Skylights & rooflights in Burbage
Hinckley's southern suburb, lit from above.
Burbage is a large village now generally thought of as a southern suburb of Hinckley, with a very old name and a long grazing history behind it, so its streets mix older houses with the family homes of every decade since.
- Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council
- Large suburban village
- Over the border in Leicestershire
A Leicestershire suburb of Hinckley with Domesday roots
Burbage is a large village and parish in the Borough of Hinckley and Bosworth, in Leicestershire, near the border with Warwickshire. It lies 12.6 road miles out from Coventry, and it is now generally considered a southern suburb of the neighbouring town of Hinckley. At the 2021 Census the parish had a population of 16,508, which makes it one of the largest villages we cover.
The history of the place is longer than its suburban look suggests. Its name means a valley or brook with a fortification, and its record as a grazing area goes back at least to the Domesday Book of 1086, when its value had risen to four pounds. Beyond that, the facts we hold are about position rather than buildings. Burbage is less than a mile from the M69, which links the M6 to the M1, and from the A5. The nearest railway station is Hinckley, about a mile and a half from Burbage centre, on the boundary between Burbage and Hinckley.
Those details say a lot about who lives here. A large village next to a town, close to two major roads, is a place where households settle, commute and improve their homes. We would expect the housing to be what a suburb of this size normally holds: older houses near the original village, interwar and post-war semis and detached homes in the middle rings and newer estates on the edges. Each of those eras has its own roof.
Because the facts do not single out particular streets or estates, we deal in roof types, and the survey fills in the detail. Older houses may have slate or clay tiles over hand-cut rafters. Interwar and post-war homes commonly have concrete tile over cut or trussed roofs. Rear extensions of every date tend to have flat or shallow roofs. We recognise all of them, and we fit a unit to each.
The size of the village means a great many roofs and a great many ways to improve them, from a roof window in a loft that has become a bedroom to a flat glass rooflight over a kitchen that sits at the back of a deep plan.
With the M69 so close, the pull of the area is easy to understand. Households who work in Leicester, Coventry or Birmingham can all live here, and a family with a long-term plan will put money into the building. The loft, the kitchen and the bathroom are the first three rooms on the list, and each of them can be helped by a rooflight.
Burbage also borders Hinckley directly, and the line between the two is a matter of a street sign. A survey in Burbage often takes us past Hinckley, and the roofs in the two places share much of the same stock. That helps us, because the patterns repeat and the experience carries over, though every house still gets its own measured quote.
Homes closest to the old village centre may be the oldest, and the edges may be the newest, but the real answer lies in the loft. A hundred-year-old house may have had its roof renewed, and a house from the 1980s may have been extended more than once. We look rather than assume.
A big suburban village where any unit can be the right one
In a large suburban village like Burbage, any of our units can be the right one. Older roofs suit flush profiles, loft conversions suit roof windows and rear extensions suit flat glass.
- Conservation rooflightsOn an older slate or clay-tile roof, a flush conservation rooflight keeps the line of the roof quiet.
- Roof windowsA suburban loft converted to a bedroom or office takes a roof window between the rafters or trusses.
- Flat roof rooflightsA flat-roofed kitchen or garage conversion at the back suits flat glass on a new upstand.
- VELUX windowsA VELUX window on a tile roof can be matched to an existing one elsewhere in the house.
Also fitted here
Near Burbage
- Hinckley6 min
- Barwell10 min
- Sapcote8 min
- Stoney Stanton8 min
Drive times from Burbage.
Hinckley and Bosworth, not a Warwickshire council
Burbage is in Leicestershire, and its planning authority is Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council, not a Warwickshire one. We search their records for your address so the answer reflects the right authority. The facts we hold name no conservation area for the village, and the council answers Article 4 questions.
An older or listed house calls for a word at first contact, because listed building consent is a separate matter. Building Control notification, where the work is notifiable, is ours to make, and the rooflight planning guide sets the national picture.
It speeds things along if you tell us roughly when your house was built, even if you only know the decade. The date points to the likely roof and shows what to look for in the loft.
01 Older roofs and flush profiles
Slate, clay tile and hand-cut rafters, and the rooflights made to sit level with them.
On the roof
A village with a history as long as Burbage's has older houses somewhere in its streets, and older houses have older roofs. The covering may be slate or clay tile, weathered to a soft colour. The timbers under it may be hand-cut and spaced to suit the materials of the day. A rooflight for such a roof has to be chosen with care.
A flush conservation rooflight is designed for this job. Its frame is slim, usually of steel, and the glass sits level with the covering instead of rising above it. From the road the roof line stays almost unbroken, with a thin line of glass where the unit sits.
