Skylights and rooflights in Whimple

Whimple has been a farming village for as long as anyone has written about it, and for much of the twentieth century it was known for cider, with the Whiteways name made here. The older part of the village still shows what that countryside was built from: cob walls on stone footings, local red sandstone, and brick used more freely from the nineteenth century, all under render or limewash. Small windows, thick reveals and low upstairs ceilings are the common signs of a cottage that has been standing a long time.

Between the older cottages sit Victorian pairs and farm workers' houses, then the plainer homes of the middle of the last century. Postwar semis and bungalows run along some of the roads out of the centre, and newer estates and infill have been added since. Several of the old farm buildings around the village have been converted to homes, which brings in another type altogether, with big timber roofs and few internal walls.

Tell us which of these your house is, and we can say a good deal about the job before the survey.

Many of these are two-storey or one-and-a-half-storey houses with loft space that can be put to use. That is why rooflight enquiries in a village like this tend to be about specific problems: a landing with no window, a kitchen extension at the back, a bathroom in the middle of the plan, a loft that could be a bedroom.

Tell us which of these your house is, and we can say a good deal about the job before the survey. A photograph of the front and one of the room you want lit is usually enough to start the conversation.

Most houses in Whimple can have a rooflight without a planning application, because the ordinary householder rights cover it, provided the unit stays low on the roof, sits no higher than the roof itself and, on a side slope, is glazed with obscure glass. If you want the details, our planning guide sets them out.

Listed buildings are different. Some of the older cottages and farmhouses in the area are listed, and any rooflight on one calls for listed building consent, along with any work that cuts into the old roof timbers or ceiling. If your house is listed, ask East Devon District Council before choosing a design, and expect the officer to prefer a low-profile conservation rooflight on a rear slope.

A conservation area does not remove Class C on its own, but an Article 4 direction can.

A conservation area does not remove Class C on its own, but an Article 4 direction can. Whether any part of Whimple is covered by one is a question for the council, and we would rather you checked than assumed. A converted house split into flats, or a maisonette, falls outside householder rights, which means a rooflight there is a matter for a planning application.

Building Regulations apply wherever you live. A new opening is notifiable because rafters are cut or trimmed, and so is a full swap of frame and glass; we tell Building Control for you. Our Devon guide to rooflight planning and regulations goes through the rules in order, and it is worth reading before you commission drawings.

What suits a house comes down to its roof and the room underneath, and around the village the choices run like this.

• Cob cottage with a slate or tile roof: a conservation rooflight at the back, or a small roof window where the house is not listed.
• Thatched cottage: a rooflight on a tiled rear addition, or a sun tunnel where there is a non-thatched section to carry it.
• 1960s and 1970s bungalow: a roof window or flat rooflight over the kitchen, hall or bathroom, set between the trusses.
• Kitchen extension at the back: a roof lantern, or a shallow flat rooflight, with its upstand plastered within the room.
• Barn conversion: large fixed glazing between existing timbers, with an opening unit for ventilation.

A kitchen extension facing south could take solar control glazing, whereas a landing facing north is better with clear, high-performance glass

The glass is picked for the room. A kitchen extension facing south could take solar control glazing, whereas a landing facing north is better with clear, high-performance glass, plus a laminated inner layer overhead.

Our page on electric opening rooflights goes into the options in more depth.

We begin a Whimple survey outdoors, one slope at a time. Indoors, the loft and the room are measured for the space between roof and ceiling, and the ceiling itself is checked for material and condition, with a note of anything that could alter the result, such as an old crack or a beam in the way.

Village lanes can be narrow, and some cottages open straight onto the road, so we plan where the van can stop and whether scaffolding or a tower would end up on the highway. A licence for scaffolding on a public road comes from Devon County Council, which is the highway authority, and the programme allows for it. Cranbrook and Feniton are close by, and the route in from Exeter and Honiton is simple.

Our quote follows the visit in writing, with the room's finishes set out and the details settled before work begins. We keep the dust under control, leave the room tidy, and each job comes with a decade of workmanship cover. A photograph of the front of the house and of the room to be lit is enough to get started, so use the quote form or send them to info@brightviewskylightsexeter.co.uk. We also fit rooflights in Cranbrook and Feniton, the areas page shows every place we cover, and the homepage describes the whole service.