Skylights & rooflights in Stoney Stanton
Stoney Stanton: newer rooms, more daylight.
A quarry village that has kept adding streets to the east of the M69, Stoney Stanton now has plenty of newer homes whose kitchens, landings and lofts are waiting for better glass.
- Blaby District Council
- Recent growth, newer roofs
- Glazing upgrades surveyed
Quarried stone, Stoney Cove and newer streets
Stoney Stanton is a large village in the Blaby district of Leicestershire, 16.5 road miles and 29 minutes by road from central Coventry, towards the north-east. It lies five miles east of Hinckley, just east of the M69. Its population was over 3,454 in 2001 and 3,793 at the 2011 census, and the built-up area counted around 4,090 people in 2021, a steady rise that has brought new streets alongside the old.
The village is of ancient origin, mentioned in the Domesday Survey of Leicestershire in 1086. Stone has been taken from the ground here for a long time. Parish records show gravel and stone being removed from Carey, or quarry, Hill in the centre of the village in the eighteenth century, and in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the stone was quarried from Lanes Hill, now the water-sports and diving centre known as Stoney Cove, as well as Clint Hill and Hall's Court. That working landscape is part of the village's story, and the older part of the village sits alongside the later housing.
For rooflights, the more useful fact is the growth. Newer homes dominate the streets that have been added around the old centre, and they share a pattern. Roofs are pitched and tiled, usually on trussed frames. Kitchens have been opened into dining rooms or extended into the garden. Lofts are boarded for storage, and landings and bathrooms often sit in the middle of the house with no window at all.
Those features are the brief for a rooflight. A roof window or a lantern lights the open-plan room, a roof window turns the loft into a bedroom or study, and a sun tunnel brightens the landing.
There is also the question of age. Homes from earlier phases of the village's growth now have glazing that is decades old. Misted sealed units, draughty frames and cold glass overhead are reasons to replace, and a modern unit with better insulation makes a room more comfortable year round.
A free survey leads to a quote that is fixed and written down.
The village also sits close to the Stoney Cove diving centre on the old quarry ground, which is a reminder that the land under the roofs has been cut and reshaped more than once. We mention it because it is part of why the village looks as it does: older buildings near the centre and newer streets around them.
Open-plan rooms, usable lofts and ageing glazing
On newer streets in Stoney Stanton the work usually falls into three groups: brighter open-plan rooms, usable lofts and glazing that has aged. Find the group that fits your house in the lines below.
- Roof lanternsA garden-side kitchen extension with a pitched or flat roof is a good place for a lantern.
- Roof windowsA boarded loft in a trussed roof takes a roof window sized to fit between two trusses.
- Energy efficient rooflightsWhere old glazing overhead is cold, draughty or misted, an energy efficient unit improves the room.
- Sun tunnelsA central landing or bathroom with no window can borrow daylight from the roof through a sun tunnel.
Also fitted here
Near Stoney Stanton
- Sapcote3 min
- Earl Shilton6 min
- Huncote8 min
- Broughton Astley6 min
Drive times from Stoney Stanton village centre.
Blaby District Council and the old stone-cut centre
Planning for Stoney Stanton is decided by Blaby District Council. Most houses present no difficulty for a rooflight, but the council is the one to confirm it, and a designation such as a conservation area, or an Article 4 direction, might change things. Both are checked against your address before a quote, and the outcome is written down for you.
Buildings near the village centre, from the days when stone was cut from the hill, could be listed, and listing means consent first. When the installation is notifiable, the notification to Building Control comes from us and the fitting meets current Building Regulations. The national rules are set out in our rooflight planning guide.
Send the address on WhatsApp if you are unsure how your property is classed, and we will look it up first.
01 Recent streets and open-plan kitchens
Pitched extensions, patio doors and a middle of the room that stays in shadow.
On the roof
A lot of Stoney Stanton's newer houses have been extended at the back with a pitched roof, either as a rear addition or as an orangery-style room. A pitched extension roof has the advantage of a real slope to work with, and the room under it usually has a raised ceiling.
The simplest answer is a roof window, or a pair of them, set into the slope. Sized and placed with care, they put daylight in the middle of the room where patio doors cannot reach. A lantern is a bolder choice on a flat or low pitch, and it gives a room a focal point as well as light.
We survey the roof structure before suggesting a size. Rafters in a new extension are usually regular, which makes fitting straightforward, but we measure anyway because builders' details vary. The frame is set, the flashing is made for the tile in use, and the covering is relaid around it.
If the extension has a flat section, we look at the covering and the fall. A flat glass rooflight needs an insulated upstand and a covering sealed to it, and if the roof around is near the end of its life, renewing it on the same visit is the sensible course so the whole thing is guaranteed together.
