Markham: reached from Newport by 18 road miles, heading north-west
Skylights and rooflights in Markham
- 10-year workmanship guarantee
- We handle the Building Control notification where notifiable
From the 1913 colliery to the roof over your kitchen
Caerphilly County Borough includes Markham, a small village among the valleys. The area changed dramatically when the Markham Steam Coal Company opened Markham Colliery in 1913. Later, the colliery workers funded the Markham Institute, which was built in 1928 on land that had belonged to the Berllan-Llwyd farm.
Homes in a village of this size can be of any age. Terraces and semis from the early 20th century are often built with a pitched roof and a rear addition, while later houses can have a simpler roof with a flat-roofed porch or garage. General patterns do not say what is over your kitchen, bathroom or landing, which is why the survey begins with the roof above the room in question.
| Kind of house | Where daylight is missing | Fitting to discuss |
|---|---|---|
| Terrace or semi with a loft room | Upstairs back bedroom | A roof window in the rear slope |
| House with a flat-roofed kitchen or porch | The middle of the room | A flat rooflight |
| Home with a rooflight that has gone cloudy | Right where the glass should be clearest | A fresh sealed unit, or a whole rooflight |
Roof windows, flat rooflights and replacement units for Markham
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Caerphilly County Borough and Welsh planning
Caerphilly County Borough Council decides planning matters in Markham. In Wales, putting a rooflight into the roof of a house can be permitted development, inside limits that are explained in the Welsh part of our skylight planning guide. Flats are outside those rights altogether.
A house can lose the rights if an Article 4 direction covers it or a condition came with the permission it was built under. For a listed house, listed building consent is the first step wherever the work would affect its character, and the council receives that application.
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Other Caerphilly valley places we fit
Dark mornings in a back bedroom
A roof window where the room sits under the slope.
In some houses the back bedroom is the smallest room and the one with the least sky. The ceiling can run down with the rafters, the window can be a small one, and on a winter morning it is still dark at twenty past six. Put a roof window into the slope and the room changes character; it gets sky overhead, and light on the walls from an angle the old window never gave.
Winter is the time to judge the idea. The same window that fills a bedroom with morning light in June looks quite different in January, when the sun is low and the day is short. A roof window cannot make more daylight than the season offers, but it can make better use of what there is.
Position matters more than size. Over the foot of the bed is one choice and over the dressing area is another, and a window that sits high on the slope can give more sky than one near the eaves. The survey measures the room from inside and the slope from outside before anything is chosen.
Blinds close the other half of the job. A blackout blind darkens the room for sleep, and other blinds can control glare and heat. Which are available depends on the window, so the window comes first. Standard sizes are the rule for VELUX roof windows, which helps when the choice is between models; the page comparing centre-pivot and top-hung roof windows explains the two opening styles.
For energy, Approved Document L (Wales) is guidance and not law. It says a new or replacement roof window in an existing home should have a U-value no worse than 1.4 W/m²K, or a Window Energy Rating of Band B.
Fresh air is the other thing a bedroom wants. If a window being replaced had trickle vents, Approved Document F (Wales) asks that the new one has vents no smaller, set to be adjusted by hand or to run on their own. A sash that swings open can also clear a stuffy room fast in warm weather.
Winter mornings show the other side of the same window. Cold air meets warm at the glass, and a film of moisture can appear on the inside pane. A window that can be opened a crack can keep that manageable through the dark months.
Neighbours' windows are worth a glance too. On a valley side, houses sit at different heights, and a roof window can look across at an upstairs window opposite. A blind is the answer, and it is easier to choose with that in mind.
Roof windows are among the fittings the Building Regulations control, so fitting one counts as building work. Where the work is notifiable, we handle the Building Regulations notification with local authority building control or a registered building control approver.
A winter morning upstairs
- 06:20Still darkThe room is lit by the lamp, and the glass reads black.
- 08:10First daylightThe sky shows through the slope before it reaches the old window.
- 16:15DuskThe window fades first, and the blind goes down.
How much light does a flat-roofed kitchen lose?
A flat rooflight over the middle of the room.
How much light does a flat-roofed kitchen lose to its own ceiling? A fair amount, in the middle of the room. A kitchen or porch with a flat roof can have windows on one wall at most, and the daylight that comes through them reaches only part of the floor. A flat rooflight is glass set in an upstand on the roof, so the light comes from straight above and reaches the worktop.
