How skylights or rooflights suit Orrell's pit terraces and bungalow estates
Coalfield terraces in brick and stone, inter-war semis along the main roads and bungalow estates on the western edge give Orrell a roofline of slate, concrete tile and the occasional flagged slope. Rooflight installation in Orrell is a matter of matching a skylight to whichever of those the house wears, and of keeping it dry on high, open ground.
17 road miles north-east of Liverpool city centre
What does a dark room look like in an Orrell house?
- The terrace atticUp under the slates of a mining-era terrace near Orrell Post, an attic bedroom with a single small dormer-less window that was never meant for sleeping in.
- The bungalow's hallTowards Upholland, the hall of a bungalow on the newer estates has doors off every side, and the loft above it is tall enough to carry a sun tunnel.
- The semi's back kitchenBehind a 1930s semi, a kitchen widened into the garden under a low roof, so the cooker end of the room is a long way from the glass.
Terrace attics, bungalow halls and semi back kitchens
Orrell's roofs run from narrow stone and brick terraces through plain inter-war semis to bungalows of the middle decades, and nearly all have gained an extension since, so skylight installation in Orrell has several different jobs to do.
- On the low back extensions of the semis a flat rooflight sits on a raised kerb, which holds the glass above the water that pools on a felt roof.
- Slate terraces and tiled semis take roof windows set between the rafters, each flashed to whatever covering that slope carries.
- Loft conversions in the semis get VELUX or equivalent windows, the unit height chosen against the headroom of the room below, not the catalogue.
- Electric opening rooflights for tall kitchen extensions, where a pole or a stretch is the only way to reach a window that vents the room.
Pit terraces, then semis, then bungalow estates
Orrell grew with the coalfield. Short rows of two-up two-downs in local stone or brick, with Welsh slate on the roof and a yard behind, were the first houses here, put up for the workers whom the mines and brickworks of the Wigan area drew in. Some of the oldest cottages are stone-built and lie close to the road, with thick walls and shallow rooms. They are few in number, and each is different from its neighbour, so a survey is the only honest way to say what a rooflight would need.
When the old industries faded, the village grew by other means. Along the main routes came inter-war semis. After the Second World War a second wave of private housing followed, in brick under concrete tile, and cul-de-sacs of bungalows and detached houses were added later towards the western edge. Orrell station, on the line between Wigan and Kirkby, made the place easy to commute from, and that helped the later estates fill quickly. A rear kitchen extension under a flat or low-pitched roof is now common, as is a loft conversion of some age.
Each of these types has its own habit. A pit terrace has a steep roof and a dark top landing, because the stair was built narrow and the only window is at the bottom. An inter-war semi has a front and rear bedroom, a boxed bathroom and a stair landing that is lit by one side window or none. Bungalow halls have no outer wall whatever, and the roof void over them is often roomy enough to hide a tube or a long shaft. These facts shape which unit goes where, and the table gives the short version.
The newest housing, in the fringes where farmland has been built over, uses trussed rafters with felt under the tile. Cutting a rafter in a trussed roof is not something we do without sorting out the load first, and the survey will say whether a unit has to fit between the trusses or can be framed around them. Where a roof is still young, we also check what the original builder fitted under the tile before we open anything.
| House | Roof | A good fit |
|---|---|---|
| Pit-village terrace | Welsh slate | Roof window to the attic |
| Stone cottage | Slate or stone slate | Conservation rooflight, after a survey |
| Inter-war semi | Concrete or clay tile | Landing window or sun tunnel |
| Bungalow | Concrete tile | Sun tunnel to the hall |
| Rear extension | Felt or single-ply | Flat rooflight or lantern |
Open to the west on a ridge, and what that asks of a frame
Rising ground on the western side of Wigan carries Orrell, and the land keeps climbing towards Upholland and the higher ground beyond. That height is the story of its roofs. With nothing across the Lancashire plain to slow it, a west or south-west wind hits the first slopes of the village head on. Rain is driven at the western faces of the roofs, and the ridges and verges of the houses on the crest take the worst of it.
The weak points on a rooflight here are the head and the sides of the frame, because wind pressure can lift water under a flashing that would be perfectly good in a sheltered street. On a slate roof we keep the soakers long and lapped, and on a tile roof we use the kit made for the exact profile. Verges on exposed gables deserve a look at the same visit, because a loose verge tile next to a new window is an invitation to trouble, and we would rather tell you than leave it.
