Risca, in Caerphilly County Borough, sits 7.6 road miles out of Newport to the west
Skylights and rooflights fitted in Risca
- 10-year workmanship guarantee
- We handle the Building Control notification where notifiable
Coal, canal and a railway station reopened in 2008
Risca (Rhisga in Welsh) lies in the Caerphilly County Borough as a town, inside the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire in south-east Wales. From the early nineteenth century, the area around Risca was dominated by coal mining and by the transport systems needed to reach the mines. There is also evidence that lead and coal were being extracted much earlier. The first large-scale mine was the Black Vein Colliery, near the boundary between Risca and what is now Cross Keys, and it closed in 1921; the New Risca Colliery, between what is now Wattsville and Cross Keys, operated until 1967. As local industries expanded, and transport links improved with the building of the canal and railways, the population rapidly increased. Risca has a railway station on the Ebbw Valley Railway, reopened in February 2008.
Risca is also home to Ty-Sign, a large housing estate built in the early 1960s as a satellite village for the then new Llanwern steelworks. House types and ages are the better guide: a house of the 1960s, a pre-war terrace and a recent extension each need a different answer, and the survey starts with the roof in front of us.
| Room that wants light | What is overhead | Glass to consider |
|---|---|---|
| Loft room that runs hot in summer | Sloping ceiling under the tiles | A roof window that opens |
| Landing or hall with a loft above | A void between roof and ceiling | A sun tunnel, subject to the loft route |
| Newly converted loft bedroom | Roof slope and a new stair below | Roof windows chosen for the way out |
| Extension or garage conversion | Flat roof on joists | A rooflight set on an upstand |
Chosen from the rooms above
11:00
Caerphilly County Borough and the rules for Wales
Risca's planning questions are put to Caerphilly County Borough Council. Permitted development for a rooflight on a house depends on limits that our planning guide covers for Wales. The householder rights stop short of flats and maisonettes.
If your house was built under a planning condition that removes the rights, or lies under an Article 4 direction, the council can say so. Work that would affect the character of a listed house needs listed building consent, applied for through the council.
12:00
Next door to Risca
A loft room in July, by breakfast
Opening windows, and how much air they let in.
By breakfast in July the sun has been on the roof for hours. A loft room under the slope can already be the warmest in the house, and the first thing anyone wants is a window that actually moves air.
Approved Document F (Wales) has a name for it: purge ventilation, a way to air a room rapidly, which every habitable room needs. An opening window can provide it, and the document gives sizes. Opening area, as a share of floor area, is one-twentieth for a hinged or pivot window that opens 30 degrees or more, and one-tenth for one that opens between 15 and 30 degrees. Under 15 degrees, the opening is ignored.
Those numbers are worth holding against the quote, alongside the floor area of the room you have. A small window in a big loft can look right on the roof and still fall short on air, so the sums are done at the survey, using the actual floor.
Ceiling height matters as well. In a loft room the sloping ceiling means the usable floor is smaller than the plan suggests, and the window has to be set so that you can reach the handle without leaning over furniture. We stand where you would stand and mark the spot.
Opening the sash is the other half. Reach decides a lot: a window high on a slope is awkward to open by hand. Switch- or remote-operated roof windows come from VELUX in solar and electric versions, and VELUX describes an integrated rain sensor on those, which shuts the window as rain starts. The sensor is limited to those VELUX models.
Blinds are part of the same decision. Early sun comes in through the glass, and a blind pulled across keeps it off the bed. We pick the blind together with the window, against the list the maker publishes for the model.
In Wales, roof windows count among the controlled fittings in the Building Regulations. Where the work is notifiable, we handle the Building Regulations notification with local authority building control or a registered building control approver. For the glass, Approved Document L (Wales) says a roof window should meet 1.4 W/m²K or Window Energy Rating band B. The range is on our roof windows page.
Roof window or sun tunnel: what does the room need?
Two ways to bring daylight into a house, for different rooms.
People ask which is better, and the answer depends on the room. A roof window and a sun tunnel both bring daylight into a house, but they work in different places and for different reasons.
A roof window sits in plane with the roof around it, facing the same way as the slope. It suits a room whose ceiling follows the roof, such as a loft room or a bathroom under the slope, because it shows the sky and can open. A sun tunnel is built from a roof dome, a loft tube and a ceiling diffuser, and it suits a room with a loft void above it, such as a hall or a landing. It carries daylight only. It has no view and it does not open.
