Vale of Glamorgan, 26 road miles from Newport towards the south-west
Barry skylights and rooflights
- 10-year workmanship guarantee
- We handle the Building Control notification where notifiable
Docks, terraces and the roofs behind them
Barry (Y Barri in Welsh) is a coastal town and community in the Vale of Glamorgan. According to the 1673 hearth tax list the parish contained thirteen houses. Work on the docks began in 1884, and the first dock basin opened in 1889, followed by two other docks and extensive port installations. Behind the docks rose the terraced houses of Barry which, with Cadoxton, soon formed a sizeable town.
Older still is the Roman layer: farmsteads once stood on the site of Barry Castle and Biglis, and a Roman villa was found at Llandough. That is background, not a guide to the roof over your head. For the roofs we go by house type and age, starting with the covering, the pitch and what lies in the loft.
| Type of home | The roof you look at | Where we would begin |
|---|---|---|
| Terraced house with a front and a back slope | Two pitched faces, one to the street | A roof window on the back slope; the front one only if the street view suits |
| Terrace with a kitchen built out behind | A single-storey flat roof | A flat rooflight over the dark end of the room |
| Semi with a stairwell lit by no window of its own | Pitched, with loft space above | A roof window if the landing sits under the slope |
| House with a bathroom under the eaves | A sloping ceiling above the bath | A roof window whose sash opens and whose blind gives privacy |
Three products to look at first
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Roofs, the Vale and Welsh planning law
Planning matters in Barry go to Vale of Glamorgan Council. Limits on height and on how far a rooflight projects help decide whether a house rooflight can be permitted development, and the Welsh planning guide gives the details.
A condition on a house's first planning permission, or an Article 4 direction, can take those rights away. Vale of Glamorgan Council can confirm which applies. Flats and maisonettes have no householder rights at all. If a house is listed, listed building consent is needed where the work would affect its character, and Vale of Glamorgan Council takes the application. Cadw recommends listings, and the Welsh Ministers compile the list.
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Also on our list
Two slopes, two outlooks
Front or back for a loft roof window, and who can see in.
Behind the docks rose the terraced houses of Barry, and a terraced house usually has two slopes: one to the street and one to the back. The choice between them is the first decision in a loft room, and it is made on the pavement as much as in the loft.
A front slope faces the street. Windows set in it light the room, and they also change the look of the terrace, because a row of roofs that all match is read as a whole. A back slope is quieter. It faces gardens, yards and the backs of other houses, and for many rooms it can be the easier place for new glass. Tell us which one you are thinking of, and we look at both.
Overlooking is the question to ask next. Roof windows face the sky, so by day they are seldom looked into, but a lit room is easy to see into after dark. Go to the spot the window would occupy and look across at what could see it: another upstairs window, a landing, a neighbour's terrace. A blind settles most of it, and a blackout blind settles the morning too.
Light from the sky is soft on a back slope that faces north, and stronger on one that faces south. Neither is better in itself. A bedroom wants calm and a darkened morning, a study wants steady light, and the slope that serves one may not serve the other.
Consider what the room is for. A bedroom wants the window out of the line of sight from the bed, a study wants light across the desk rather than onto the screen, and a bathroom wants the window where whoever is at the basin or bath is not on view. Stand in each of those places and look up.
Then comes the roof itself. Slate, tile and other coverings can each need a different flashing around the window, so we note the covering on both slopes. The loft decides the rest: where the timbers run, whether there is a tank, and how much headroom the window can use.
A new roof window in an existing home is building work, since the regulations treat roof windows as controlled fittings, and where the work is notifiable we handle the notification with local authority building control or a registered building control approver. Approved Document L (Wales) gives a guidance figure of 1.4 W/m²K, or Window Energy Rating band B, for a new roof window, and it is worth asking for that on the quote.
| Slope | What to weigh |
|---|---|
| Front | Changes the street view; seen from the pavement |
| Back | Faces gardens; often quieter |
| Either | Check what can see into the room after dark |
Rain on the glass
Noise, sensors and an open sash.
The Barry Railway brought coal down from the South Wales Valleys to the new docks, and trade there grew from one million tons in the first year to over nine million tons by 1903. Anyone who has lain under a roof window in heavy rain knows a quieter kind of tonnage: the drumming on the glass.