The aspect matters as well. A south-facing slope delivers plenty of light and some heat, so we talk about solar control glass and opening units. A north-facing slope is steadier, with soft even light all day.
Conservatory-style roofs are another common feature. A polycarbonate or early glass conservatory roof can be hot in July and cold in January. Replacing it with a solid insulated roof and a lantern or a set of roof windows keeps the daylight and gives the room a roof that behaves like the rest of the house.
In the room
In an open-plan room, a rooflight can mark a zone. Over the dining table, it gives the family a bright spot that feels distinct from the kitchen side. Over the island or worktop, it adds task light by day. We decide the position with you in the room, using a tape and a pencil.
Insulated board lines the reveal, which is splayed to spread the light, and a smooth skim leaves the surface ready for decorating. On a raised ceiling, the splay can be tall and sculpted, which gives a lasting effect.
We protect floors and furniture with sheets, work from the outside where we can, and clean up before we go. Tell us if the room holds a new kitchen or fitted furniture, and we will plan around it.
Spotlights, pendant lights and speakers close to the opening are easy to coordinate with the plastering if we know early. A short conversation at the survey saves a cut into a finished ceiling later on.
Think about the use of the room through the year. A family kitchen is busiest in the morning and evening, a dining space in the evening and at weekends, a playroom through the day. A rooflight that faces the right way for the main use gives the best result, and we talk through orientation before settling the position.
The short version
Put the light where the family sits, then shape the reveal to carry it there.
02 Lofts, landings and glazing that has aged
Upgrading what the first owners were given, and lighting what they never lit.
On the roof
Many houses built in earlier phases of the village's growth have rooflights or roof windows that were fitted with the house. After decades of weather the seals fail, the glass mists between the panes, and the frame lets in draughts. Replacing the unit is a much shorter job than a new installation, particularly if the opening is the right size already.
We remove the old unit, check the flashing and the timbers around it, and fit a modern energy efficient replacement. Better glass, a better frame and a better seal all contribute. If the opening is too small or poorly placed, we say so, and offer to alter it as part of the work.
The loft itself is the other opportunity. A trussed roof leaves limited space for cutting, but a roof window sized for the gap between two trusses is a simple way to turn a boarded loft into a usable room. We check the spacing from inside, advise on size, and explain what a wider opening would need.
For a landing or bathroom that sits under a loft, a sun tunnel is a neat answer. A small round opening in the roof, a reflective tube through the loft and a diffuser in the ceiling bring daylight to a room with no window. The roof structure stays untouched and the job is brief.
All roof work is flashed and sealed to match the covering, and every detail is part of the written quote.
Roof windows in the loft can be fixed, opening or electric. In a summer loft, an opening unit lets heat escape from the highest point, and a rain sensor will close an electric one if a shower arrives. The wiring route and the power supply are planned at the survey.
In the room
When a replacement goes into an old opening, the inside is an opportunity. The plaster around the old unit may be cracked or stained, and the reveal square and shallow. We re-line it, widen it where the structure allows and splay it so daylight spreads into the room.
The finish is a clean skim, ready for decorating. For a loft room that is used every day, the result feels like a fresh room, even though the walls are the same.
For a landing with a new sun tunnel, the diffuser sits flush in the ceiling and the plaster is made good around it. The hall brightens at once, and you notice how often a light switch had been used during the day.
A loft that is turned into a bedroom gains from fresh air as well as light. An opening roof window beside the bed lets you air the room in the morning, and a splayed reveal keeps the headroom open instead of closing it in. We check the clear height under the sill so there are no knocks to the head.
Old glass overhead costs warmth; new glass returns it.
The short version
Replace the aged unit, resize the opening if it was wrong, and give the dark landing a sun tunnel.
Misted units, dark landings and visits to Stoney Stanton
Our rooflight has misted between the panes. Is it worth replacing the whole thing?
Usually, yes. A misted sealed unit cannot be cleared, and an old frame often leaks heat and air as well. A modern replacement in the same opening is a shorter job than a new installation, and we can enlarge the opening if it was too small. The survey is free, and the quote lists exactly what is included.
What can a sun tunnel do for a landing that has no window?
It brings daylight in through a small round opening in the roof, carries it down a reflective tube and releases it through a diffuser in the ceiling. The effect is a bright landing during the day with no electric light. We check that the loft layout allows the tube to run, and the ceiling is finished neatly around the diffuser.
How quickly can you reach Stoney Stanton?
Stoney Stanton is 16.5 road miles from central Coventry, about 29 minutes, so we reach you comfortably. A WhatsApp photograph of the roof or room, or a call, gets a time offered for the survey. A ten-year guarantee covers our workmanship.
We survey before we price.
Then we finish the room.
Free survey · Coventry and 30 miles around
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