Skylights and rooflights in Crofty

Crofty sits in the City and County of Swansea, about 10.6 miles from the city by road, to the west. The village therefore falls within our 30-mile radius, and its planning authority is the same council that covers Swansea itself. Crofty falls outside the Gower AONB.

Penclawdd, Three Crosses, Llanelli and Loughor sit on our list of places as well. If you are comparing what we do in each, the work is the same: surveyed first, quoted in writing, fitted and guaranteed.

You can start in whichever way suits. Ring 01792 929062, send a WhatsApp message, or email info@horizonskylightsswansea.co.uk. The booking form lower down reaches the same people.

Tell us the room, whether the roof above it is flat or pitched, and what the problem is: a dark corridor, a unit that has fogged, a kitchen that wants more light. That is enough to book a survey. If you already know the rooflight you like, name it, and if you do not, say what the room is used for and the roof shape will point the way. Nobody gets a price from a description alone, because the price depends on a roof that has to be seen.

The survey carries no fee. The quote you receive afterwards is a fixed written one, we deal with the Building Regulations notification when the work is notifiable, and a 10-year workmanship guarantee comes in writing with the finished job.

Swansea Council decides planning for Crofty. For a house, the opening question is whether an application is needed at all, and our planning guide for Wales gives the conditions to check against your own roof. Householder rights apply to houses only. A council can remove them by Article 4 direction, as can a clause in the original consent.

Listed buildings follow their own path. Under the Historic Environment (Wales) Act 2023 an alteration that affects a listed building's special character needs listed building consent, and Cadw keeps the national record of what is listed.

When you are unsure, there is a way to settle it. A Lawful Development Certificate gives a formal answer in writing before the work begins, which leaves one fewer question open for a later buyer.

Glazing safety sits under Approved Document N in Wales. Its critical locations run from the floor to 800 mm in walls and partitions, and from the floor to 1,500 mm in a door or in a panel close to the door's edge. In those places glass should break safely, be small enough in panes, or be protected.

Fresh air has its own rule. Every habitable room needs a way of being aired quickly, and the guidance in Approved Document F (Wales) lets an opening window supply it. For a window that hinges or pivots, an opening of 30° or more calls for an open area of one-twentieth of the room's floor area. Between 15° and 30° the area rises to one-tenth, and anything under 15° is ignored. Background vents, where they are fitted, should sit at least 1.7 m above the floor.

Energy is the other document. Approved Document L (Wales) sets 1.4 W/m²K for a new or replacement roof window and 2.2 W/m²K for a rooflight on a kerb. Building control can be handled by the local authority service or by a registered building control approver, and the choice is yours.

A coating is a way of paying for glass that needs less attention. Pilkington Activ is the self-cleaning kind, and its coating works with daylight and rain. VELUX's easy-to-clean coating is a dirt-repellent finish on the outer pane. Neither suits every unit, and the survey is where the options for a particular rooflight get confirmed.

Where the glass is within reach, cleaning is not a worry. A roof window in a back bedroom can be wiped with a long-handled tool, and one that opens can be turned towards you. Where the unit is out of reach, an electric opening rooflight saves a ladder, and a coated pane saves a good many more trips.

There are three ways to meet the problem of dirt, and they can be mixed. Reach lets you clean the glass yourself, a coating cuts how much cleaning is needed, and an opener brings an outside pane within arm's length. A unit within reach loses little by a plain pane, while a unit out of reach gains the most from a coating, so the order in which you weigh them follows the roof.

Flat roofs ask the same question in a different way. A flat roof rooflight collects dirt on a surface that stays close to level, so the fall of the kerb and the choice of coating work together.

For a bedroom the choice runs to sound. The rain noise reduction option and the laminated inner pane can be combined where the glazing variant allows it. Double or triple glazing is also available on VELUX's flat and curved glass rooflights, which VELUX says helps energy efficiency and sound reduction.

How the glass is rated matters when two units look alike. A rooflight's U-value is worked out over the whole developed surface of the unit, an area that can be larger than the hole it fills, and where the kerb is supplied with the rooflight as one assembly the 2.2 W/m²K limit covers the kerb as well. Ask for the figure for the unit as supplied, and for a roof window, ask for it or for the Window Energy Rating band.

A kitchen or bathroom adds steam to the list. The room still needs an extractor or a vent, because glass alone does not clear the air. When a window has misted between its panes, the answer lies in fresh sealed glass or a whole new rooflight, and misted rooflight replacement covers both.

For a dark hall or landing, a sun tunnel brings light through a small dome on the roof, with little glass to keep clean. To book a survey for any of these, call 01792 929062 or send the form.