on the route towards Burton upon Trent. It is a product of the Industrial Revolution, a former coal-mining town that was the centre of the north Leicestershire mining district. Leicestershire's first railway reached it in 1833, carrying coal from the new collieries, and quarrying, textile and engineering industries followed.

The housing records say the central core of the town is characterised by streets of homogeneous terraced housing, built toward the end of the nineteenth century and during the early part of the twentieth. That tells a rooflight installer a lot. A terrace of one date shares a plan, usually a pair of rooms per floor plus a rear wing for the kitchen and a loft above. A rooflight that works well in one often works in the next, though each roof and each occupant's use of the room still gets its own survey.

Brick terraces usually have pitched roofs covered in slate or tile, and the rear wing often has a lower roof. A back bedroom in the main roof can take a roof window, a dark stair can take a tunnel, and a rear wing kitchen can take a unit over the worktop. Many have been extended further, with a flat-roofed kitchen addition behind, where one rooflight or a little lantern lights the table.

The newer parts of the town, built after the terraces, bring a wider range of roof shapes. Semi-detached and detached houses have more varied lofts, and bungalows have roof spaces that can be converted into rooms. In those, using a roof window as the escape window needs the floor to be 4.5 m up or less. For the escape and headroom rules, see roof windows for loft conversions.

The coal and rail history is part of the landscape rather than a technical point. What matters for the survey is the house, the roof and the room. The rest of this page covers the practical side of getting daylight to the sink, the landing or the bedroom.

Lofts in terraces are often used for storage rather than as rooms. That is useful, because an open loft lets us form a light well from a rooflight down to the landing without rebuilding anything. Where a loft has been boarded, we lift only the boards around the shaft and put them back afterwards, so your stored belongings are disturbed as little as possible.

Coalville questions about terrace roofs

Can a rooflight light the middle of a long terrace kitchen?

Yes. A roof window over the worktop, or a flat rooflight over a flat-roofed extension, sends daylight onto the middle of the room where a wall window cannot reach. Chalk marks on floor and ceiling at the survey show where the daylight would land.

How long are the roof and the mess?

For a straightforward single rooflight the work on the roof is usually one or two days. Inside, the shaft and plaster can take a little longer. Floors are protected, and the opening is closed in before we leave each evening.

Do I need permission from North West Leicestershire District Council?

On planning, a house can often go ahead under permitted development; our guide to planning rules covers the limits. Flats and listed buildings go by different rules. Building Regulations come separately, and the notification is something we send in whenever the job needs one.

Is a rear-wing bedroom too low for a roof window?

It depends on the structure. A rear wing with a lower roof may leave little headroom, but a window set high in the slope can still light the room. We check the rafters and ceiling height at the survey and tell you what the roof allows.

Will the quote change once work begins?

No. After the survey you get a written quote at a fixed figure, and it stands on the day. Extras such as a second unit appear as separate lines. A 10-year workmanship guarantee in writing covers the work.

Nearby

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Where do you want the light? Tell us in the form: the worktop, the stair, the desk.

No obligation. We survey before we price.
We cover Derby and 30 miles around.