Look at the room first. If the ceiling slopes with the roof, ask about a window. If the ceiling is flat and there is a loft above, a tube is the candidate. Our guides to roof windows and sun tunnels each go through the range.
The night side differs too. A roof window mirrors the room once the lamps are on, and a blind turns it into a calm panel. A sun tunnel's diffuser shows as a pale disc overhead, with the room's own light doing the work. Neither lights the room itself.
Bedrooms are the place to be careful. Over a bed, a tube may not shut out a summer dawn, so a bedroom generally points to a blackout-blind roof window. A hall, a landing or a cloakroom points to a tube.
Cost has its own pages: what a roof window costs and what a sun tunnel costs. The room usually decides which to look at first.
Where the answer is not obvious, the survey settles it: we look at the roof from outside and the ceiling from inside, and say which suits.
Window or tube
- Ceiling follows the roof
- Roof window
- Flat ceiling, loft above
- Sun tunnel, if the loft route is clear
- Wants a view or fresh air
- Roof window that opens
- Wants daylight only
- Sun tunnel
- Bedroom
- Roof window with a blackout blind
The converted loft: stair, escape and the dark
What a new bedroom under the roof sets in motion.
A loft conversion is more than a room. It changes the house below it, and the windows are only part of what the survey has to read. The stair, the landing and the doors on the floor underneath all come into the picture, and so does the question of who sleeps where while the work is under way.
Approved Document B (Wales) is the guidance for fire safety in houses. When a two-storey house gains a loft room, the stair below will normally have to be enclosed with fire-resisting doors and partitions for its whole length, where there were none. If the house has an automatic fire suppression system, the same guidance expects it to be extended and certified again for the new space.
The same document covers the way out. For upper-floor habitable rooms up to 4.5 m above ground, it sets escape-window measurements, which our Welsh planning guide sets out. We read that against the room before choosing a window, because the window that suits the view is not always the one that suits the escape.
Ventilation and energy figures apply as for any other roof window. Approved Document L (Wales) gives 1.4 W/m²K or band B for what a roof window should meet, and Approved Document F (Wales) covers the vents and the purge ventilation the room needs.
Daylight is one reason to convert a loft, so the position matters. A window set near the ridge sees more sky than one set low, while a lower one gives a view out from the bed. We talk through the trade-off for the room and settle it with the escape requirements, not against them.
Then there is the dark. A bedroom under a roof is the room where the blackout blind matters most, since a window at the top of the house catches dawn before any other. After dark the glass is a black mirror, and the blind turns it into a plain wall of fabric.
The Building Regulations notification for a conversion covers more than the windows. We handle the notification for the window openings where the work is notifiable. Our answer on roof windows and Building Regulations sets out where the window work sits.
What Risca households ask
Is Risca in the area you cover?
Going west out of Newport, you reach Risca after 7.6 road miles, and the survey costs nothing. Close by, we also fit in Rogerstone and Machen, and the survey is free there as well.
What does purge ventilation mean for a roof window?
Approved Document F (Wales) calls for rapid airing, known as purge ventilation, in each habitable room, and a window that opens can meet that. The size of the opening needed depends on the floor area and how far the window opens.
Which is better for a landing, a tube or a window?
It depends on the ceiling. A landing with a flat ceiling and a loft above suits a sun tunnel; a stair under a sloping roof suits a roof window. The loft route decides whether a tube can go in.
Who deals with planning for a rooflight in Risca?
Caerphilly County Borough Council. It can be permitted development for a house, inside the limits in our planning guide, and the council can confirm anything that remains unclear.
Will converting my loft change the stairs?
Approved Document B (Wales) points that way: normally, a loft room above two storeys means the stairway is enclosed and protected, and the survey reads that against your house.
What if the window must be bigger to give enough air?
A larger window, or a second one, can supply the opening area. Approved Document F (Wales) ties the size to the floor area of the room and to how far the sash opens, so we set the sums out at the survey before a size is chosen.
What is the easiest way to start?
Use the survey form for the address and the room. You can also message us on WhatsApp 07880 284133 or email info@supremeskylightsnewport.co.uk.
Book your free survey
10-year workmanship guarantee.
Building Control notification handled where notifiable.