Skylights & rooflights in Water Orton
Rooflights by the Tame and the railway.
Water Orton grew beside the River Tame and then along the railway, so its roofs run from a medieval conservation core to the commuter terraces and semis that followed the station.
- North Warwickshire Borough Council
- Old Church Road conservation area
- River and railway village
Medieval timber frames, railway streets and later houses
Water Orton is a village and civil parish in North Warwickshire, 14.6 road miles out from Coventry, set near the River Tame between Castle Bromwich and Coleshill. It borders the West Midlands metropolitan county boundary to the north, west and south. The census figure for the built-up area is 3,484 people.
The facts we hold trace three layers of settlement, and each leaves its own kind of roof. The first is medieval. The area overlooking the crossing of the River Tame formed the original settlement of Overton, with pottery found from the 12th century, and the village cross in the old graveyard on Old Church Road dates from 1347. Timber-framed houses survive from that time: The Chestnuts, a 15th-century house with later additions, and Wakefield House, a timber-framed house with a 17th-century main block. These are listed buildings and need care.
The second layer is the railway. Water Orton railway station was first built in 1842, and the present station dates from 1908. The railway increased house building in the village, because commuters could reach Birmingham more quickly than by road. It also brought the meat industry here, and extensive sidings and commercial traffic grew up, especially during and after the Second World War, until the cuts of the 1960s.
Housing built to serve that commuting population is the third layer, and the railway increased house building here. We expect terraces and semi-detached houses of the early twentieth century in tile or slate, later houses on the same pattern and, behind both, the flat-roofed rear additions that were built to give a kitchen, a bathroom or a dining room more space.
The river sets the village's character. A grade II listed sandstone bridge over the Tame, scheduled as an ancient monument, carries the road to neighbouring Minworth. Whatever the setting, we check the condition of the roof deck and the seals on any flat roof before we fit a new unit to it.
Water Orton was originally part of the parish of Aston, forming a narrow extension along the River Tame to the north of the parish of Coleshill, and the village still has the compact, linear feel that history suggests. Houses sit close together along the main routes, which means a roof is often shared with a neighbour at one or both ends. We keep that in mind when planning access and flashing, and we confine the work to your own roof.
The railway story has one more consequence for roofs. Because the village filled in over several decades, in step with the commuter trade, houses on the same street can differ in age by twenty or thirty years. One may have its original slates and the next may have been re-covered in concrete tile. The surveys we carry out in a street like that rarely repeat, and the quote for each house is written from the roof in front of us.
Old Church Road and the lanes around it hold the oldest buildings, and the roads nearer the station hold the commuter-era houses. Whichever you live in, we are glad to talk it through before the visit, with photographs if you wish.
Conservation rooflights, loft windows and flat rears
In Water Orton, the likely jobs are a conservation rooflight on a protected street, a roof window in a pitched loft and a flat glass rooflight at the rear of a commuter-era house.
- Conservation rooflightsWithin the Old Church Road conservation area, a flush conservation rooflight keeps the roofscape quiet.
- Flat roof rooflightsThe flat-roofed rear of a commuter-era house suits flat glass on a new insulated upstand.
- Roof windowsA pitched tile or slate roof with a usable loft takes a roof window between the rafters.
- Misted rooflight replacementAn old unit that has lost its clarity can be taken out and new glass fitted, with the opening refinished inside.
Also fitted here
Near Water Orton
- Smith's Wood8 min
- Kingshurst8 min
- Coleshill5 min
- Castle Bromwich6 min
Drive times from Water Orton.
The Old Church Road conservation area, designated 1983
North Warwickshire Borough Council holds the planning decisions for Water Orton. The oldest part of the village, centred on the western end of Old Church Road, was designated a conservation area in 1983, so a house in or near that stretch gets its boundary checked against the address before we quote. A listed building needs consent before anyone touches the roof.
Elsewhere in the village we still look at each street, and only the council can confirm an Article 4 direction. For a listed house, we ask for the listing details, which describe the parts of the building the council values, and they help us place a rooflight with the least effect on its character.
We lodge the Building Control notification when the work needs one. Tell us at first contact if you are listed or near Old Church Road, and read the rooflight planning guide for the wider picture.
01 Flat-roofed rears
Kitchens, bathrooms and dining rooms added to commuter houses, and the roofs that cover them.
On the roof
A house built for a commuter in the twentieth century often had a small rear kitchen, and many have since been extended. The extension roof is flat, or nearly flat, and it has often been recovered more than once. Our first task is to read it: the deck, the fall, the upstands, the gutters and the age of the covering.
