Rooflight on a raised timber kerb among brick semis

Wirksworth

Skylights and rooflights for Wirksworth's old quarrying town

13.7 road miles north of Derby, in an old lead-mining and quarrying town.

Wirksworth's old stone streets keep their windows small. When the desk is the dim corner, the survey begins at the chair and climbs from there to the slope.

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Thick walls, small windows and a desk that faces the wrong way

Empty attic room with a single roof window — An empty attic room with a single roof window, and shade across the floor.

Stairs climbing under a roof window, dim on the flights below it.

Choosing a rooflight for a stone-town roof

For a loft office, VELUX windows and other roof windows are the first thing to price; where the roof is old or the house is listed, conservation rooflights; and for a summer-hot desk, energy efficient rooflights with solar control.

Home working has put a desk in many a spare room and loft, and the desk is a fussier spot than a bed or a bath. It wants even daylight from the side or above, without glare across the screen and without a patch of hot sun on the keyboard. In a thick-walled house a roof window manages this better than a wall window, since its glass sits in the slope, a little above and behind where you sit. Where the house is old, the choice of unit comes down to what the roof and the rules allow. We discuss that at the survey, with the desk marked on the floor, and give you a fixed written quote afterwards.

The full guide

A Wirksworth loft office, from the desk up

A desk in a loft room should be the best-lit place in the house, yet it often ends up the dimmest. The reasons are plain: thick walls, small openings and a roof that was never meant to have windows. Here is how we move from the desk to the roof, and what the age of the house means for the unit.

Daylight at the desk
Which unit
Listed and protected
Warm and cool

Callout 1

Putting the light beside the screen

A desk differs from a worktop or a bed, because you stay put for hours and stare at a screen. Light that is fine for crossing a room can be tiring at a desk. The aim is steady daylight that falls across the work surface from the side or from behind your shoulder, with nothing bright in front of the screen.

Roof window or rooflight for a home office

VELUX-type roof window

Opens for air on warm days
Blinds made to fit the frame
Suits a pitched slope
Familiar controls

Sealed unit

Slim frame, no opening sash
Good beside an extract fan
Fewer moving parts
No fresh air from the glass

That points to a roof window placed beside or slightly behind the desk, not directly over the keyboard. A window straight overhead can bounce light off a glossy screen, and a window straight ahead of you turns into a glare source. The usual answer is to position the opening so the daylight comes over the shoulder, and then fit blinds that can soften it in the middle of a bright afternoon.

We begin at the chair. On the survey we take your chair, chalk the desk edge on the floor and note which way the screen points. After that the rafters get their turn, because the roof has a say too, and the best spot for light and the best gap between rafters can sit a hand's width apart. When that happens we move the desk or the opening, whichever costs you least.

Heat matters at a desk as well. A south-facing slope can bring strong summer sun, so we talk through solar control glazing and a blind that fits the unit. A north-facing slope gives gentle, even light that suits screen work.

A window straight above the keyboard can glare off the screen, so the light comes over your shoulder.

Callout 2

Reading the options without the jargon

VELUX is the brand most people mean by roof window, and its range is broad enough that size and style are picked from a code. Take MK04: M is the width, and 04 is the height. We read that code against the gap between your rafters, so the unit chosen fits the roof with as little extra framing as possible.

Beyond size, there are a few decisions that affect the desk. One is how the window opens, whether it pivots in the middle or hinges at the top. A top-hung unit lifts out and up, which leaves more headroom at the desk and a clearer view out. A centre-pivot sash rotates about a bar across its middle, which suits a window placed high in the slope. Another is the glass. Solar control or tinted coatings cut the summer glare, and laminated glass helps with noise. A third is the controls, which may be a pole, a handle or an electric motor with a remote.

For a replacement, the thermal rule is exact. Approved Document L sets Wirksworth swaps two targets: roof windows 1.4 W/m²K; rooflights 2.2 W/m²K. We tell you which category your unit is in and what the new one achieves.

Five units a desk might get

How common unit types suit a screen-based desk.
Unit	Opens	Desk glare	Fits
Top-hung roof window	Yes, up and out	Easy to blind	Pitched slopes
Centre-pivot roof window	Yes, turns on bar	Easy to blind	Pitched slopes
Electric opening unit	Yes, by remote	Easy to blind	High or hard reach
Fixed rooflight	No	Glass choice helps	Low pitch, flat roof
Conservation rooflight	Some models	Slim, flat look	Older, sensitive roofs

Callout 3

Old stone, listed buildings and the council

Wirksworth has a great deal of protected building for a town of about 5,000 people. The civil parish contains 108 listed buildings and structures, protected by Historic England for their historic or architectural interest. A house on that list needs consent before it is altered in most ways, and a new rooflight is an alteration. Historic England explains how listing works, and Derbyshire Dales District Council, at derbyshiredales.gov.uk, handles the application.