Two makers give figures for the fall of a flat roof. VELUX gives 0 to 15° as the pitch range its flat roof dome is made for, and Rainclear's installation guide wants a slope of at least 5° on the upstand under its flat glass units, so water does not sit. Those figures belong to those two makers' products.
Fixed or opening is the first choice. A fixed unit brings in light, and an opening one also lets out steam while a pan is on. Electric opening is available too. Choosing between the two is covered in the flat rooflight fixed-or-opening guide.
On energy, the same guidance says a rooflight, new or replacement, should have a U-value no worse than 2.2 W/m²K when it goes into an existing home. That is a rooflight figure, and a roof window has its own.
Steam deserves its own paragraph. A kitchen puts moisture into the air at every meal, and overhead glass can be a cold surface, so it can mist before the walls do. An opening unit gives the moisture a way out, and a fixed one leaves it to the extractor or an open door. That is the practical difference between the two, more than the look of them.
The afternoon is when a kitchen with a rooflight earns its keep. By the time the school bags are down, the room can be bright without the lamp, even in a flat-roofed extension. Later, with the lamp on and the daylight gone, the glass turns into a black panel above the worktop and holds a reflection of the room.
The ceiling below matters as much as the glass. The lining that joins the ceiling to the opening decides whether the new light looks like part of the room or like an afterthought, and a deep, straight reveal gives a different effect from a shallow one. Both are worth drawing out in conversation before plaster goes up.
Cleaning is easier to plan before the work than after. Whether anyone can reach the glass from inside, or from a safe place outside, is something to settle at the survey.
Flat-roofed kitchen
- What is missing
- Daylight in the middle of the room
- What goes in
- Glass on a raised upstand
- Fixed or opening
- Opening lets steam out; fixed does not
- Energy guidance
- Rooflight U-value no worse than 2.2 W/m²K
When a rooflight goes cloudy
Replacing a unit or the whole rooflight.
A rooflight that has gone cloudy is easy to spot in the evening. With the room lit below, the glass shows a haze that cleaning does not shift, and by morning it is still there. At that point the question is what to replace.
There are two routes, and the choice between them depends on the frame. A new sealed unit goes into a frame that is still sound. A whole rooflight replaces frame and glass together. The page on the choice, sealed unit or whole rooflight, is the place to weigh them, and the cost page for a misted rooflight explains what moves the price.
The paperwork differs too. A like-for-like swap of a window or roof window is still building work, whereas a repair is not. Where only the glass changes and the frame stays, the energy rules treat the job separately. A replacement that counts as notifiable work comes with our handling of the Building Regulations notification, made to local authority building control or a registered building control approver.
Glazing choices come with the new unit. VELUX lists a dirt-repellent coating, safety lamination on the inner pane and rain noise reduction among its options, though the model and glazing variant decide which are offered. Pilkington's Activ range is the self-cleaning example; its coating needs daylight to loosen dirt and rain to wash it off.
The timing of the work follows from that choice. A sealed unit in a sound frame can be a smaller job than a whole rooflight, because less of the roof is touched, while a whole replacement is the larger piece of work. Either way, the survey is where the roof's condition is judged, and the quote follows from it.
Do not expect a new unit to change the room's shape. It will change how clear the glass is, and, if it has better glazing, how much heat it keeps in. The room under it can feel less like a basement and more like part of the house.
Tell us at the survey how old the rooflight is, whether the kerb has been touched since it was fitted, and whether the cloudiness started in one corner. Those details help us choose between the two routes.
Markham homes, answered
Is the survey free in Markham?
It is, and a fixed written quote follows it. Markham is 18 road miles from Newport, heading north-west.
What decides whether my rooflight needs planning permission?
The house itself: whether it is a flat, whether it is listed, and whether an Article 4 direction or a condition has removed rights from it. The planning guide for Wales goes through each.
Do roof windows come in set sizes?
VELUX roof windows do come in standard sizes. Lanterns, by contrast, can be made to measure.
My rooflight looks cloudy. Is it a whole new unit?
Not necessarily. There are two routes, a new sealed unit in a sound frame or a whole replacement, and the frame decides. We look at it at the survey.
Which U-value is right for a roof window?
Approved Document L (Wales) says a roof window should meet 1.4 W/m²K or Window Energy Rating Band B, and a rooflight 2.2 W/m²K. The two are never swapped.
How can I request a quote for a Markham roof?
Use the survey form, or WhatsApp 07880 284133, or email info@supremeskylightsnewport.co.uk. A short note of the room and the roof is enough.
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10-year workmanship guarantee.
Building Control notification handled where notifiable.