Clear SkylightsCrawley

East Sussex · 21.8 miles from Crawley by road

Rooflights and skylights in Buxted, beside the A272 and the line

Buxted sits a mile north of Uckfield, with the A272 through the village and a railway station of its own. We fit rooflights and skylights for the roof in front of us, then write down the glass we chose for the noise.

Get a quote What is a quiet spec?

Daylight falling through a walk-on glass panel set into a ceiling
Planning
Wealden District Council; village outside any conservation area
Homes
Church of 1250, Georgian park, farmhouses and later houses
Roofs
No single local type assumed; the loft decides the unit
Setting
A mile north of Uckfield, on the A272 and the Uckfield branch line

A main road, an hourly train and listed houses across one parish

  • The A272 through the village

    Through-traffic is steady, and it reaches a loft room by way of the roof plane, so a slope facing the road wants a laminated inner pane.

  • Seals that have had their day

    An older unit with a perished gasket lets the train and the road round the sash, so the seals are renewed with the glass, never left.

  • Roofs of many centuries

    The parish runs from a 1250 church to a Georgian park, so we read each roof in the loft before an opening is marked.

  • Rain on extension glass

    A lantern over a kitchen or garden room rings in a downpour, so glass layers and upstand are settled together.

An example spec for a bedroom facing the A272

A sketch of the note a quote would carry for a room like this. Your own version follows a visit to your room, where we hear what it hears and read the roof above it.

Room:
loft bedroom in a house on a village street, roof slope facing the main road
What we would listen for:
steady traffic on the A272, and the hourly off-peak train on the Uckfield branch
Glazing:
laminated acoustic inner pane, outer sheet of a different thickness, generous cavity between
Seals and upstand:
unbroken gaskets round the sash, flashing kit matched to the covering, reveals lined and insulated

Noise out hereStill in here

The survey file

Rooflights in Buxted

Buxted is a village and civil parish in Wealden District, about a mile north of Uckfield. A rooflight installation in Buxted is shaped by a handful of plain facts: a railway with an hourly off-peak train, the A272 through the village, parish buildings that span seven centuries, and a planning position that is checked for each address. This page takes them in the order a survey does, and says where the glass, the seals and the upstand are chosen to match.

A wide parish

A parish a mile north of Uckfield

Buxted covers far more than the village, so a Buxted address can mean very different ground and a very different survey.

Buxted is a village in its own right, and its parish is larger than the village. Five Ash Down, Heron's Ghyll and High Hurstwood all sit inside it, so a Buxted address can mean very different ground.

The 2011 census recorded 3,343 residents across 21.6 square kilometres. That is a spread-out parish, with compact village streets at one end and scattered farmhouses and lanes at the other. A survey in High Hurstwood and a survey near the station are different visits, even though both are "Buxted".

The village is 21.8 road miles from Crawley, well inside the thirty miles we cover. Someone stands in your loft or under your flat roof, reads how the roof is built and listens to the room. That listening is the part most installers skip. A rooflight is a hole in the roof, and the roof is the thinnest part of most houses, so the opening that brings in daylight can also bring in the road, the train and the rain.

Buxted in three numbers

  • 3,343Residents recordedAcross the whole parish at the 2011 census.
  • 21.6 square kilometresSquare kilometresThe area the parish covers.
  • 21.8 road milesRoad miles from CrawleyWell inside the thirty miles we cover.

The written result is the quiet spec that comes with every quote. You can read how it works on the quiet spec page. The chapters below show what it might say for a house here.

If you are comparing villages, the Uckfield page covers the town a mile to the south. Buxted is a separate parish with its own planning record, its own listed buildings and its own railway station.

NextRoofs from a thirteenth-century church to a Georgian park

Roofs of every age

Roofs from a thirteenth-century church to a Georgian park

The parish has no single roof type, so a rooflight is specified from the roof in front of us, never from an assumption.

The buildings of Buxted were not put up in one decade. The parish has no single roof type, so a rooflight here is specified from the roof in front of us, never from an assumption about the village.

The range is wide. St Margaret the Queen, the original parish church, dates to 1250. Old Maypole Farmhouse in High Hurstwood is 15th century. Harrock House is late 17th century. Buxted Park, a Georgian house begun by Thomas Medley in 1726, is now a hotel. Between those sit the houses that ordinary owners live in and want to brighten.

