Clear SkylightsCrawley

Surrey · 25.7 miles from Crawley by road

Rooflights and skylights in Epsom, from town centre to old hospital land

Epsom is 25.7 road miles from Crawley, with a brick-and-render town centre and homes built on old hospital land. We fit rooflights and skylights to the roof, then write down the glass we chose for the noise.

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A barn-style kitchen under a roof lantern, with a clay-tiled roof and fields beyond
Planning
Epsom and Ewell Borough Council
Protected
Adelphi Road, Town Centre, Pikes Hill
Materials
Brown brick, white render, clay tile
Setting
Spring line, green belt on three sides

Hipped clay tile, sash-window streets and homes on old hospital ground

  • Clay tile on hipped roofs

    Short angled slopes and tile courses decide where a unit can sit, so the roof is read before any opening is drawn.

  • Streets of small-pane sashes

    Slim frames and pale colours suit a street of white sashes, and a bright room need not shout from the roofline.

  • Flat glass over a kitchen

    In Epsom the rooflight noise is rain. Laminated inner glass, unequal panes and an insulated upstand keep a shower from drumming.

  • Old units on a loft conversion

    Thin glass and worn gaskets are common in older rooflights, so a replacement is a chance to renew the whole build.

A kitchen lantern at the back of a Victorian house

A quote would set this Epsom room down as a spec like the one below. Yours follows a survey, after we have stood under your own roof and listened.

Room:
kitchen extension with a flat roof, at the back of a brick Victorian house near the centre
What we would listen for:
rain landing on flat glass, and how the room sounds during a steady shower
Glazing:
inner sheet laminated for damping, outer sheet a different thickness, sealed gap between
Seals and upstand:
unbroken gasket run, upstand filled with insulation, flashing cut to suit the existing roof covering

Noise out hereStill in here

The survey file

Rooflights in Epsom

Epsom has a thin Georgian and Victorian core, a spring line under it, green belt around three sides and, to the west, a former hospital estate now turned over to housing. Rooflight installation in Epsom is therefore four or five different jobs under one postcode. This page takes them in the order a survey does: the land, the streets, who decides, what rain does to glass, and how the skylight is chosen for the room below it. Epsom is 25.7 road miles from Crawley, inside our thirty-mile area.

Spring line town

A town on a spring line, 25.7 miles up the road

Chalk meets clay under Epsom, and that one fact explains its water, its growth and its roofs.

Epsom sits where North Downs chalk meets impermeable London Clay, and that one fact explains the water, the growth and the roofs. The drive from Crawley is an ordinary survey journey.

The chalk drains and the clay does not, so water comes out of the ground along the line where they meet. That spring line is what first drew people here, and the town has been building on it ever since. The first station opened in 1847, and the houses that followed the railway are the kind that tend to have a loft worth converting.

The Metropolitan Green Belt has held the town in on three sides from 1946. A green belt means the town grows inwards, not outwards. Extra space is found in the loft, at the back of the house and over the kitchen, and those are the three places a rooflight goes. The roof you already have is the room you can still gain.

What shaped Epsom's roofs

  • Chalk over clayThe chalk drains and the clay does not, so water comes out where they meet.
  • The railwayThe first station opened in 1847, and the houses that followed tend to have a loft worth converting.
  • The green beltHeld in on three sides from 1946, so space is found in the loft, behind the house and over the kitchen.
  • A town of real size31,489 residents across five wards, so no single product answers every roof.

The combined College, Court, Stamford, Town and Woodcote wards had 31,489 residents at the 2011 census. That is a town of real size, with real variety in its housing, and it explains why no single product answers every Epsom roof. At the survey we stand in the loft, or under the flat roof, read how the roof is built and listen to the room. A rooflight is a hole in the thinnest part of the house. The same opening that lets in daylight can let in weather and sound, and the answer to that goes into the written quiet spec that comes with every quote.

NextBrown brick, white render and clay tile in the town centre

The town centre street

Brown brick, white render and clay tile in the town centre

The council appraisal describes a street scene a rooflight has to sit quietly in.

