Rhondda Cynon Taf, west of Newport by 26 road miles
Rooflight and skylight fitting in Tonyrefail
- 10-year workmanship guarantee
- We handle the Building Control notification where notifiable
From rural hamlet to industrial village: roofs of Tonyrefail
Rhondda Cynon Taf is the county borough, and Tonyrefail is both a village and a community within it. In the second half of the 19th century, when coal and steel became synonymous with the South Wales Valleys, it evolved from a rural hamlet into an industrial village. At the peak of coal mining in Wales, Coedely Colliery employed nearly 1,800 men. That changed the face of Tonyrefail, and it led to the establishment of nearby colliery settlements such as Coedely and Bryngolau.
The table below deals in general house types. A terrace from the 19th or early 20th century is often a pitched roof over solid walls, with a flat-roofed addition behind. A semi or bungalow from a later decade has its own pitch, its own covering and its own loft. Each raises different questions, which is why a free survey looks at the roof you actually have.
| House type | Over the room | Glass to consider |
|---|---|---|
| Terrace with a flat-roofed kitchen at the back | Flat roof on joists, covering dressed up an upstand | A flat rooflight, or a roof lantern if the room has the height |
| Older terrace with a tired roof window in the front slope | Pitched slate or tile, window already set in | A like-for-like VELUX replacement in the existing opening |
| Semi or bungalow with a boarded loft | Pitched, with the loft floor beneath | An opening roof window for a bedroom that runs warm |
| Home with a dark inner room | Pitched, loft space overhead | A sun tunnel to carry daylight down |
Three products to weigh for a Tonyrefail house
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Rhondda Cynon Taf: who decides, and on what
An application for Tonyrefail goes to Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council. Whether a house can take a rooflight as permitted development in Wales depends on the house and where it stands, and our Wales planning guide sets out the tests in order.
A council may withdraw those rights through an Article 4 direction, or the first planning permission for the house may have carried a condition removing them, so a street that looks alike may not be alike on paper. A flat or maisonette begins from a different place, since householder permitted development is for houses. Ask the council's planners which case applies, and if you want it on paper, a Lawful Development Certificate is the formal route.
A listed house adds another consent. Work that would alter its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest needs listed building consent from the council, and the list itself is compiled by the Welsh Ministers on Cadw's recommendation.
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Other places within reach of Tonyrefail
Flat glass over the washing up
A rooflight on a rear extension, from afternoon into the evening.
Terraces often gained a flat-roofed room at the back long after they were built. It is where the kitchen, a dining table or a utility room ended up, and it tends to have one window in the garden wall and nothing else. A rooflight is one way to give that room a second source of daylight, because the roof is the one surface with nothing standing in front of it.
A flat rooflight stands on a kerb or upstand, out of plane with the roof. A lantern sits higher and has pitched glass, so it makes more of the ceiling. The lantern or flat rooflight guide weighs the two, and the ceiling height in your room decides a good part of the choice.
Fixed or opening is the next decision. A fixed rooflight is simply glass, while an opening one adds a way to let steam and warm air out, which in a kitchen earns its place. Fixed against opening is compared on its own page, and an opening unit needs a manual or powered way of reaching it, which we raise at the survey.
Water has to drain off a flat roof, and the makers have views on it. Rainclear advises at least a 5 degree slope on the kerb for its flat glass rooflights, so water does not pool. VELUX gives its flat roof dome its own range of roof pitches. Each figure belongs to that maker's product, so the survey reads the roof you have and then looks for a rooflight whose maker's advice suits it.
Planning depends on height and on the house. We put the question of a lantern on a new extension to the council before an order goes in, and the Wales planning guide gives the tests for the rest.
Once the light outside goes, the glass turns dark and gives the lit kitchen back to you. The lining of the opening is part of what you see. Neat and square, it reads as one calm panel overhead; ragged, it draws the eye for the wrong reason. That is settled at the survey, well before the plaster goes on.
One evening in a rear kitchen
- 16:40Last of the daylightThe rooflight is still the brightest thing in the room.
- 18:05CookingLights on below, and the glass starts to show the room back.
- 20:30Washing upAn opening rooflight can let the steam out.
- 22:50Lights outA square lined reveal leaves one even dark panel.
Is the old roof window past it?
Replacing a roof window in the opening it already has.
