Saltney's railway terraces over the border from Chester need skylights or rooflights
Saltney is level ground by the River Dee, across the Welsh border from Chester, built up of railway-era brick terraces, inter-war council houses and newer estates. Rooflight installation in Saltney deals with roofs on open, level ground, and every skylight is built to the Welsh Building Regulations.
26.9 road miles south of Liverpool city centre
Why is it so dark at the top of a Saltney terrace?
- The railway terrace stairIn a long row of Victorian or Edwardian railway-era terraces, a narrow stairwell hemmed in by party walls, where the only daylight is whatever finds its way down from a tiny landing window.
- The lean-to kitchenBehind a terrace, a kitchen added on in a lean-to or flat-roofed style, so the back room has the garden door but nothing overhead.
- The council semi landingStairs in an inter-war council semi rise through the centre of the house, so the landing has no external wall to borrow light from.
Railway stairs, lean-to kitchens, council landings
Saltney's roofs run from Victorian railway terraces through inter-war council semis and post-war estates to newer houses, and skylight installation in Saltney calls for something different on each.
- Roof lanterns
- Flat roof rooflights
- Roof windows
- Electric and opening rooflightsOpening rooflights over a rear extension
- Wider rear extensions on newer estates suit a lantern framed to whatever opening the builder left in the roof.
- Rear kitchens and lean-tos take a flat rooflight on a kerb, lifting the glass above the water that lies on a low-fall roof.
- Terrace slopes of shallow slate and tile take roof windows flashed for rain that crosses open ground unhindered.
- Opening rooflights over a rear extension, where a motor and a rain sensor let a warm kitchen breathe without anyone reaching up to a frame.
Railway rows, council estates and the border at the end of the road
Saltney grew as a railway and industrial place on the flat ground where the line, the river and the Chester border meet. The oldest housing is made up of long rows of brick terraces, built for people who worked on the railway and in the nearby works. Many of those rows run in tight straight lines with shallow yards behind them, and a good number have had a rear kitchen added since.
Behind and around the rows come inter-war and post-war estates, put up as council housing and now mostly in private hands: pairs of semis with hipped tiled roofs, short terraces and a handful of bungalows. Nearer to the edges of the town and out towards Saltney Ferry, newer streets of detached and semi-detached houses carry concrete tiles on trussed roofs, usually with an open-plan extension at the back. The mix is easy to read from the street, because the house type says almost everything about what the roof will hold.
Terrace roofs here are mostly slate or tile on a modest pitch, with a ridge running the length of the row and a rear slope that faces the yards. On a terrace the rear slope is the place for a roof window, which lights a landing or loft room while the street frontage stays untouched. A rear extension, whether original lean-to or modern, brings a flat or low-pitched roof where a rooflight or lantern suits.
On the council estates the common problem is a landing that has no external wall to put a window in. A sun tunnel is often better than a roof window there, because it reaches an inner landing through the loft without needing to cut through a rafter, so it suits a house where the roof timbers are closely spaced.
Lofts in the terraces are shallow and narrow, and many have never been converted. Where an owner wants a bedroom or a study up there, the rear slope takes one or two roof windows, and the party walls on either side set the limit on how wide the opening can be. Chimney stacks on the terrace roofs often sit close to the ridge, and a window may have to go clear of them on the rear slope. The height at the ridge decides whether a person can stand under the window, so we measure that before talking about size. A loft that is too low for a room can still take a window to light the stairs.
- Whether the terrace has a party wall that rises above the roof
- The state of the slate or tile along the rear slope
- Any lean-to roof joined to the back wall
- How closely the roof timbers are spaced above the landing
- Where the estate house keeps its flue or soil pipe
Open ground on every side and what it asks of the flashing
Saltney lies on the flat floor of the Dee valley, and the ground around it is low and open. There are no hills to break a gale and few tall buildings to shelter behind, so rain driven by a westerly crosses fields and yards and arrives on the roofs at an angle. Terrace rows that run end to end take the wind along the slope, and the verges and the sides of any new opening need the most careful sealing.
Low ground also means a damp, soft climate for materials. Felt and single-ply on a flat roof with a poor fall can hold standing water for days after rain, and old slates in damp yards collect moss that holds moisture against battens. Under a flat roof the survey checks the deck as well as the covering, because a kerb fixed to a soft deck cannot stay level.
Access is the practical challenge on the terraces. Tight rows leave no room for scaffolding and the yards behind are narrow, which sometimes makes a tower the only choice. A roof window can instead be fitted from within the loft, as working from the inside of the roof space describes, and that keeps the pavement clear.