An unlisted house is a different case, and the council's pages for your address tell us whether other controls bite. With none, a house rooflight normally comes under householder permitted development, the conditions for which sit in our planning guide. We do not restate them because the guide links to the official source.

The Building Regulations side applies to every house, listed or not. A new opening is notifiable building work, and our paperwork goes to the Derbyshire Dales council, or alternatively to a registered building control approver. Part L counts a like-for-like swap on a stone roof as a controlled fitting, which is why the earlier limits hold.

On an older, sensitive roof, a conservation rooflight is designed to sit low and flat. Its thin frame and single glazing bar recall the old cast-iron rooflights, and the unit sits low against the covering.

What we ask before a desk window is drawn

Is the house listed?: decides if consent is needed
Which slope faces the road?: sets planning care
Rafter spacing: chooses the unit width
Covering of the roof: stone slate, slate or tile
Desk and screen position: places the opening

Callout 4

Keeping a loft office comfortable

A well-lit desk that bakes in July is no use. A loft that sits right under the covering picks up heat from the sun, and a large pane in the slope adds to it. Solar control glass cuts the gain, a blind on the outside is better again, and an opening sash lets the hot air leave at the top. For a hard-to-reach window, an electric opening unit can be set to ventilate while you work. Each of these gets discussed at the survey, and what you choose goes into the quote so that nothing arrives as an extra later.

Noise is the other thing a desk worker notices. Rain drums harder on a roof window than on a wall window, and laminated glass takes the edge off. Phone calls at the desk? Mention it during the survey and that glass goes into the quote.

Blinds deserve a decision early. Roller and pleated blinds made for the frame sit snug to the glass and tame glare without blacking out the room, and a blackout one turns the loft into a spare bedroom after hours. Pick the blind alongside the window and its fixings are planned from the start, with every item on one quote.

A lead-mining and quarrying town, house by house

Edward I granted Wirksworth its market charter in 1306, and a market still runs on Tuesdays in the Memorial Gardens. The town developed as a centre for lead mining and stone quarrying. The name was recorded as Werchesworde in the Domesday Book of 1086. It sits in the White Peak, and it contains the source of the River Ecclesbourne. The heritage Ecclesbourne Valley Railway runs from Wirksworth station to Duffield.

Within the town, Bolehill is the oldest and most northerly part, technically a hamlet in its own right, while Yokecliffe is a large estate. Neither gets a house type from us, since that would be guesswork. The useful point is how a stone town's character bears on a rooflight. Stone walls are thick, so the windows in them are deep-set and let in less light than the same window in a thin brick wall. A stone-built house with a loft that has been turned into an office may therefore rely on a roof window for most of its daylight.

The 2011 census recorded 2,416 dwellings in the civil parish, and plans have been made for new housing estates to the north of the centre and in the disused Middle Peak Quarry. Newer houses on estates like that have conventional roof structures that are quick to survey, and standard roof windows suit them. Older ones may have hand-cut timbers, and those need more care. The opening follows the rafters actually present, and the covering is worked by hand, since an old covering is not a kit.

A free survey comes first, then a quote that is fixed in writing and stays the same on the day. Notifiable work goes through Building Control with our paperwork, and the workmanship carries a ten-year written guarantee.

Think about the view as well as the light. A roof window set above head height shows sky and treetops, while one lower in the slope lets someone seated look out. Tell us where you usually sit or stand in the room, and the position of the frame can be chosen to suit that spot.

Wirksworth desk and rooflight questions

Which side of a loft office should the window be on?

Beside or behind your shoulder, not straight ahead of the screen. A window in front becomes a glare source, and one directly overhead can reflect off the monitor. The survey starts in your chair, with the position marked on the floor before any rafter is inspected.

My house is listed. Can a rooflight still go in?

In some cases, once listed building consent is granted. The council decides, and it will want to see a design that suits the roof. The usual proposal is a conservation pattern with a slim frame. We can describe the unit and the fitting, and you or your agent apply to the council.

How do I read a VELUX size code?

MK04 splits into a width letter, M, and a height number, 04. We choose the code to match the space between your rafters, so the opening needs as little extra framing as possible. The rest of the specification is chosen separately.

Can a new window in a thick stone roof void be insulated properly?

Yes. Lining and insulation fill the shaft from rafters to ceiling, and the glazing must reach the thermal figure for its category. Wirksworth roof windows meet the test at 1.4 W/m²K. Rooflights stop at 2.2 W/m²K.

Does the work need Building Control as well as planning?

It does. A new roof opening is building work, so a registered building control approver or the council receives notice from us. We handle it where the work is notifiable. Planning is a separate check, and our planning guide explains it.

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.