Rain noise reduction is on VELUX's list of glazing options for roof windows, and which options are offered depends on the window and the glazing variant. The sound of rain is therefore one more question for the supplier. It is worth asking for a bedroom in particular, since the sleeper is in the room with the glass above them.
Rain raises another problem: an open sash. A bathroom roof window can be left open to clear steam, and a shower of rain may arrive at the worst moment. VELUX says the rain sensor on its electric and solar models closes the window by itself in rain. The sensor belongs to those models alone, so any other window is a question for its own supplier.
For a room with a high window, the electric versions answer a second problem too, since the sash is opened from a switch. The hub on VELUX windows sets out the range, and powered openers have a hub of their own, electric opening rooflights.
If the room is a child's, add reach to the list. A sash that opens high above the floor is a window for adults, and a powered opener or a pole can solve it. Say who will use the room.
Noise is worth a line at the survey. We note the room below, the ceiling, and what sits above the glass, because the quiet of a room under the slope depends on more than one pane.
Picture the window at different hours before you choose a blind. On a wet afternoon it is a pale grey panel; by evening it turns dark and holds the lit room.
A back kitchen under a flat rooflight
A flat roof, a worktop and the glass overhead after supper.
The railways which had played a major part in the development of the dock helped make Barry Island a popular resort. A back kitchen is a long way from a seaside holiday, yet it is where a terrace with a built-out addition spends its winter evenings, and a flat rooflight can be the one source of daylight it gets.
Such an addition is often a single-storey room behind the house, with a flat roof on joists. A flat rooflight rests on a kerb or upstand, out of plane with the roof surface. Whether the unit is fixed or opens is a decision for the room: steam gathers on cold glass, and an opening rooflight helps clear it. A comparison on the site, fixed or opening, goes through the two.
Approved Document L (Wales) says a new or replacement rooflight in an existing home should have a U-value no worse than 2.2 W/m²K. That figure applies to rooflights, and a roof window has its own. It is worth asking whether a quoted figure covers the kerb, since, where kerb and rooflight come from the supplier as one assembly, that kerb falls inside the 2.2 figure as well.
Sun is a factor on a flat roof with a clear southern aspect. It can reach the worktop for hours, so ask what blinds or shading suit the model. A north-facing flat roof gives even, cooler daylight instead, and the two rooms call for different choices.
Work out where light matters most. The hob, the sink and the table are the three places, and a rooflight over the sink does a different job from one over the table. Mark each on the floor with tape and say which you spend longest at.
After supper the glass overhead turns dark and the kitchen shows through it: the pendant, the table, the shape of the cooker hood. A clean lining keeps that panel calm, and a rough one makes it look like a hole. So the lining, the edge and the plastering are talked through before the order.
A strip of light let into the upstand needs deciding before the ceiling is plastered. Its cable is hidden in the lining, and an electrician wires it.
For an extension still to be built, we put the question to the council before work starts. The page on planning for flat rooflights covers an existing roof.
Barry: questions before a visit
Does your range include Barry?
From Newport it is 26 road miles to Barry, heading south-west. Our free survey is the first step, and a fixed written quote follows it.
Which slope should a loft roof window go in?
On a terrace, the back slope is often the easier choice because it faces gardens, but the front can suit a room that wants the street light. We look at both at the survey, together with what can see into the room after dark, and the covering on each slope.
Is there a roof window that closes by itself in rain?
On VELUX's own account, a rain sensor built into its solar and electric roof windows closes the sash once rain begins. For any other window, ask the supplier what it offers.
What does the council decide about my roof?
Vale of Glamorgan Council is the planning authority for Barry. Limits on height and projection help decide whether a rooflight can be permitted development; our page on Wales sets them out, and the council can confirm them for a particular house.
Who deals with Building Regulations for a new rooflight?
Approval from building control is generally needed for a newly cut rooflight opening. The notification, where the work is notifiable, is ours to handle, and it goes to local authority building control or a registered building control approver.
How do I get a visit booked?
The quote form works, as does WhatsApp on 07880 284133 or an email to info@supremeskylightsnewport.co.uk. Name the street and the room, and say which slope you have in mind if it is a terrace.
Book your free survey
10-year workmanship guarantee.
Building Control notification handled where notifiable.