Newer houses are easier to reach but have their own issues. The trussed roofs of the newer estates cannot be trimmed without an engineer's design, because the timbers carry load from the roof down through the walls. A lantern on a rear extension is easier, since the structure beneath it is usually a flat roof with proper joists, and the opening can be sized to them.
Slate and tile each ask for different care at the cut. Old slate splits when it is lifted and re-laid, so spares are brought for the surround. Concrete tiles are heavier and the cut edge needs the right flashing profile, or water finds the join. On either covering the underlay is dressed into the new opening, and a collar of lead or a proprietary apron carries water out onto the roof, not behind it. The detail takes time, and it is what decides whether the opening is dry in five years.
Pitched terrace slopes
- Roof window on the rear slope
- Flashing matched to slate or tile
- Fitting from inside often possible
- Moss and soft battens to check
Flat and lean-to roofs
- Rooflight or small lantern on a raised kerb
- The deck checked before the kerb goes on
- Upstand dressed above standing water
- Access from the yard or garden
Flintshire rules, the Welsh regime and the border paperwork
The border puts Saltney under Welsh law, and the paperwork follows. Flintshire County Council decides planning in Saltney, working to Welsh permitted development, which differs from the English rules most websites quote. The Welsh Government sets them out on gov.wales, and we check your roof against the current Welsh rules at the survey. Tell us at the first call if the home is a flat or a house split into flats, since the permitted rights are narrower.
Listed buildings in Wales fall to Cadw, whose guidance on consent is at cadw.gov.wales. Most Saltney houses are ordinary terraces, council semis and modern builds, so the question rarely arises, but if you think a particular building might be listed, tell us at the first call and we will check before any quote is written.
The certificate that closes a Saltney job comes from Flintshire County Council's building control or a registered building control approver, under the Welsh version of the regulations, and how the energy standard applies to a new rooflight is covered in a separate guide.
A job just over the border in England follows different rules, so the address on the quote matters. Saltney homes are measured against the Welsh regime from the start, which is why the survey records which side of the boundary the house is on.
A loft conversion in a terrace raises one further point. In a bungalow or chalet bungalow, a roof window serving a room within 4.5m of the ground, and sized to the Approved Document B minimums, may serve as the means of escape for an attic bedroom. A two-storey house is different: a loft room there needs a protected stair, and a roof window cannot take its place. The rules sit in Approved Document B, and the survey will tell you early whether the idea works for your house.
- Survey. We measure the roof, note the housing type and confirm the Welsh rules apply.
- Quote. The unit, the kerb or flashing and the Building Control route are all written down.
- Notify. The right Building Control body hears from us before the work begins.
- Hand over. We go through the finished opening with you and leave the paperwork with the house.
Saltney homeowners ask us before booking
Does Saltney being in Wales mean different rules for my rooflight?
Wales has its own planning and Building Control, so the answer is yes. Flintshire County Council handles planning under Welsh permitted development, and the energy standard for the unit comes from the Welsh edition of the regulations. The survey sets out what applies to your house before you commit to anything.
Our Saltney terrace has a lean-to kitchen roof. Is there room for a rooflight over it?
A lean-to kitchen roof can usually take a rooflight once the deck, the covering and the fall have been checked. A flat rooflight or small lantern goes on a raised kerb with the upstand dressed up the edge, and if the roof beneath needs attention first we say so. An old lean-to also gets its glazing bars and wall plate checked, because a new unit has to be carried by sound timber.
I am on an inter-war estate in Saltney with a dark landing. What suits it?
A sun tunnel often suits an inner landing best, because it runs through the loft without cutting a rafter. If the landing sits under a loft you use, a roof window above the stair can do the same job. We measure both at the survey and recommend the one that suits the house.
Our Saltney terrace has a mossy slate roof. Will that slate carry a roof window?
A mossy slate roof can take a roof window, but old slate splits when it is lifted, so we bring spares and check the battens beneath. Moss holds moisture against the timber, and soft battens are replaced around the opening so the frame has something sound to fix to. The flashing is lead or a proprietary apron, dressed to carry water out onto the roof.
Can a loft in a Saltney terrace become a bedroom with roof windows?
A terrace loft can become a bedroom when the height at the ridge lets a person stand under the window. The party walls set the limit on how wide the opening can be, and the rear slope usually takes one or two roof windows. A loft too low for a room can still take a single window to light the stairs.
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Get a fixed quote in Saltney
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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.