Langstone, reached by 4.9 road miles heading east from Newport
Langstone skylights and rooflights
- 10-year workmanship guarantee
- We handle the Building Control notification where notifiable
From a line of houses on the A48 to a village minutes from the M4
Langstone is a village and community of Newport. The original village was a small linear settlement along the A48 (Chepstow Road) and its offshoot, Tregarn Road. Since the 1990s, many people have moved to the area because it feels rural while sitting minutes from the M4 motorway. The motorway's construction also turned up Langstone Mound and Bailey Castle in 1964, and in July 2018, after a long spell of warm dry weather, crop marks of a prehistoric or Roman farm near the village were revealed.
House types are the useful way in. A house from the 1930s, a detached house from the 1970s and a recent build do not share a roof, and each leaves different room for glass above it. That is why the survey is done on the roof you have: the covering, the pitch, the timbers over the room, and the ceiling underneath.
| House type | The roof you would see | A sensible first question |
|---|---|---|
| Interwar semi with a box room | Pitched, clay or concrete tile | Could a roof window light the box room? |
| Detached house with a landing void | Pitched, with plenty of loft | Is there a straight run for a sun tunnel? |
| Home with a rear extension | Flat roof over the new room | Fixed glass, or one that opens? |
| House with a misted old rooflight | Whichever roof it was set into | Is the whole unit worn, or only the glass? |
Roof glass worth pricing in Langstone
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What Newport City Council decides, and what it does not
Planning questions in Langstone go to Newport City Council, the local planning authority. In Wales, a roof window or rooflight can be permitted development for a house while it stays inside a handful of limits, which are set out under the Wales heading of our planning guide.
Flats and maisonettes do not get householder rights. A house can lose them through a condition on its original permission, or through an Article 4 direction made by the council. If you are unsure which applies to you, Newport's planning officers are the people to ask.
On a listed house, ask first whether the work touches the character of the building. Where it does, listed building consent is needed, and Newport City Council takes that application.
Breakfast under a sloping kitchen ceiling
A roof window where the room is part kitchen, part attic.
A kitchen under a slope has a ceiling that changes height from one wall to the other, and the wall at the low end often has no room for a window at all. A roof window can fill the gap, because it sits in the slope itself and sees the sky rather than the neighbour's fence.
The first question is where the worktops are. A window placed over the hob can collect more steam than one over the table, and one over the sink is easier to reach. At the survey we stand where you stand to cook and look up, because the right position is the one that suits the routine, not the one that is easiest to cut.
Evenings change the picture. Over the kitchen table, a roof window turns into a dark mirror once the lamps are on, and the dining chairs and the pendant appear in it. A blind is chosen with that in mind, and the window position is judged against the table as well as the worktop.
Fresh air is the second question. If a window is swapped, Approved Document F (Wales) expects the house to end up as well ventilated as it was. A roof window that opens helps in a kitchen anyway, since steam leaves through it faster than through a ceiling that never opens.
Energy comes third. For a roof window, Approved Document L (Wales) sets guidance of 1.4 W/m²K, or Window Energy Rating band B, which a window should meet. It is a figure to hold a quote against, and it applies to roof windows; rooflights on a kerb have their own figure.
Reach is the last. A window over a worktop can sit out of reach of someone at the sink, and VELUX makes electric and solar versions that open from a switch or remote. VELUX says those carry an integrated rain sensor, the one that shuts the window in a shower. The sensor is a feature of those VELUX models alone, and we name the model when we suggest one.
For the paperwork: a roof window counts as a controlled fitting under the Building Regulations, and where the work is notifiable we handle the Building Regulations notification with local authority building control or a registered building control approver. Our roof windows page shows the range.
Roof window over a kitchen
- Placed by
- Where you cook, reach and sit
- Steam
- An opening sash helps it leave
- Energy figure
- 1.4 W/m²K or band B, as guidance
- Opening it
- By hand, switch or remote
- Paperwork
- Notification handled where notifiable
Daylight on a rooflight that has gone cloudy
When the sealed unit is the part that has failed.