What does a rooflight need to know about a roof of unknown age? Four things, and all four are found in the loft rather than on a map:

  1. How the roof is carried: rafters and purlins, or trusses. A rooflight can sit between members, trim one, or need the structure supported around the opening.
  2. What the covering is: plain tile, slate, stone or a flat membrane. The flashing kit has to match it.
  3. What sits beneath: insulation, boarding, a ceiling, a loft conversion already in use.
  4. How much ceiling height a roof window would gain or lose in the room.

Buildings that set the range

  1. 1250St Margaret the QueenThe original parish church.
  2. 15th centuryOld Maypole FarmhouseIn High Hurstwood.
  3. late 17th centuryHarrock HouseLate in the seventeenth century.
  4. 1726Buxted ParkA Georgian house begun by Thomas Medley, now a hotel.

The survey reads the roof. Then the unit is chosen: a pitched roof window, a flat roof rooflight, a lantern over an extension, or a sun tunnel where a room has no outside wall at all.

For extensions, the flat roof rooflight page shows how the upstand, the kerb and the fall work together. A fall of 1:80 is the usual aim for a flat roof, and a rooflight on a kerb should sit on a roof that drains around it, not towards it.

NextThe A272 and the Uckfield branch, heard from under the roof

Road and rail

The A272 and the Uckfield branch, heard from under the roof

The A272 and the railway are the two steady sources a rooflight can admit, and they behave very differently.

Buxted has two steady sources of noise that a rooflight can admit. One is the A272, which runs through the village. The other is the railway, since Buxted station opened on 3 August 1868 on the Uckfield branch of the Oxted Line.

The train service is hourly off-peak to London Bridge, so the railway does not hum all day. It arrives, passes, and leaves a gap. That pattern matters for a bedroom. A single train at the wrong hour is easier to ignore than a continuous road, and a continuous road is a different problem from either.

The A272 is steadier. Through-traffic on a main road makes low-frequency sound, which reaches a loft room through the roof plane more than through a wall. Brick, insulation and plasterboard all hold sound back. A single sheet of thin glass in a roof holds back very little.

So what do we specify? Not a number. We describe the build in plain words:

  • an inner pane of laminated acoustic glass, with a thin resin layer between two sheets;
  • panes of different thicknesses, so they do not resonate at the same pitch;
  • a generous cavity between inner and outer panes;
  • unbroken gaskets around the sash, renewed at the same time;
  • reveals lined and insulated, so sound does not slip round the frame.

These choices are made together. A strong pane in a tired frame with a gap at the seal is only as quiet as the gap. For a longer explanation of the glass itself, see acoustic laminated glass explained, and for the road and rail side in particular, keeping road and rail noise out through a rooflight.

Not every Buxted roof will hear the road. A house set back in a lane or at the High Hurstwood end of the parish may hear little but birds. The survey listens first, and the spec records what was actually heard.

NextRain on glass is the noise everyone has

Rain on glass

Rain on glass is the noise everyone has

Rain does not depend on the road or the railway, and the answer lies in the build of the glass and the upstand.

Wherever a house stands, a flat rooflight or lantern sounds different in a shower than a tiled roof does. Rain on glass is the one noise that does not depend on the A272 or the railway.

The reason is physics, not locality. A sheet of glass is light, stiff and flat. A raindrop striking it makes a small, sharp sound, and a downpour makes a continuous one. A tiled roof spreads the sound across mass and texture. Glass does not.

That matters most for extensions. A kitchen or garden room with a lantern above it is a room people sit in, eat in and talk in. Heavy rain can be louder than the conversation.

Taming rain on a flat rooflight

  1. 1Thicker outer sheet Takes the impact of the rain differently.
  2. 2Laminated layer Damps the ring of the glass.
  3. 3Finished upstand Lifts the glass clear of the roof surface and is finished so it does not act as a drum skin.

The answer is in the build, not in an afterthought. A laminated layer damps the ring of the glass. A thicker outer sheet takes the impact differently. The upstand, the part that lifts the glass clear of the roof surface, is finished so it does not act as a drum skin. How to reduce rain noise under a flat rooflight goes through each step.

