Skylights and rooflights in Marldon

Marldon stands on high ground above the Torbay coast, and the older part of the village is built in the local red stone that gives so many South Devon villages their colour. The church and the cottages and farm buildings around it were put up in stone and cob, with thick walls, small windows and roofs of slate or, in places, thatch. Lanes run out from the core, lined with rendered cottages and old farm buildings that have long since become homes.

Most of the housing is newer. During the twentieth century the village grew steadily, because it is close enough to Paignton, Torquay and Newton Abbot for people to live here and work in any of them. That left estates and closes of semis, bungalows and detached houses, many built in the second half of the century, with brick, render or a mix of the two. Some larger houses sit in generous plots at the village edge, with garages, annexes and extensions added over the years.

The result is a village where a survey can start in a cob cottage and finish in a 1980s bungalow on the same morning.

The result is a village where a survey can start in a cob cottage and finish in a 1980s bungalow on the same morning. We ask early which of those your house is, because it settles most of the decisions that follow.

Marldon lies where the Torbay and South Hams areas meet, so we do not guess which council is responsible. We confirm the local planning authority for your property at the start, because it decides who you ask about designations and who takes any application. A quick check of the address on the council's planning map settles it, and we do it with you at the survey.

A house with no special status can usually take a rooflight without an application, so long as the ordinary permitted-development limits for how a unit stands off the roof, its height, and any glass on a side slope are all kept within bounds. Marldon has older buildings, and some could be listed or inside a conservation area. Listed status brings a consent requirement for any external change, and a conservation area may carry an Article 4 direction that takes Class C away.

Flats and maisonettes are outside householder permitted development altogether, so a rooflight in one means a planning application, and the same can apply to some converted barns. Our planning and Building Regulations guide for Devon goes through the rules, and it is the place to start for an older house.

Matching glass to house is most of the job. Marldon's homes sort into a handful of types.

• Older cottages in slate or thatch suit a slim conservation rooflight at the back, or a sun tunnel to light a dark stairwell.
• A bungalow with a loft space can take a pair of roof windows, turning the roof space into a bedroom and a bathroom, with the escape rules met where one serves a bedroom.
• Extensions behind larger houses want a roof lantern over the kitchen island, or a flat rooflight where the ceiling is low.
• Estate semis with a loft conversion are best with a centre-pivot or top-hung roof window set high enough to give headroom at the glass.
• A roof window that has misted gets a fresh unit in the existing opening, with the lining redone while the ceiling is accessible.

Taking out a whole rooflight and putting in a new one is notifiable work, as a window counts as a controlled fitting and must satisfy Part L. Fitting a new glass unit to a frame that is still sound is not. We tell you at the survey which route applies, and we handle the paperwork with Building Control.

In a loft room under a south-facing slope, solar control glass makes the room more comfortable in summer, and a rooflight that opens up near the ridge lets hot air escape. In a loft bedroom the roof window may also have to act as the escape route, and Approved Document B sets the size and height for that, which we test against the room before we specify.

Glass choice follows the room as well as the roof. A bathroom under a pitched roof does well with an opening roof window that clears steam, while a hallway with no outside wall at all may only ever take a sun tunnel. Over your head, a laminated inner layer is sensible wherever people sit or sleep beneath it, and warm-edge spacers keep the rim of the pane clear of condensation on a cold, windy hill.

Marldon is a short drive from Paignton and Newton Abbot, so visits are easy to arrange. The roof is checked from outside first. Next we work through the room and the loft above it, take the gap from slope to ceiling, find out what the plaster is fixed to, and note whatever will affect the finish, such as a chimney breast climbing into the loft or an old crack in the plaster.

Access varies as much as the houses. The lanes of the old core are narrow, with tight bends and few places to stop a van, so we plan where materials are unloaded and whether a tower or scaffold will be needed. On the newer closes the problem is usually a short drive and a steep roof, and we plan the lifting accordingly. Any scaffold on the public highway needs a permit, so that wait goes into the programme.

The written quote includes your finish schedule, and no work begins until you have agreed it. We keep dust down while we work, leave the room tidy, and give the installation our 10-year workmanship guarantee. A hilltop bungalow and a lane-side cottage need different plans, so begin with the quote form and a photo of the roof, or send the details to info@brightviewskylightsexeter.co.uk. Our rounds also include Paignton and Kingskerswell, you will find every other place on the areas page, and the whole service is set out on the skylight and rooflight installation homepage.