Skylights & rooflights in Cosby
Cosby’s cottages, council houses and estates, all given light.
Cosby has been a village since the Domesday Book, grew through 1920s council houses and a 1938 smallholding settlement, and filled with large private estates in the 1960s, so its roofs tell several stories at once.
- Blaby District Council
- Domesday village, 1960s estates
- Brook and Fosse Way parish
Open fields enclosed, then the Settlement and 1960s estates
Cosby is a village in Leicestershire, about twenty-one road miles north-east of central Coventry, in the Blaby district. It is first recorded as Cossebi in the Domesday Book of 1086, with forty families living there. A brook runs through the village and eventually feeds the River Soar, and the Fosse Way bounds the parish to the north. In 1767 the medieval open fields were enclosed by Act of Parliament, bringing to an end a system of agriculture that had been practised in Cosby from before the Norman Conquest.
The twentieth century is what shaped most of the roofs you see now. Council houses were built along Park Road and in Lady Leys during the 1920s and 1930s. In 1938 the Settlement was established: forty-eight houses, each with a third of an acre, to house out-of-work families from Wales and the North East of England. In the 1960s, large private housing estates were built, making Cosby one of Leicestershire’s growing number of dormitory settlements. A barn known as Coates Barn was restored in the 1980s as commercial office space.
Each of those periods has its own roof. Inter-war council houses usually have a pitched tile roof, a modest loft and a simple plan. Houses on generous plots, like the Settlement’s, tend to have been extended over the decades, often at the side or back. The 1960s estates have wide, shallow roofs and rear extensions with flat tops. And barn-style buildings, where they exist, bring deep roofs and exposed timbers.
A free survey takes in the rafters or joists, the covering and the room underneath, and we then put a fixed written quote in your hands. The quote names the rooflight, the way it is flashed and sealed, and the finish to the opening inside.
A village that is a dormitory settlement, in the old phrase, is one where many of its people spend the day elsewhere and come home to the house. That makes the house the place where the improvements go: the loft turned into a bedroom for a growing family, the kitchen widened for a household that eats together, the dark hallway lit from above. Each is a roof job, and each starts with a conversation about what the room is for.
The brook that runs through the village and the Fosse Way along the northern edge of the parish are part of the setting, and houses near them are often among trees and hedges. Where trees shade a room, the roof is the best place to look for daylight.
Inter-war lofts, 1960s extension roofs and barn rooms
A village built in layers calls for a few different answers. Inter-war and Settlement-era houses suit roof windows in their lofts, 1960s estates suit flat rooflights on their extension roofs, and barn-style buildings suit wider glass.
- Roof windowsFor lofts in the inter-war houses, where a roof window turns storage into a bedroom or study.
- Flat roof rooflightsFor flat-roofed additions on the 1960s estates, replacing a dated dome with flat glass.
- Roof lanternsFor barn-style rooms and larger extensions with the span and height for a lantern.
- Misted rooflight replacementFor older rooflights that have clouded between the panes and need a new sealed unit.
Also fitted here
Near Cosby
- Whetstone4 min
- Narborough5 min
- Blaby6 min
- Broughton Astley6 min
Drive times from Cosby village centre.
Blaby District Council and papers to bring to the survey
For planning, Cosby comes under Blaby District Council. A house here can often take a rooflight without an application, and we look up conservation area and listing status before any quote. The council alone can confirm if an Article 4 direction affects your road.
For a converted barn or a building that has changed use, we ask to see any planning decision or drawings, since they can affect what is allowed. Our firm sends the Building Control notice when the job requires it. The rooflight planning guide covers the rules.
Gather what you have before the survey: a copy of any listing, a previous planning decision for an extension, or the plans from a conversion. We read them with you and make sure the rooflight we propose is consistent with them, so there are no surprises when the council or Building Control asks a question.
01 Council houses and smallholding homes
Inter-war roofs on generous plots, and lofts that have more to give.
On the roof
The inter-war houses of Park Road and Lady Leys, and the Settlement houses with their third-of-an-acre plots, share some features: pitched roofs, chimney stacks, simple shapes and lofts that have often been left as stores. The plots are generous, so there is room for a side or rear extension, and many houses have one.
A roof window is the straightforward answer for the loft. Rafters of this period are usually regular, which makes it simple to place a window between them. We measure the spacing, choose a size, and fit it with flashing made for your tile or slate.
If the covering is original, it may be thin or worn near the opening. We tell you what we see and write the cost of any tile or batten replacement into the quote. An opening made in a tired roof deserves a sound surround.
Chimneys limit the choice of position, as does the line of the ridge. We note both at the survey and place the unit with room for the flashing on every side.