A sound deck takes a new rooflight on a new insulated upstand. A soft or ponding deck is dealt with first, and the work goes into the same written quote. The covering runs up the kerb face and tucks beneath the unit's flange, so water has no route in.
Where a plastic dome is in place, replacement follows the same steps. The old dome and its upstand come off, the deck is checked and the new unit is fitted on a new upstand with a proper fall. The result is a roof that lasts and a rooflight that gives far more light.
We plan the fall and the gutters so rainwater leaves the roof promptly.
Where the extension joins the main house, we check the junction too. A flat roof meeting a pitched one needs a well-made flashing or abutment, and the new rooflight should not draw attention to any weakness there.
If the old covering is near the end of its life, we say so, and the quote can include recovering the area round the new unit.
Many rear extensions have rainwater goods that were fitted at the time and never revisited. A new rooflight is a sensible moment to look at the gutter and the downpipe nearest to it, and we note anything that would allow water to pool near the upstand.
In the room
The rear room of a commuter terrace is often the darkest in the house. It sits at the back, behind the front rooms, and its one window may face a fence or a side wall. A rooflight above it changes that, by bringing in daylight from the one direction that no fence can block.
We cut the opening, frame it and line it with insulated plasterboard. The lining is splayed outward where the joists allow, so the light spreads across the room. For a bathroom, we consider the glass: clear, obscured and tinted options all exist.
The plaster is skimmed to meet the ceiling, with edges made good, and the room is left ready to paint.
In a small kitchen, the position of the opening matters. We ask where the worktop and the table sit before the angle is set.
An opening unit is worth considering in a bathroom, since it lets steam leave through the ceiling and keeps the room fresh. A rain sensor closes it if a shower arrives.
A rooflight above a rear dining room or kitchen also helps a house with a narrow plan. The rooms at the back of a terrace are often long and thin, and light from the middle of the ceiling reaches both walls more evenly than a window at the end can.
The short version
A flat roof at the back is a good place for glass, once the deck underneath has been read.
02 The old village and its listed houses
Timber frames, old sandstone and a conservation area that asks for a quiet roof.
On the roof
A house in the oldest part of the village deserves a slower approach. The conservation area centred on Old Church Road was designated in 1983, and the village's listed buildings include timber-framed houses with centuries of history. A rooflight there has to be justified, designed and, for a listed building, consented before it is fitted.
The units made for this setting are conservation rooflights. They sit flush with the roof covering, with a slim steel frame and a single slim glass unit, and they keep the roof plane almost unbroken. A rear slope that cannot be seen from the street is the best position, and we survey from inside the loft to find the best place.
We measure the rafters and note the condition of the timbers. An old frame may be uneven, and the opening has to be framed to suit it, not the other way round.
The flashing is dressed to the tiles or slates by hand, and the junctions are sealed and checked before we leave.
Where the council asks for a drawing, we supply the unit's technical details and a sketch showing the position on the roof, which helps it reach a decision.
Sandstone and old brick walls hold heat and damp differently from modern ones, and a roof joining them calls for a considered flashing. We detail each junction by hand and check it on the day.
In the room
Inside an old timber-framed house, the structure is part of the room. Beams, braces and old plaster have their own rhythm, and a new opening has to sit within it. We mark the position against the frame, cut with care and finish the plaster by hand so the opening looks like part of the building.
The splay is kept gentle, with soft edges that suit an old room, and the reveal is painted in a pale colour that passes light into the room.
A flush rooflight lets a dark upper room come to life, and in an old house, that is often the most valuable change a homeowner can make.
In a house with low ceilings under the roof, a rooflight can feel like raising the height of the room. The eye follows the light upward, and the space seems larger than it measures.
The written quote lists the plastering and finishing, so the cost is clear before the work begins.
A listed house may also have rules for interior work. Where plastering round a new opening touches historic fabric, we discuss it with you and, if needed, with the council before anything is cut.
In an old village, the best rooflight is the one you cannot see from the road.
Conservation area, flat roofs and distance in Water Orton
I live near Old Church Road. Is my house in the conservation area?
The conservation area is centred on the western end of Old Church Road, and its boundary decides whether your street is inside. We check your address against the council's records before we quote, and the council can confirm. If you are inside, we plan a flush rooflight on a rear slope.
Our kitchen extension roof is flat and old. Can it take a rooflight?
Usually yes, once the deck has been checked. A sound deck takes a new insulated upstand and a flat glass rooflight. A soft or ponding deck is dealt with first, and the work is included in the fixed written quote.
How close is Water Orton to you?
The drive from Coventry is around 21 minutes, close to Coleshill and Castle Bromwich. Use the form or WhatsApp us for a survey time.
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