Rooflights and skylights fitted in Cefn Cribwr

Cefn Cribwr is a village in Bridgend County Borough. Its community centre, known locally as the Green Hall, opened in 1924 as a Miners' Welfare Hall, supported by colliery owners and colliers together. In the closing weeks of the General Strike of 1926, the Labour politician and former Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald spoke there. The Wesley Dramatic Society entertained in the village, and so did the members of Siloam Chapel, who performed many dramas and concerts.

The community recorded a population of 1,546 in the 2001 Census and 1,481 in the 2011 Census. After a local government boundary review the Cefn Cribwr ward joined its neighbour Pyle to form the Pyle, Kenfig Hill and Cefn Cribwr ward, which elected three councillors to Bridgend County Borough Council in 2022.

Walkers and cyclists use public footpaths and cycling routes that follow the line of the old Dyffryn, Llynfi and Porthcawl Railway, which once linked the ironworks to the coast.

By road the village is 16.9 miles from Swansea, towards the south-east, which puts it inside the radius we work within. Pyle and Laleston are nearby, and we fit in both.

For a rooflight, what counts is the pitch of the roof you have, and the survey reads it directly.

Start the choice with an angle. The survey measures the pitch of the slope where the window is to go. That figure points to a family of products long before taste comes into it.

A steep slope takes a standard roof window. Rain leaves it quickly. A shallow slope calls for the low-pitch version, which VELUX recommends for roofs between 10° and 20°. A flat roof or one that is nearly flat takes a different family: flat roof rooflights on kerbs, and in VELUX's range a dome designed for roofs between 0° and 15°.

The energy figure follows the product. A rooflight is rated on the whole surface of the glazed unit, which is often bigger than the hole in the roof. Where the kerb comes from the maker as one assembly with the rooflight, the 2.2 W/m²K limit covers the kerb as well. A roof window, which lies in the plane of the roof, has the 1.4 W/m²K limit instead, or Window Energy Rating Band B.

Glass type changes how the room feels. Double or triple glazing in a rooflight cuts heat loss. Easy-clean and laminated panes are options on some VELUX glazing, with availability depending on the window and the variant, and Pilkington lists rooflights among the uses for its self-cleaning Activ coating. Laminated glass holds together if it breaks, which suits a window over a bed.

Lanterns need a note of their own. Lanterns stand tall on an upstand, and that height is why one added over an existing flat roof normally means a planning application. The 2.2 W/m²K figure is written for rooflights, and lanterns are not named in it, so for a lantern on a brand-new extension we confirm the position with the council before you commit to a design.

Glass that is fitted well is also glass that is easy to look after. Place it where it can be reached from inside, or choose an electric opener, and the outer face can be kept clear. The energy-efficient rooflights page goes through the glazing options in more detail.

Not every room under a roof wants a window at all. A landing buried in the middle of the house, with loft space above, is the case for a sun tunnel, where a small dome on the roof feeds a tube that ends in a diffuser in the ceiling. Which tube is used depends on the route: a rigid one runs straight, and a flexible one can bend round an obstacle. The dome sits on the roof at whatever pitch the roof has, so the same measuring applies.

An older unit that has failed is a separate case. Moisture sealed inside a double-glazed unit shows that its seal has failed. Where the frame is still sound, a replacement unit can go into it. If the frame has gone as well, the whole rooflight is replaced. See misted rooflights for how that choice is made.

Compare the options on cost of upkeep as well as price. A rooflight you can reach from the room below is easy to wipe, one that sits high over a stairwell is not, and an electric opener or a self-cleaning finish changes that calculation. Ask for the choices to be set out side by side at the survey, with the glass type and the opening method for each.

Walk-on glass belongs on a flat roof that doubles as a terrace. It is a specialist walk-on rooflight, rated for the weight it must carry, and it is chosen with the structure underneath in mind.

Cefn Cribwr falls under Bridgend County Borough Council, not Swansea's, so planning questions go there. The Gower AONB does not cover the village. The conditions that decide whether a rooflight on a house can go in without an application are explained in our planning guide for Wales.

Some houses begin from a different position. People in flats and maisonettes hold no householder rights to rely on. A council can remove the rights from a whole street with an Article 4 direction, and the permission a house was built under may carry a condition that takes them away for that one property. A house on the statutory list needs listed building consent for a rooflight that would change its character, and Cadw, the Welsh Government's historic environment service, advises on what is listed; the Historic Environment (Wales) Act 2023 governs the consent.

Anyone who wants certainty before spending money can ask the planning department, and a Lawful Development Certificate records the answer in writing.

Building Regulations take a different track, and a new rooflight generally calls for approval since fitting one usually means changing the roof's structure and the unit must meet the energy limits. Where the work is notifiable, we handle the Building Regulations notification with local authority building control or a registered building control approver. The two types of body are both open to you.

A rooflight in an existing home should reach the Welsh energy figure whatever the planning route, so the glass is specified for it from the start. A roof window takes 1.4 W/m²K or Band B, and a rooflight 2.2 W/m²K, under Approved Document L (Wales). The figures are guidance, and they are the ones building control looks to.

So planning questions for the village go to Bridgend County Borough Council, and the Building Regulations side goes to the borough's own building control team or a registered building control approver, as you prefer.

Then comes the part you see: a free survey, a fixed written quote, and a guarantee on workmanship that lasts ten years and is given in writing. Call 01792 929062 or use the survey form.