Rooflights and skylights fitted in Pencoed

Pencoed is a town in Bridgend County Borough. At the 2022 census it had a population of 10,011. The name turns up in a 1303 deed of Ewenny Priory in an older spelling, and again in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in forms that have since been simplified.

Coal came first. A map of 1729 marks "coal pitts" in the area, and coal, lime, timber and stone all fed the growth of the village. Isambard Kingdom Brunel's route for the South Wales Railway then shaped the industrial villages here, and a railway station was built between Pencoed and Penprysg in 1856.

At the heart of the town, close to the station, stand the war memorial, known locally as the Monument, the shopping centre and the Pencoed Miners' Welfare Hall, which is the local community hall.

The town has grown since. Earlswood Parc was announced in 2002 and is now complete, with a range of homes by Westbury and the Bocam business park alongside. That means roofs of several ages in one town, and we treat each as it stands, whether it covers an established house or a home on a newer development.

Travelling from Swansea you reach Pencoed after 26.32 road miles heading east, within our 30-mile area. Neighbouring places we also fit include Heol-y-cyw, Llanharan, Bridgend and Blackmill.

Planning applications for a house in Pencoed are decided by Bridgend County Borough Council. The town sits outside every Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The first question for a rooflight on a house is whether it falls under permitted development, and our rooflight planning guide for Wales answers it with the full list of conditions. Anyone with a plan for a roof should read that list against the roof before ordering glass.

There are exceptions to every general rule, and three apply here. Householder permitted development rights do not belong to flats and maisonettes. A council can remove them from a house through an Article 4 direction, as it can by attaching a condition to the original planning permission. For a listed house, a rooflight that would alter its special interest needs listed building consent, which the council processes after consulting Cadw. Cadw is the Welsh Government's historic environment service and publishes each listed building's record in Cof Cymru, so a house's status can be looked up before any plan is made.

If a case is unclear, Bridgend's planning team can be asked first. For a binding answer there is the Lawful Development Certificate, which records the council's view formally and stays with the property, a point that matters at resale.

Building Regulations are a separate matter altogether. A roof opening that did not exist before generally brings them into play, because the structure around it has to be shown fit for the weight of the new unit. Swapping a unit for its equal counts as building work as well; a repair does not. Wales has two types of building control body, the council's own service and registered approvers in the private sector, and the choice is yours. Whenever the job is notifiable, our part is to send the notification to the body you chose.

A loft room is a natural place for a roof window, and the details are worth getting right. A top-hung window opens from its lower edge and leaves headroom, while a centre-pivot swings about a hinge line at mid-height. Both are described on our roof windows page. For an existing home, a new or replacement roof window should reach 1.4 W/m²K or Window Energy Rating Band B under Approved Document L (Wales).

The age of the building affects what is practical. Where a house has been re-covered or altered, the covering around the opening may differ from what the original builders used, and the flashing has to suit whatever is actually there. An older house near the centre calls for a close look at its covering, rafters and any earlier repairs before an opening is planned.

A bathroom under a pitched roof tests a roof window harder than any other room. Vapour climbs to the glass first, so the inside face has to stay as warm as the glazing allows, and the extractor needs to run on for a few minutes after the shower stops. A window that can tilt open also lets the room clear faster, though in rain the sash should shut again, which is where a motor and sensor help.

An estate house with a rear extension has a flat roof to think about. The flat roof rooflight sits on a kerb and lights the new room, while a roof lantern adds height as well. Rooflights in Wales should reach 2.2 W/m²K, while a lantern's energy figure is something we agree with you at the survey, together with its planning position. Brett Martin advises building the lantern's upstand at least 150 mm high.

A landing with blank walls around it is where a sun tunnel comes into its own. Light is caught at a dome, travels down a mirrored tube and spreads from a ceiling diffuser.

Older units have their own story. If the pane of a rooflight has gone cloudy between the two sheets of glass, the sealed unit has usually failed. Misted rooflights can be replaced, and for a VELUX the code on the type sign, fitted to every window made after 1968, shows the dimensions.

The glazing menu goes further than the frame. A VELUX window may come with a coating that helps dirt shed, or with a laminated inner sheet that stops shards reaching the room, depending on the model and variant. Which applies is settled at the survey, after the opening has been measured.

Where a window is out of reach, electric opening is the practical choice. Electric and solar windows from VELUX arrive with a rain sensor included, so a sash left ajar for fresh air closes itself when drops arrive.

Every enquiry follows one path. We survey free of charge, issue a fixed written quote, and back the finished work with a 10-year workmanship guarantee in writing. Phone 01792 929062 or send the survey form to arrange it.