When you read the quiet spec, rain on glass is the first line for any flat-roof room. The other noises are added where the survey heard them.

NextWealden District, and the conservation area that is not there

Planning in Buxted

Wealden District, and the conservation area that is not there

Buxted village is not on Wealden's list of 33 conservation areas, but the position is still checked for each address.

The planning authority for Buxted is Wealden District Council. The village is not in a conservation area, which changes the planning question for ordinary houses.

Wealden's published list of 33 conservation areas does not include Buxted. You can read the council's list on wealden.gov.uk. That is a useful fact, and it is also a limit. It describes the list, not your address. Listed building status, an Article 4 direction or a restriction on the deeds can each apply to a house without a conservation area nearby, so the position is checked for the address before anything is fitted.

Part of the parish lies within the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, although the village itself is outside it. That split is the reason to ask early. Two houses in the same parish can sit on different sides of a boundary, and a boundary can change what is expected of a roof alteration.

What shapes the planning answer

  • Wealden District CouncilThe planning authority for Buxted.
  • The conservation listWealden lists 33 conservation areas, and Buxted is not among them.
  • The AONB boundaryPart of the parish lies within the High Weald, although the village does not.
  • Other restrictionsListed status, an Article 4 direction or the deeds can still apply.
  • Building RegulationsApply everywhere, with Building Control notified where required.

In general terms, rooflights in an ordinary house sometimes fall within permitted development. That depends on how far the unit stands proud of the roof plane, where it sits on the slope and what rights the house still has. Planning permission for rooflights and skylights sets out the tests. The status is confirmed with the council, never assumed.

Building Regulations are a separate matter, and apply everywhere. A new rooflight is a new opening in a thermal element, and it is notifiable work where the regulations say so. We install to current Building Regulations and handle the Building Control notification where the work is notifiable. Building Regulations for rooflights explained walks through Parts L, K, B and F and what each asks of a roof opening.

NextListed houses in the parish, and what changes for them

Listed houses

Listed houses in the parish, and what changes for them

For a listed house a rooflight is a matter of listed building consent, not permitted development.

Buxted has listed buildings, and they are the exceptions to everything else on this page. For a listed house, a rooflight is a matter of listed building consent, not a question of permitted development.

Three Grade II* listed buildings are on record in the parish. Buxted Park, begun in 1726 and now a hotel, is one, and its park is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Harrock House, from the late 17th century, is another. Old Maypole Farmhouse in High Hurstwood, from the 15th century, is the third. Historic England holds the list entry for Buxted Park, and the official record is where any question about a listed property should start.

The point is general: if your house is listed, or stands within the setting of a listed building, the route changes. The local authority's conservation officer is consulted, and the design matters as much as the specification. A flush, slim-framed conservation rooflight sits in the roof plane rather than above it, and its proportions are chosen to suit the slope.

If your house is listed

  1. 01Check the statusIf there is any doubt, ask Wealden District Council before you order glass.
  2. 02Consult the conservation officerThe design matters as much as the specification.
  3. 03Apply for listed building consentIt replaces the permitted development question.
  4. 04Choose a flush, slim-framed unitIt sits in the roof plane, with proportions chosen to suit the slope.

That is a separate service with its own page: conservation rooflight installation. If there is any doubt that your house is listed, ask Wealden District Council before you order glass.

A listed status does not remove the quiet question. It narrows the choices. The acoustic build is still specified, in a form that looks right from the garden and from the lane.

NextChoosing the unit for the room, not for the catalogue

Unit for the room

Choosing the unit for the room, not for the catalogue

Every rooflight starts from the room, and the table pairs the usual units with what to check first.

Every rooflight starts from the room. What does it need: light, air, a cooler ceiling in summer? The same opening can be made four ways, and the right one depends on the answer.

A pitched roof window suits a loft bedroom, a landing or a bathroom under the slope. It brings the light down at an angle, and it opens, which matters for summer ventilation. A flat roof rooflight suits an extension or a flat-roofed dormer. A lantern suits a kitchen extension where the room is wide. A sun tunnel suits a hallway or a bathroom with no outside wall.