The older terraces bring another matter. The slates on a mining-era roof may be thin Welsh slates hung on timber that has seen a great deal of damp. When we open the roof for a window, we are looking at the laths and the rafters as much as at the covering. A window is a heavy item compared with a slate, and the opening has to be trimmed with timber that can carry it. Where the rafters are old, we usually double them and fix the trimmers back to sound wood. That takes a little longer than a modern roof, and the quote says so.
Access in the older streets is tighter than on the estates. Some terraces back onto narrow lanes or share a yard, and the front is on the pavement. A tower on the pavement may need the council's licence and we plan for that, or we reach the roof from the back instead. Bungalows and semis are simpler because the drives are wide and the roofs low, which makes a lantern or a flat rooflight easy to bring in. Garden walls and mature trees on the edge of the village are more of a concern than the traffic.
Ventilation is worth a word for the attic rooms. A pitched roof window that opens gives a bedroom under the slates a way to clear damp air, which an old fixed window never did. Condensation on single glazing in a cold roof void is a common reason people ask us about replacement. Our page on rooflight condensation explains the cause, and the fix is usually a better unit with a properly sealed lining.
- Check the head. We look at how the courses above the opening run, and where they need relaying.
- Test the timbers. A probe and a torch tell us whether the rafters will carry a trimmer.
- Plan the reach. Tower, ladder or roof access is decided before the day, not on it.
- Fit and seal. The frame goes in square, then the flashing is lapped from the bottom up.
Wigan Council, the Building Regulations and the file you keep
Orrell belongs to the Wigan borough, so planning applications go to Wigan Council. Its website, wigan.gov.uk, carries the planning register and details of any local restrictions. Although Orrell is described as part of Greater Manchester, it is no more than an administrative home. The roofs and the weather belong to the Lancashire plain, and the planning rules are the English ones with no special variation for the county.
This page leaves the house rooflight conditions to the permitted development rules for a skylight, where they are set out in full. The only local point is that a council can protect an area with an Article 4 direction. Rather than guess at a conservation boundary in Orrell, we check the council's current map with you. For a stone cottage or any building that might be listed, the listed building consent guide shows what is needed first.
The certificate at the end of an Orrell rooflight job comes from Wigan Council's building control team, or from a registered approver if one did the checks, while the thermal and safety standards a new unit must meet have a guide to themselves.
If you are converting a loft, the escape question arises, and Approved Document B sets the rules. A bungalow's roof room can use the roof window as its way out, but a two-storey house with a loft room needs a protected stair, because an escape window cannot serve it. That is a design point for the conversion and not for the rooflight alone, and we say so at the outset. Our page on roof window means of escape goes through it.
A rooflight is only finished once the council has been told about it.
What Orrell homeowners ask before the ladder goes up
I live in an old stone cottage near Orrell Post. Is a rooflight possible?
It can be done, but it takes a survey first. The roof may be slate or stone slate on timbers that need strengthening, and the building may be protected in ways that are not obvious. We look, check the planning position with you and then confirm the work in writing.
Our Orrell bungalow hall is windowless. What would you put in it?
A sun tunnel is usually the answer, because a bungalow has a loft space to run the tube through and no upper floor to cut into. A small roof window can work if the hall sits under a clear slope. We choose after looking in the loft.
Do you cover Upholland and the edges of Orrell as well?
Upholland, Orrell Post and the estates around Orrell are all within the area we work, along with the rest of the Wigan side. The terms are the same wherever the house sits.
Will the wind on Orrell's high ground lift the flashing on a new rooflight?
Not if the flashing is built for the exposure, which is why a west-facing slope on the crest gets longer lapped soakers on slate and a kit cut for the exact tile profile on concrete. Wind lifts water under a thin or short flashing, so the head and side upstands are made generous. While the roof is open we also look at the verge tiles next to the window, since a loose one beside a new frame would let the wind in.
Is it safe to open the roof of a mining-era terrace for a window?
It is, once the timbers have been looked at. Thin Welsh slates on old laths and rafters that have seen decades of damp can carry a frame only if the opening is trimmed with sound wood, so the rafters on either side are doubled and the trimmers are fixed back to timber that has not softened. The work takes a little longer than on a modern roof and the quote says so, with the header and the sill treated as the two places where old timber most needs help.
Up Holland west, Winstanley east, Standish north-east
Up Holland lies a short way west on higher ground, Winstanley sits between Orrell and Wigan to the east, and Standish lies to the north-east.
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Get a fixed quote in Orrell
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- We survey the roof before we price
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What happens next: we arrange a survey at a time that suits you, measure the roof and the room, then send a fixed written quote. Nothing is booked until you say yes.