Early afternoon is when a misted rooflight shows. The sun is high, the glass should be clear, and instead there is a grey film between the panes that no amount of wiping will reach, since the film forms on the faces inside the glass unit.
The question for a misted rooflight is whether the unit or the whole rooflight needs to go. Where the frame and the surrounding structure are sound, a new sealed unit can go into the existing frame. Where the frame is worn or the kerb has moved, the whole rooflight comes out. Our guide to the sealed unit or whole rooflight choice sets out how each case is judged.
The rules treat the two jobs differently. A whole window or rooflight replaced with an equivalent counts as building work, which we notify where it is notifiable, whereas fitting only new glass to the old frame falls outside the energy rules. The question has its own answer page, glass only, in a VELUX. That is why we look at the frame before we quote.
There is a chance to improve things while the unit is open to view. VELUX lists dirt-repellent and rain-noise-reduction options among its glazing choices, though which are on offer varies with the window and the variant. Pilkington lists roof-lights among the applications for its Activ self-cleaning glass. We say which options exist for your window rather than assuming them.
It helps to note what is printed or fixed on the old unit. A VELUX roof window carries a metal type sign on its sash with a size code, and a photograph of it narrows the options for a replacement before anyone arrives. A flat rooflight may carry a maker's label on the frame or kerb; send that too if you can find one.
If the old rooflight is on a flat roof, the surrounding kerb is part of the picture. Approved Document L (Wales) says a rooflight should meet 2.2 W/m²K, and that where the kerb is supplied with the rooflight as one assembly, the figure covers the kerb too. We read the existing arrangement before we say which route applies.
A high stairwell, a powered rooflight and the last light of the day
Electric opening for glass out of reach.
Glass high above a stair is hard to reach at any hour. Nobody wants to climb a ladder to open it on a warm evening, or to close it ahead of a shower, and that is where powered opening earns its place.
A powered rooflight can open at a switch or with a remote, so the glass can be opened from the floor. It also changes how a house feels in summer, since heat gathers at the head of a stairwell and a powered window lets it out. For a stairwell or a landing under a flat roof, our page on electric opening rooflights sets out the range.
The night side is simple to describe. Once the house is dark and the rooflight is shut, the glass over the stair reads as a black panel, and a light left on below shows in it. Where the stair is lit all evening, the reflection is part of the room, and a lining that is neat around the opening keeps it looking calm.
Wiring is the part to think about early. A powered unit needs a power supply to the roof, which is best planned before the ceiling is lined or plastered. That wiring is a job for an electrician, so mention at the survey that you want a powered unit.
Escape is worth a word when glass above a stair belongs to a bedroom floor. For upper-floor habitable rooms up to 4.5 m above ground, Approved Document B (Wales) sets escape-window measurements, which our planning guide for Wales covers. We read that part of the guidance against the room before a window is chosen.
Glass choice matters up there too. VELUX sells its glass rooflights, flat and curved alike, with a choice of double or triple glazing, which it says gives enhanced energy efficiency and sound reduction. Which is right for a stairwell depends on the budget and the room, and we price the options side by side.
Langstone, in short
Where does Langstone sit in relation to Newport?
A new roof window on my house: do I need a planning application?
On a house it can be permitted development, but only within the limits in our Welsh planning guide. Flats are outside those rights, and a direction or a condition on the house can remove them.
Is replacing only the glass in an old rooflight still building work?
For the energy rules, a new sealed glass unit in the existing frame sits outside building work, while replacing the whole window or rooflight with an equivalent is inside it. Which applies depends on what is wrong with yours.
My landing is a dark void at the centre of the house. What are the options?
A sun tunnel suits it where the loft leaves a clear path between the roof and the ceiling underneath. It carries daylight only. Our page on sun tunnels shows the parts and the choices.
Why is the glass in my kitchen skylight wet in the morning?
Steam tends to settle on cold glass before anything else in the room. An opening sash, or an extractor that vents outdoors, can reduce it.
How can I ask for a visit?
The survey form is quickest. If you would rather write, info@supremeskylightsnewport.co.uk and WhatsApp 07880 284133 both work, and the address and the room are all we need.
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10-year workmanship guarantee.
Building Control notification handled where notifiable.