Brick house with a roof window at the end of a terrace row

Ibstock

Brighter Ibstock dining rooms with skylights and rooflights

28.3 road miles south of Derby, a former coal mining village on the A447.

Ibstock's tiles and bricks are made locally, and its kitchen-diners are used all day. Tell us where the table sits and we plan the daylight to land there.

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Family rooms where the table sits in the dim half

Narrow hallway with a coat on a peg and a rooflight above — A narrow hallway with a coat on a peg, shaded and short of daylight.

A loft room used by teenagers, with one small window and a light always on.

Choosing for an Ibstock family house

The jobs that suit are VELUX windows for loft rooms, roof lanterns over a dining end, flat roof rooflights for extensions, sun tunnels for hallways, and misted rooflight replacement when old glass has clouded.

A village of about 6,800 people, with a long working history, tends to have family houses that have been extended and adapted. The kitchen becomes a kitchen-diner, the loft becomes a bedroom, and the hallway stays as dark as ever. Those are the rooms we look at first. Each has its own spot, and each gets its own answer from the roof.

The full guide

A dining table, an extension and the roof above

The kitchen-diner is the busiest room in a family house, and the table is its centre. When the table sits at the dim end, a rooflight above it changes how the whole room is used. This is what that looks like, step by step.

Around the table
Heat and glare
Neat finish
Leicestershire planning

Callout 1

Moving the daylight to where people sit

In a deep kitchen-diner the light is strongest at the doors and weakest at the far wall. The table tends to end up in the middle or at the back, because the worktops take the sides. A window in the roof lets the daylight land on the table itself, so meals, homework and coffee are taken in the brightest part of the room.

Table position and what the roof can do

Where the dim table sits and the usual fix.
Table sits	Roof above	Unit	Opens
Back of extension	Flat	Lantern	Optional
Under a lean-to	Mono-pitch	Roof window	Yes
Open-plan, deep	Pitched	Two VELUX	Yes
Beneath a bedroom	None directly	Rooflight on side	Optional

We stand at the head of the table and look up. If the room is under a flat roof, the roof is directly overhead and a rooflight or lantern can sit centred on the table. If the room is under a pitched roof, a VELUX window or two sits in the slope and throws light down along the room. If there is a bedroom above, a rooflight cannot reach, and we look at the other side of the room instead.

Size matters. A rooflight that is too small makes a bright spot on the table with a dark ring around it. One that is generous spreads the light and makes the room feel taller. We size by the table and the room, then check the heat gain against the aspect of the slope.

Where two units are better than one, they are spaced so the light overlaps along the table instead of stacking in one place. In a long room, a pair of VELUX windows a little apart often looks calmer than one large unit. We draw both options on the floor plan and you choose.

A table in the dim half of the room can be moved, or the daylight can.

Callout 2

Keeping a sunny dining room comfortable

Daylight brings heat. A south or west facing rooflight over a table can warm the room on a summer afternoon. That need not be a problem, but it is a decision. A solar-control coating on the glass reduces the heat that passes through. A blind that fits the frame stops glare. An opening unit lets the warm air out at the top of the room, where it collects.

For a VELUX window, the glass is a choice between several specifications, and the code, such as MK04, tells you the size. Its letter gives the width, while the pair of digits after it gives the height, which makes a quote simpler to read than it looks. Lanterns and flat rooflights have their glass chosen against 2.2 W/m²K, whereas a roof window is checked against the window limit instead.

Blinds are settled at the survey so the fixings go in before the lining. A motorised blind is possible if the window is electric, and the power route is planned with the opening. Wiring is best settled early. A cable that has to cross a finished ceiling later is a far bigger job than one laid while the lining is open.

What moves the cost over a dining room

Lantern or flat rooflightA lantern is taller and needs a deeper, stronger kerb.
Pane make-upSolar control and triple glazing add to the unit.
Opening and blindsElectric opening and powered blinds add components.
Roof structureA bigger opening may need steel or extra trimming.
How we get on the roofA tall extension may need scaffold for the lift.

Callout 3

How the job runs, from first visit to final coat

Every job follows the same order of events, and knowing it helps. First comes the survey, free of charge, covering the room, the dim spot and what sits above it. A written quote follows, fixed, and it names the unit, the position, the lining and the access. When you are happy, a date is set and the fitting is done with the room protected.

The roof work on a straightforward single rooflight is usually one or two days. The inside finishing follows, and it depends on the room. A reveal on a plastered ceiling is boarded and skimmed, and left to dry before it is painted. We tell you how long to leave it. A fresh skim needs time to dry before it takes paint, and painting too early is the commonest cause of a patchy finish around a new opening.