Is the old roof window in the front slope misted, stiff or simply out of date? If the opening is sound, a window of matching size can go into it, which can keep the structural side of the job to a minimum.
Before the survey, look at what the window does now. Does it open? Does its blind still run? Is the glass clear? Notes on those three give a quick read of what the new one should do better, and none of them needs a ladder.
Size is the first thing to settle. VELUX windows have a size code, and our guide to VELUX size codes explains where to find it and what it tells you. If the window is another make, a measured sketch of the opening does the same job.
The rules treat three roof jobs differently. Windows, roof windows and rooflights are controlled fittings, so a like-for-like swap is building work. A pane changed inside a frame that stays is treated differently for the energy rules, and a brand new opening in the roof is a separate matter again.
For the new window itself, Approved Document L (Wales) gives 1.4 W/m²K as the figure a roof window should meet, with Window Energy Rating Band B as the alternative. VELUX lists glazing options that include an easy-to-clean coating and a laminated inner pane, and which of them are on offer depends on the window and its glazing variant.
The paperwork is ours to manage. Where the work is notifiable, we handle the Building Regulations notification with local authority building control or a registered building control approver, so you do not chase it.
| The job | The rule in brief |
|---|---|
| Whole window replaced, like for like | Building work; the new window should meet the energy guidance |
| Glass replaced, frame kept | Energy rules: not counted as building work |
| A new opening cut in the roof | Generally needs Building Regulations approval |
An attic bedroom in July
Windows that open, and windows that open themselves.
July afternoons find out an attic bedroom. A roof window takes in a lot of sun, the air under the slope warms, and a window that cannot open wide leaves nothing to be done about it. The answer is partly the glazing and a blind, and partly a sash that opens far enough to move air.
Approved Document F (Wales) calls this purge ventilation, meaning a way to air a habitable room rapidly. How far the sash swings decides whether it counts, and a window that barely opens may not. We check the opening angle of any window we suggest against the size of the room.
A sash a person can reach is easy. A sash set high in a steep slope, above a bed or a stairwell, is not, and an electric opening roof window answers that. A wall switch or a remote can open it. The rain sensor that shuts the sash in rain is a VELUX feature, found only on its solar and electric models, and we name the model whenever that comes up. Our guide to electric or manual opening sets the options out.
Think about the evenings as well as the afternoons. A room that is cool at ten at night can still have been unbearable at four, and a sleeper woken by first light in June will want the blind before the glass.
Blinds belong in the same conversation. A blackout blind shuts out the early morning in a sleeping room, and a different blind suits a room where the aim is to cut glare. Tell us who uses the room and when, and the choice follows from that.
Sleep matters most up here. A room that is stuffy at night is a poorer bedroom than one that is merely bright by day, and a window that can be left open overnight, with the blind drawn, is worth planning for.
A loft room also carries other guidance, because a bedroom conversion can bring fire requirements with it. Our guide to Building Regulations in Wales gives the starting points.
Tonyrefail questions, answered
Is a survey in Tonyrefail free?
It is. The village is 26 road miles west of Newport, in Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough, and the free survey happens before any price is given.
Does the council in Rhondda Cynon Taf decide on rooflights?
Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council is the local planning authority, and it handles listed building consent too. For a house, the first thing to establish is whether a rooflight is permitted development, and the Wales rules in our planning guide show how.
Can only the glass in a roof window be replaced?
It can be, in some cases, and where the frame is kept the energy rules do not count it as building work. Whether it is the right answer depends on the window. Our answer on replacing just the glass in a VELUX goes through it.
How do I tell whether a flat rooflight or a lantern suits my extension?
Start with the ceiling height and the look from the garden. A flat rooflight keeps a low line, while a lantern stands taller and adds more to the room beneath. The survey weighs both against your roof.
Who consents to work on a listed house here?
Listed building consent is applied for through Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council, and it is needed where the work would affect the building's special character. The Welsh Ministers compile the list of listed buildings, and Cadw is the body that recommends additions to it.
What should I send before you come?
Your address, the room, and a photo of the roof from the garden if you can. WhatsApp 07880 284133 or info@supremeskylightsnewport.co.uk will do, and the survey form is there too. A fixed written quote follows the visit.
Book your free survey
10-year workmanship guarantee.
Building Control notification handled where notifiable.