Roof window in a grey tiled roof on a misty day
Whitwick

Skylights and rooflights for Whitwick's knitters' cottages

23.1 road miles south of Derby, a large village with knitters' cottages in its streets.

Whitwick homes include old framework knitters' cottages and newer family houses, and both have bedrooms that need more daylight. Show us the desk or bed.

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Cottage bedrooms, spare-room offices and shadowed stairs

Utility area with a cupboard, plants on the sill and a rooflight
A utility area with a cupboard and plants on the sill, shaded away from the rooflight.
A cottage bedroom under the slope, where the far end of the bed stays dim all day.

A desk window for a Whitwick spare room

In Whitwick we fit VELUX windows, with roof windows from other makers as the alternative; for older cottages, conservation rooflights; for dark halls, sun tunnels.

Overhead daylight by a desk stays steady and avoids the screen reflections that a side window can throw. That is why spare-room offices are a regular reason to ask. We position the window so the light arrives from above and slightly behind your shoulder, rather than in front of the monitor, and the survey confirms the sizes against your rafters before you commit.

The full guide

A desk, a bed and a roof that slopes over both

Whitwick has seen working rooms move into spare bedrooms and lofts. This guide follows the desk first, then the money, then the day itself, and ends with the council.

Section drawing: a VELUX roof window with its flashing kit in a pitched roof, with daylight falling on a deskA two-storey house cut through from the roof to the ground floor. Numbered callouts: 1 Desk daylight; 2 Price drivers; 3 Roof day; 4 Planning desk.1. Desk daylight12. Price drivers23. Roof day34. Planning desk4
Section drawing: a VELUX roof window with its flashing kit in a pitched roof, with daylight falling on a desk
  1. Desk daylight
  2. Price drivers
  3. Roof day
  4. Planning desk

Callout 1

Where a home office wants its daylight

Working from a spare bedroom changes what the room is for. The bed gave way to a desk, and the window that was fine for sleeping is now a poor source of light for typing, reading and video calls. Older houses can make this harder, because small windows let in a narrow beam.

Notes taken at the desk

Seat position
where your eyes sit, marked on the floor
Wall you face at the desk
which wall you face when working
Sill height
measured from the seated eye line
Roof aspect
which way the slope faces the sun
Blind choice
inside, outside, or none

We begin by sitting where you sit. The desk position tells us which way you face, where glare would bite and how much daylight has to cover. A window in the slope behind and above the desk gives even light without a reflection on the screen.

Height matters more than width

A sloping ceiling pulls the roof window low in the room, and a low window needs a decision about headroom. At the desk you are seated, so a window that begins at head height when standing may still sit well above your eyes when you are on a chair. We take the measurement from the seated position, and the quote shows the height of the lower edge.

The same thinking applies to a bed under the eaves, where the slope of the ceiling can hide the best position until someone lies down to test it. The pillow end is the spot, and the window goes where the first daylight of the morning falls on it.

Keeping the room cool

A south-facing roof window can warm a small room in summer. A blind on the inside, or an external awning kit, controls that. We mention this at the survey, because choosing the blind alongside the window is simpler than adding one later.

A home office is also a room where noise matters, and a Whitwick spare room next to a busy road is no exception. Rain on a roof window is audible, and a laminated outer pane softens it. Your survey is the moment to say if that matters to you.

Seated, not standing, is the height that counts when a desk is the spot.

Callout 2

What shapes the quote for a VELUX window

People often ask what a VELUX will cost before they ask anything else. The answer depends on the roof and the room, and a number given without a survey is a guess. We can explain what moves the figure so you know what you are choosing between.

The first factor is the size code. Take the code MK04. Width is carried by the letter and height by the 04, so any change in the code means a different frame. A bigger frame needs a bigger opening and more roofing work, and it costs more as a result.

The second factor is the glass. Standard double glazing is the base; laminated panes, tinted coatings and triple glazing add features and add to the quote. The third is the opening method: manual, electric or solar-powered.

The roof you already have

A flashing kit has to match your tiles or slate. A plain tile, a pantile and a slate each need their own kit. If the existing roof needs a few tiles replaced around the opening, that is a part of the job.

Finally, there is access. A scaffold tower is part of the work on a higher roof, while a low roof can be reached with a ladder platform. All of this goes into one written figure, which holds on the day.

Six things that tilt a window quote

  • Frame sizeBigger codes need wider openings and more roofing work.
  • Glazing gradeLaminated or triple panes add to the unit.
  • Opening methodElectric and solar versions cost more than a manual sash.
  • Covering to cut throughSlate, plain tile and pantile need different flashing kits.
  • Ceiling finishLonger or splayed light shafts take more plastering.
  • Getting to the siteHigher roofs need scaffold towers.

Callout 3

How the day on the roof runs

For one VELUX window in a plain roof, budget a couple of days at the most on the roof. The sequence counts for more than the pace.