Once the unit is in, there is a handover. We show you how to open, clean and care for it, and give you the written guarantee. The workmanship guarantee runs for ten years and is in writing.

From first message to finished ceiling

Free survey
We see the room, the dim spot and the roof before any price is given.
Priced once, in writing
One document names the unit, position, lining and access, and does not change.
Fitting date
Booked once you are happy, with Building Control notified where needed.
Roof work
Usually one or two days for a straightforward single rooflight.
Handover
You see how it opens and cleans, and receive the written guarantee.

Callout 4

North West Leicestershire and the planning side

Ibstock's planning authority is North West Leicestershire District Council, whose pages are at nwleics.gov.uk. Householders can usually fit a rooflight without applying, because permitted development allows it, and the conditions that go with it are gathered in our planning guide. Householder rights stop at flats and maisonettes. Listed buildings need their own consent. The council also holds the record of any Article 4 direction over a conservation area, and we check your address against it before going further.

Building Regulations run alongside. When a new rooflight alters the structure of the roof, formal approval is needed from the council or a registered building control approver, and we send in the notification whenever the work calls for it. Even a like-for-like swap has to reach the Part L limit for its type.

A loft room adds the escape question. A roof window counts as an escape window only for storeys within 4.5 metres of the ground, with a clear opening of 0.33 m² and 450 mm in each direction.

A working village and its family houses

Ibstock is a former coal mining village on the A447 between Coalville and Hinckley. The Domesday Book of 1086 records it as a hamlet, and in 1801 its population was 763, mostly engaged in agriculture. It has since grown to over 7,000 in the parish, and the village has historical and current manufacturing, including tiles, bricks, boots and shoes, and light engineering.

A place that makes bricks and tiles has plenty of roofs, though what any particular house wears is a matter for the survey. We see pitched roofs with a loft above the first floor, extensions with flat roofs at the back, and conversions that have turned the loft into a bedroom or an office. Each is a different request.

Pitched roofs over lofts are the usual home for a roof window, and where the loft has been converted, a pair of VELUX windows is a common choice. Flat-roofed extensions at the back are the usual home for a lantern or flat rooflight over the table. Hallways and landings, where there is no roof directly above, take a sun tunnel.

Some family homes may have been adapted over time, with a wall removed to make a kitchen-diner, or a garage turned into a utility room. Those changes can leave a room with one window and a long way to go. A rooflight above the new space is often the quickest way to make it feel finished.

Extensions of that kind also tend to carry a flat roof that was built for weather, not for daylight. If the roof is sound, the opening is formed in it. If the roof has reached the end of its life, it is better to renew the covering around the new kerb at the same time, and the quote sets out both routes so you can see the difference before you choose.

The station that once served Ibstock and Heather closed to passengers in 1931, and the station master's house still stands on Station Road. For us the village is simply a place with a good many houses where a dim spot needs light. Loft rooms have special rules, explained on our loft conversion roof windows page. When you are ready, send a survey request.

Ibstock households ask

How far is Ibstock from Derby, and is it covered?

Ibstock is 28.3 road miles south of Derby, which puts it inside our service radius. Nothing is charged for the survey, and it happens before a figure is mentioned.

Which is better over a dining table, a lantern or a VELUX?

It depends on the roof above. A flat roof suits a lantern or flat rooflight centred on the table, while a pitched roof suits one or two VELUX windows in the slope. A room with a bedroom above cannot take a rooflight directly, so we look at the walls and the loft.

Will a rooflight over the table make the room too hot?

It can on a south or west slope, but it is a design choice. Solar-control glass cuts the heat, a blind controls glare, and an opening unit lets warm air out at the top of the room. We choose the specification to suit the way the slope faces.

What is a VELUX code like MK04 telling me?

The letter describes the width of the frame, while the digits carry the height. Seeing the code in a quote tells you precisely which size is being fitted. We choose the code from the measured opening, the rafter spacing and the ceiling height, and write it into the quote.

Can a rooflight be added to an extension I built years ago?

Often, yes. We check the joists, the covering and the insulation, then form the opening and build an insulated upstand. If the roof has little life left, the quote can include renewing the covering around the new kerb so the two are done together.

Can you replace a misted rooflight over a kitchen extension?

Yes. A misted unit has a failed seal and is beyond repair. We measure the opening, fit a replacement that meets the Part L limit for its type, and renew the flashing or upstand if it is tired. See misted rooflight replacement for more.

Nearby

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