Skylights & rooflights in Knowle
Roof lanterns and big extensions in Knowle.
Knowle is a large village with homes of many ages, within easy reach of the M42 and the stations at Dorridge and Hampton-in-Arden, where owners tend to extend wide at the back and light the new room from the roof.
- Solihull Council
- Detached homes and extensions
- Roof lanterns and large glass
A Solihull village with the M42 and the canal close by
Knowle is a large village three miles east-south-east of Solihull, in the West Midlands, 13.6 road miles out from Coventry. It lies within the Arden area of the historic county of Warwickshire and has been part of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull since 1974. The 2021 Census figures for Knowle and Dorridge together give a population of 19,323, which makes this one of the larger settlements we cover.
The facts we hold describe the place by its connections. The village lies on the A4141 and close to the M42, with Junction 5 a little over a mile from its western edge. Knowle has no station of its own, but nearby Dorridge station on the Chiltern Main Line was once known as Knowle and Dorridge, Hampton-in-Arden station lies a few miles north on the Coventry to Birmingham line, and Birmingham International is close for express services to London Euston. The Grand Union Canal, on the Birmingham Main Line, lies to the east of the village.
Links like these also make Knowle an easy run for us from Coventry. In general terms, that means detached houses on generous plots, built across several eras, with a good deal of money spent on them over time. A common choice for owners of such houses is to extend: a deep kitchen-diner at the back, a family room, a garden room, sometimes a double-storey side addition. The roof on a wide rear extension is the question we are most often asked about.
A large extension needs more than a single window. A flat roof across a wide room is a big surface, and the rooms below depend on light from above because the new walls of glass at the back may face the garden but do not reach the middle of the room. A roof lantern, or a pair of large flat rooflights, completes the scheme.
The older part of the village adds another layer. Knowle Library is kept by Solihull Council in a building called Chester House, which dates back to Tudor times, so the village has real age at its core. Period houses and cottages near the centre need a different approach from the large detached homes around them, and we survey each on its own merits.
Because the roofs of larger houses are often complex, with hips, valleys, dormers and several levels, the survey is where the project is won or lost. We walk the roof edge where it is safe, look into the loft and the room below and note anything that affects the opening. Then the quote is written for that roof alone.
The canal to the east of the village is a useful reminder that this is an area of varied land use, with older houses, newer estates and a good deal of green space round them. The roof in front of us on any given day may be recent or very old, and nothing about the postcode tells us which.
Lanterns, paired flat glass and loft suites in Knowle
Detached commuter houses in Knowle usually point to large glazing: a roof lantern over an extension, a pair of flat rooflights over a kitchen-diner or a roof window for a loft that has become a suite.
- Roof lanternsA wide rear extension is the natural home of a roof lantern, which raises the ceiling and floods the middle of the room.
- Flat roof rooflightsLarge flat rooflights, frameless or framed, suit an extension where a lantern is more than the design needs.
- Electric & opening rooflightsA big glazed roof gathers heat, and an electric opening rooflight with a rain sensor lets it breathe.
- Energy efficient rooflightsA high-performance glass specification keeps a large glazed roof comfortable in both winter and summer.
Also fitted here
Near Knowle
- Solihull6 min
- Cheswick Green9 min
- Balsall Common12 min
- Dickens Heath12 min
Drive times from Knowle.
Solihull Council, and plans your builder already holds
Knowle belongs to Solihull Council for planning purposes. No conservation area is named in the facts we hold, though a village with a Tudor building at its centre may well have protected streets, so we check your address against the council's records. Any Article 4 question goes to the council.
A large rear extension is a bigger undertaking than a single rooflight, and it may carry its own planning history, drawings and Building Control file. Approved plans tell us the roof structure the designer intended, so send them if you have them. Where an architect or builder is already involved, we work alongside them and quote in writing for the rooflight part of the project.
Building Control notification is ours to submit when required. The rooflight planning guide gives the national picture, and photos of the roof and the room sent on WhatsApp give us a first view before the visit.
01 Roof lanterns on large extensions
A raised crown of glass for a room that was built to impress.
On the roof
A roof lantern is a glazed structure that stands up from a flat roof, with glass on four sides and a ridge or pyramid on top. It sits on an upstand, the upstand sits on the roof deck, and the deck is carried by joists that must be strong enough for the weight of the lantern and the load of the opening round it.
The first question on a large extension is whether the structure has been designed for the lantern. If the extension is new, the answer is usually yes, because the architect or builder will have allowed for it. If the roof was built flat and a lantern is added later, the joists may need to be strengthened or a new frame built, and we say so at the survey.