The survey comes first. We look into the loft, measure the rafters and note the condition of the timbers and the battens. Then we choose a unit whose size suits the gap between rafters, so that as few as possible need cutting. Where one must be trimmed, the opening is framed with new timber sized for the load.
The flashing is dressed by hand to the tiles or slates, lapped carefully and sealed. We check the junctions before we leave.
If the roof has been re-covered at some point, the new covering may sit on old timbers in a pattern that is hard to read from outside. We measure from inside and record the positions of the rafters so the opening can be set out accurately.
Where an older house has a chimney stack or a party wall near the proposed opening, we plan the flashing around it and tell you if a different position would be simpler. A slightly different spot can sometimes avoid a lot of complexity.
In the room
Older ceilings need patience. Lath and plaster cracks if it is cut carelessly, so we cut back to sound edges and frame the opening before any lining goes in. The reveal is insulated, plastered and splayed to the depth the roof allows, so that it spreads the light and blends with the existing ceiling.
A period room under a roof is often smaller than a modern one, and it benefits more from extra daylight. A bedroom with a single small window comes alive with a flush rooflight overhead, and the sky becomes part of the room.
The edge where new plaster meets old is made good by hand, so it reads as one surface. The room is then left ready for paint.
A white reveal gives the most light, but a very pale warm tone can suit an older room better. We leave the plaster ready for whichever colour you prefer.
If the ceiling has a cornice or moulding nearby, we keep the new opening well clear of it and make sure the lines of the room are respected.
Where a bedroom ceiling meets a sloping roof, the angle of the reveal can be tuned so a wardrobe or a chest of drawers still fits under the window without catching the edge.
The short version
On an older roof, a flush profile keeps the street view calm and a hand-finished reveal keeps the room looking right.
02 Suburban extensions and lofts
Rear kitchens, converted garages and lofts turned into bedrooms.
On the roof
Many homes in a village of this size have been altered since they were built. A loft conversion and a rear extension are typical changes, and each leads to its own rooflight.
For the loft, a roof window in the slope is the classic answer. In a trussed roof it is sized to sit between two trusses with no timber cut. In a hand-cut roof, there is more freedom, and the window can be placed to suit the room. We measure the loft, note the pitch and choose a unit to match.
For the extension, the roof is flat or shallow, and a flat glass rooflight sits on an insulated upstand. The covering is taken up the kerb and tucked beneath the unit's flange, so water cannot enter. A roof lantern is an option for a wider room.
Where an old dome or sealed unit has misted, replacement is straightforward. We remove the old unit, check the deck beneath and build a new upstand if needed.
Roof windows can be paired with blinds and opening mechanisms chosen to suit the room, whether a bedroom that needs to be dark or a home office that needs a view of the sky. Manual and electric controls are both available.
When a conversion has already been done, with a dormer or a window in place, we can add a second unit on the other slope or replace an older one that has seen better days, and make good the surroundings inside and out.
In the room
The back of a suburban house is often the dimmest part of it, especially where an extension has pushed the kitchen or dining room away from the garden doors. A rooflight brings daylight into the middle of that room from above.
We cut the opening wide where the joists allow and splay the reveal outward, so the light fans across the room. Over a worktop it gives a steady working light. Over a dining table it makes the meal feel like an occasion.
The plaster is skimmed to match the ceiling and left ready for paint.
Converted garages are a frequent project in suburban streets. A garage has a low ceiling and a blank back wall, and a rooflight is often the most effective way to make it feel like a proper room. A pair of units, spaced along the room, gives an even light that a single one cannot.
Bedrooms in converted lofts are often the quietest rooms in the house, and a window that opens lets in fresh air without street noise. An electric opening unit with a rain sensor is a popular choice there, since it can be closed from the bed.
The deep, dim middle of a suburban house is where a rooflight earns its keep.
Leicestershire cover, flush units, old domes: Burbage
Burbage is in Leicestershire. Do you still cover it?
Yes. The drive from Coventry takes about 22 minutes, which puts Burbage inside our coverage area. The planning authority is Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council, and we check their records for your address before we quote.
What is a flush rooflight, and does my house need one?
A flush rooflight, also called a conservation rooflight, sits level with the roof covering in a slim frame. It suits older slate or tile roofs and any roof where a quiet roof line matters. We tell you at the survey whether it suits yours.
Can you replace an old dome on my extension?
Yes. We remove the dome and its upstand, check the roof deck, build a new insulated upstand, fit a flat glass rooflight and make good the reveal inside, widening it where the joists allow. The fixed written quote lists each step.
We survey before we price.
Then we finish the room.
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