First comes protection. Dust sheets go down in the room, and the furniture under the opening is moved. Then the roof covering around the position is lifted and the rafters are marked. Once the opening is cut and the framing is in place, the flashing kit and the window are fixed and weathered.

Only then do we turn to the inside. The light shaft is lined and the ceiling returned so the glass appears to belong to the room. That tidy interior is what you notice later; the roof work is what keeps the water out.

A quiet house on the day

Some noise is unavoidable, especially when tiles are lifted. We ask you to be ready for it and keep pets out of the way. A small job does not need you to leave the house.

When the window is in, we show you how it opens, how the blind works and how to clean the outside pane. Then the paperwork: the written guarantee for ten years of workmanship, and the Building Control notification if one applies.

From dust sheet to last check

  1. Sheets and clear floor

    Sheets down, furniture shifted, a clear path to the loft.

  2. Lift the covering

    Covering lifted, rafters marked, the opening framed and made sound.

  3. Frame bedded in

    Window set, flashing kit fitted course by course with the tiles.

  4. Reinstate the ceiling

    Shaft lined, ceiling returned, paint-ready surfaces left clean.

  5. Walk-through

    Operation shown, paperwork given, the guarantee confirmed in writing.

Callout 4

North West Leicestershire and the paperwork

Planning questions in Whitwick go to North West Leicestershire District Council (nwleics.gov.uk). On a house, a rooflight commonly falls under permitted development, and the conditions sit in our planning guide rather than on this page. Flats and maisonettes are treated differently, and a listed property must secure consent from the council before most alterations.

Whitwick has surviving framework knitters' cottages, recognised by the long first-floor windows made to bring in daylight. If your house is one, ask whether it is listed before planning anything. Inside a conservation area the council can withdraw those rights with an Article 4 direction, which makes a call to the planning team worthwhile. No conservation area is claimed for Whitwick here, since none has been confirmed.

Building Regulations in plain terms

Cutting into the roof structure for a new opening calls for Building Regulations approval, via the local authority or a registered building control approver, and we make that Building Control notification when it is due. When one unit simply replaces another in its existing frame, the work is covered by the Part L energy rules, and the replacement can be certified by a competent person scheme.

Our fitting follows current Building Regulations from the first fixing. Finding an inspector is not your job; the notification, the certificate and the guarantee arrive together at the end.

Cottages, a castle site and the village around them

Whitwick is a village of about 10,500 people, roughly two miles north of Coalville. It is old: the village had a weekly market and a four-day fair as early as the thirteenth century, and it once had a motte and bailey castle, although no remains are left. What remains in the streets is more modest and more useful to a roof survey.

Framework knitting left its mark on the houses. Several surviving cottages in the village have the elongated first-floor windows that were designed to let in more light for the work. A person living in one today is solving the same problem the knitter solved, a bright room under a low roof, with a different tool.

Reading an older roof

Older cottage roofs are lower and carry more character. The pitch can be shallow, the rafters are irregular, and the covering may be slate or clay tile. A roof window in this kind of roof needs a flashing kit that matches, and the rafters often decide the width of the window. We measure the actual spacing, because the book figure can be out by a few centimetres.

The ceiling is another point. Bedrooms in a cottage slope with the roof, and the upper part of the wall may be part ceiling, part wall. We mark the position on the sloping ceiling before the work so you can see the shape of the opening from inside.

Newer houses and the village edge

Newer homes in Whitwick tend to have an ordinary pitched roof with a loft that can be converted. A roof window in a loft room brings the escape question. Approved Document B accepts the glass as an exit only for rooms lower than 4.5 m, so a loft above two storeys relies on a protected stair instead. Bungalows and chalets are in a different position, and the survey covers it.

The old station building, now home to Whitwick Historical Group, is a reminder that the village changed over time. The housing did too, and a rooflight is one of the lighter ways to adapt a house for how people live in it now.

Questions from Whitwick desks, bedrooms and cottages

Is a roof window good for a spare-room office?

It can be, because overhead light is steady and avoids the glare a side window throws at a screen. We position the glass behind and above the desk, measured from where you sit, and suggest a blind to control summer heat.

What does the letter and number in a VELUX code mean?

Width sits in the letter, height in the digits. Two frames from one range with different codes are different sizes, which is why the code stamped on an old window tells us what is in your roof.

Can a knitters' cottage take a rooflight?

Often the roof can, though a listed house must have consent first. A flush-fitting conservation rooflight is the type that suits a cottage roof. Ask North West Leicestershire District Council about your house before ordering.

How long is a single window job in Whitwick?

One plain window can take a day or two up top, followed by the interior finishing. A tall roof or an awkward ceiling adds to that, and the survey tells you before you agree to anything.

Does the guarantee cover the window or the fitting?

Our 10-year workmanship guarantee covers the installation work, and it is given in writing. The manufacturer separately warrants the window itself, and we pass on that paperwork at handover.

Nearby

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

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We cover Derby and 30 miles around.