Loft bedroom

Usual unit
Pitched roof window
Check first
Roof members and headroom

Kitchen extension

Usual unit
Lantern or flat rooflight
Check first
Fall and upstand

Home office

Usual unit
Flat or pitched unit
Check first
Glare and a quiet inner pane

Landing or hall

Usual unit
Sun tunnel
Check first
Route to the roof
RoomUsual unitCheck first
Loft bedroomPitched roof windowRoof members and headroom
Kitchen extensionLantern or flat rooflightFall and upstand
Home officeFlat or pitched unitGlare and a quiet inner pane
Landing or hallSun tunnelRoute to the roof

Size follows the room. A rooflight that is too small leaves the room dim, and one that is too large gains heat in summer and loses it in winter. How to size a rooflight for the room gives the working.

Part L governs heat loss, so the glazing's thermal performance is part of every choice. A well-built double or triple glazed unit with a warm edge spacer loses less heat, and a laminated acoustic inner pane sits comfortably alongside that. Part F covers ventilation, and opening rooflights can help purge a room of warm air. Part B matters for units close to a boundary. Each one is checked in the survey, and the findings go into the written spec.

NextA Buxted survey, from the loft hatch to the written quote

The survey

A Buxted survey, from the loft hatch to the written quote

A survey is a conversation in the room and a look at the roof, ending in a written quote with the quiet spec.

A survey here is a conversation in the room and a look at the roof. It ends with a written quote, not a pitch.

First we go into the room the rooflight will serve. We note what it is for, at what hours it is used, and what you can hear. A bedroom used early and late is judged differently from a home office used by day. If a train passes while we are there, we note it.

Then the loft or the flat roof. We read the structure, the covering, the insulation and the route for any weathering. We measure. We photograph the roof from inside, and where it is safe to do so, from outside.

From first visit to guarantee

  1. 01The roomWhat it is for, at what hours, and what you can hear.
  2. 02The loft or flat roofWe read the structure, the covering and the insulation, and we measure.
  3. 03The paperworkA quote with the quiet spec.
  4. 04The jobThe opening is made carefully and the unit fitted to its flashing or kerb.
  5. 05The guaranteeA 10-year workmanship guarantee covers the work.

After that, the paperwork. Your quote comes with the quiet spec, which records what we heard, the glazing build we propose and why, and how the upstand and seals will be finished. It is a written specification, so you can read it, query it, and ask someone else to read it.

Then the job. The opening is made carefully, the unit is fitted to its flashing or kerb, the room is made good inside and the work is covered by a 10-year workmanship guarantee. The guarantee is for workmanship and is not insurance-backed. Our guarantee sets out its terms.

Replacing an existing unit follows the same steps. If a skylight has misted or failed, we replace it and renew its seals, and we take the chance to upgrade the glass.

NextQuestions a Buxted owner asks before booking a survey

Common questions

Questions a Buxted owner asks before booking a survey

Answers on planning, trains, the A272 and listed houses, drawn from the parish itself.

These questions come from the parish itself: its railway, its road, its mixed housing and its planning position.

Does a rooflight need planning permission in Buxted?

It depends on the house. Buxted village is not in a conservation area on Wealden's list, which helps for an ordinary home. A listed building, an Article 4 direction or a restriction on the property can still apply. The position is checked for your address before any work is booked.

Will I hear the trains through a new rooflight?

Possibly, if the roof faces the line. Buxted station has an hourly off-peak service to London Bridge, so the noise comes and goes. A laminated acoustic inner pane, well-fitted seals and a finished upstand keep it down, and the survey records whether the room needs them.

Is the A272 a problem for a loft bedroom?

It can be, for a roof that faces the road. Through-traffic is steady, and it reaches a room through the thinnest part of the house. The glazing build in the spec is aimed at that, and the spec says what we heard before it says what we propose.

Can I have a rooflight on a listed house?

Only with listed building consent, and with a design the conservation officer accepts. A conservation rooflight sits flush in the roof plane and keeps the proportions of the slope. Ask Wealden District Council first, then ask us about the unit.

How do I start?

Ask for a survey through the quote form, or write to us on WhatsApp. Tell us the room, the roof and what you hear. We come back with a survey date and, after the visit, a written quote with the quiet spec.

Return to our Crawley hub to see every service we offer across the thirty miles, and use the links above for the planning, regulation and noise guides that sit behind this page.

Near Buxted

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