Some Settlement-era plots have outbuildings, sheds and workshops with their own roofs. A garden office or workshop with a corrugated or felt roof can take a small flat rooflight, and we look at those on request as part of the same visit. The structure is lighter, so the sizing is done with care.
Wind and weather are also considered. Roofs on open plots catch more of both, and we fix the flashing and the frame to suit an exposed position.
In the room
Lofts in houses of this age tend to be roomy under the ridge and tight at the eaves. A roof window set high on the slope puts the light where the headroom is. We line the reveal in insulated board, angle it into the room as far as the depth allows, then skim it smooth.
These are family houses, many with children and grandchildren coming and going. A loft room is often the extra bedroom or the home office the household needs. We plan the work to be quick and tidy, protecting the stairs, containing dust and clearing up each day.
The finish is ready to paint, with the frame sitting tight to the plaster. If you want a blind, we suggest one that suits the slope and fit it with the window.
And in the end, the roof window does what a gable window cannot. It looks straight at the sky and fills the room with an even, soft light that changes through the day.
For a hallway or landing with no outside wall, a sun tunnel is a simple solution. A small dome on the roof collects daylight and a reflective tube carries it down to a diffuser in the ceiling. It is a quick job with very little disturbance, and it makes a dark passage feel quite different.
The short version
Set the window where the headroom is, high on the slope, and the light goes where the room is.
02 Estates, extensions and barn-style rooms
Shallow roofs, flat-topped additions and deep, timbered spaces.
On the roof
The private estates of the 1960s brought shallow-pitched roofs and, over time, single-storey additions at the back with flat roofs. Many of those still have a plastic dome from when they were built. Replacing a dome with flat glass on a new insulated upstand is one of the most worthwhile changes at the lowest cost.
The dome and its kerb are taken out, and we check the deck and fall, build the new upstand and seal the covering up to it. Any soft spot in the deck or a covering near the end of its life is shown at the survey and priced in the same written quote as the glass.
A barn-style building, such as an office or home that was once a barn, has a roof of a different order: deep, long in span, often with exposed trusses and purlins. A lantern or a wide glass rooflight suits that scale, fitted between the existing timbers, so the structure stays as it is.
For roofs with a shallow pitch, the flashing rating of a roof window matters. We check the angle at the survey and pick a unit and kit that suit it.
Estate roofs are often shared in style but not in condition, so each is checked on its own. If a roof has been patched with different tiles over the years, we match the courses around the opening as closely as we can and tell you where the colour will differ.
In the room
Under a flat extension roof, a widened and splayed opening makes the most of the glass. The reveal is plastered white, the corners are crisp and the light spreads along the ceiling and down the walls. A kitchen or dining room that has depended on a small dome is transformed.
In a barn-style room, timbers stay as they are. The opening is framed around them and plastered neatly. A lantern’s box or funnel is finished to match the ceiling, with the lines agreed at the survey.
We talk through where the light should fall: over a table, a desk, a worktop or a seating area. The splay is angled to suit. The decision is yours, and it is written into the quote.
When we finish, the room is cleaned and the plasterwork is ready for your paint.
Ventilation is a point to raise at the survey. An opening rooflight lets steam and warm air out of a kitchen at the highest point, and an electric version can be operated by a remote or a wall switch. We explain the options and price each, so you can decide with the numbers in front of you.
Afterwards, the glass and frame are cleaned, the floor is swept, and we show you how to open, close and look after the unit.
Do ask about blinds and shading while we are there; fitting them with the unit costs less than adding them later.
The short version
A 1960s dome and a barn lantern are both answered the same way: measure first, then match the glass.
Forty families in 1086, whole estates by the 1960s; the roofs have kept pace.
Inter-war lofts, barn lanterns and survey dates: Cosby
Is the loft of my inter-war Cosby house worth converting with a roof window?
Frequently, yes. Lofts in houses of that age are roomy under the ridge, and one or two roof windows can make them usable. The free survey records the headroom, the pitch and the rafters, and the fixed written quote that follows includes the finish inside. Other conversion work is flagged separately. A pair of windows side by side often suits a long, narrow roof.
Can a barn-style building in Cosby take a lantern?
Often it can, because the span suits the scale. We check the trusses, the purlins and the covering, and fit the unit between existing timbers where possible. If any timber needs adding, the quote says so. Inside, the opening is framed around the beams and plastered neatly, ready for paint. Where the barn is listed or sits near listed buildings, we explain what the council is likely to want to see.
How soon could you survey a house in Cosby?
Cosby is about thirty-six minutes by road from central Coventry, so a visit can often be offered within days. Send the form or WhatsApp with a few pictures of the roof and the room. The survey costs nothing, and the quote that follows is a fixed price in writing. Whetstone, Narborough and Blaby are close, so neighbouring surveys can be grouped.
We survey before we price.
Then we finish the room.
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