The lantern's footprint is a design decision. A lantern that is too small looks mean; one that is too large looks heavy. As a rule of thumb the lantern should cover the main part of the room, leaving a clear border of ceiling round it. We agree the size with you on the day, using measurements instead of guesses.
Weathering is the quiet detail. The roof covering runs up the upstand, a flashing sits at its top and the lantern's base is fixed and sealed to it. Water has to run off the roof around the lantern and away from the building, and we plan the fall so that it does.
Some owners prefer a flat glass rooflight in place of a lantern, particularly where the ceiling height is limited or where a lantern would be visible from a neighbour's window. We talk through both and show you how each would sit.
On a larger roof, two or three rooflights spaced along the room can give a more even light than a single large one. That is a design choice, and we draw it out at the survey.
In the room
A lantern changes a room from the inside. The ceiling climbs, the glass lets in light from all directions and the sky becomes part of the space. The detail that makes it work is the upstand lining inside, a vertical plastered face that frames the opening, painted white so that it reflects the light.
That lining is more than a trim. It gives the room a proper edge under the glass, and it hides the structure that carries the lantern. We plaster it by hand and match it to the ceiling so the room reads as one design.
Where a flat rooflight is chosen instead, a deep splayed reveal does the same work, spreading the light across the ceiling.
A large glazed roof also brings questions of heat and glare. We talk about glass specifications and blinds at the survey, so the finished room is comfortable on a summer afternoon as well as bright on a winter morning.
A lantern is also a good place for a slim blind system, fitted to the underside of the glass. It gives you a way to soften midday light and to darken the room at night. Controls can be wired to a wall switch or a remote, and we plan the cable route while the ceiling is open.
For a room that opens onto a terrace, the flow of light from roof to garden is the real design feature. We keep the ceiling clean and plain so that the glass does the work.
The short version
A lantern is part of the room's structure, so the roof beneath it has to be designed for it.
02 Lofts and large family houses
Detached houses with deep roofs, big lofts and rooms that could use more daylight.
On the roof
A detached house on a generous plot often has a roof of generous size: a long ridge, steep pitches and a loft with enough height to stand in. Those are good conditions for a roof window or a row of them. The rafters are usually large, the covering is tile or slate, and there is room to work.
For a loft that has been converted into a suite, a roof window in each slope brings daylight from both sides. For a landing or a bathroom under the roof, a VELUX window or a sun tunnel brings in light without taking up wall space.
Where the house has an older roof near the village centre, we check the covering and the structure before we suggest a unit, and if the building is old enough to warrant it, a conservation rooflight is the better choice.
For the electric option, an opening window with a rain sensor and a remote control can be placed out of reach, over a stair, and operated from below.
Larger roofs sometimes carry older roof windows from an earlier conversion. If one has misted, leaks at the edge or no longer opens well, replacement with a modern unit is a straightforward job, and the opening can be improved at the same time.
In the room
A large house has large rooms, and a single window can leave the middle of a big room in half-light. Placing a rooflight over the centre of a wide landing, a master suite or a dressing room fixes the problem.
The reveal is framed, lined and splayed to whatever depth the roof allows. In a big loft room, the splay can be generous, and the result is a soft, even light across the whole ceiling.
We plaster to match the surrounding finish and leave the surface ready for paint, so the new opening looks as though it was part of the original design.
A dressing room, a landing and a stairwell are the quiet beneficiaries of a roof window. They have no outside wall, so every part of the light they receive has to come from above. A sun tunnel can serve a small space like a wardrobe or an en suite, where a full window is more than the room needs.
All of it is finished by hand, with the reveals plastered smooth and ready to paint. The result is the kind of detail that people notice only when it is missing.
The bigger the house, the more a room in the middle needs light from the roof.
Lanterns, heat and builders on site: Knowle asks
Can you supply a roof lantern for an extension my builder is already constructing?
Yes. We work with the builder or architect to agree the size, the upstand height and the weathering, then supply and fit the lantern and finish the room under it. Send us the drawings and we can quote for the rooflight part of the project in writing.
Will a large glass roof make the room too hot?
It can if the glass is not chosen with care. We talk through specifications at the survey, including solar control glass, opening units and blinds, so the finished room stays comfortable in summer and keeps warm in winter.
Is Knowle close enough to arrange a survey easily?
Expect a drive of about 21 minutes from Coventry, with Solihull and Balsall Common close at hand. A form or a WhatsApp message gets you a survey time.
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Then we finish the room.
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