The town centre conservation appraisal describes a street scene of local brown brick, white render and painted brick, with hipped clay tile roofs on several buildings. A rooflight there has to sit quietly in that picture.

The council appraisal for Epsom Town Centre records brown brick that alternates with white render or painted brick. It also records white-painted weatherboard buildings with sash windows and clay tile roofs, and windows that are largely mid-Victorian, in 4 x 4 or 3 x 3 sashes. It lists Regency, Victorian and Edwardian town houses, and Ashley House, from 1769, is listed Grade II*.

Those details tell us what a roof opening must respect. Clay tile is laid in courses, and a flush roof window has to be flashed into those courses so that the tile line stays tidy on both sides of the frame. A hipped roof has short, angled slopes, so the position of a rooflight is often decided by the hip before it is decided by the room. The slim-frame, flush-fitting units on the conservation rooflight installation page are the natural starting point for a street like this.

What a roof opening must respect

  • Brown brick and white render Brown brick alternates with white render or painted brick along the street.
  • Clay tile courses A flush window is flashed into the courses so the tile line stays tidy either side.
  • Hipped slopes Short, angled slopes mean the hip often decides where the unit goes.
  • Small panes, white frames Thin glazing bars are the vocabulary here, so colour and frame depth are set at the survey.

The glazing bars in the old sashes give a second clue. Small panes, thin glazing bars and a white frame are the vocabulary of the street. A rooflight with a dark, heavy frame would read as foreign against it, so colour and frame depth are chosen at the survey, not left to the catalogue.

NextThree conservation areas inside Epsom, and a cluster beside them

Conservation boundaries

Three conservation areas inside Epsom, and a cluster beside them

The borough designates 21 conservation areas, so we check each address before anything is priced or drawn.

Epsom and Ewell Borough Council designates 21 conservation areas. Those in Epsom itself are Adelphi Road, Epsom Town Centre and Pikes Hill, and the council list also includes the Hospital Cluster.

The same list includes Downs Road Estate, Woodcote, Stamford Green and Chalk Lane, among others, so Epsom addresses sit close to several boundaries. Whether a particular house is inside one is a matter of the address, and we check it for the address before anything is priced or drawn. A street name is not enough, because a boundary can run down the middle of a road.

Epsom Town Centre Conservation Area is also on Historic England's Heritage at Risk register. That is a fact about the area's condition, and it is a reason for care: a neat, well-flashed rooflight on a rear slope is a small change, while a clumsy one on a front slope is the sort of change that an appraisal of this kind exists to discourage. You can read the register entry on Historic England's site.

Checking a conservation address

  1. 01Check the addressThe answer depends on the house, not the street name.
  2. 02Note the Heritage at Risk entryThe town centre area is on the register, which is a reason for care.
  3. 03Favour a rear or hidden slopeThe usual pattern keeps rooflights off the main elevation.
  4. 04Say so if consent is neededListed buildings follow stricter rules, and we flag it at the survey before the order.

Inside a conservation area the usual pattern is to keep rooflights off the main elevation and use the rear or a hidden slope. Listed buildings follow stricter rules. Our page on planning permission for rooflights and skylights sets out the general position, and the council's own conservation area list shows the boundaries. Where consent is needed, we say so at the survey, before the order is placed.

NextThe Hospital Cluster: five hospitals, now houses and flats

The old hospital estate

The Hospital Cluster: five hospitals, now houses and flats

Five hospitals on land bought in 1896 are now mostly houses and flats, each part asking a different job of us.

West of the town, five London County Council psychiatric hospitals were built on land bought in 1896. Horton, Long Grove, Manor, St Ebba's and West Park were known together as the Epsom Cluster.

By 2011 most of that estate had been redeveloped for housing. The Manor Hospital opened in 1899 and closed in 1996. Its buildings, other than those marked for retention, were demolished, and new housing went up north and north-east of the Manor House. Horton Hospital was built to a red brick echelon plan, and most of it closed in 1997. Its main buildings were demolished and replaced by flats and houses in the area now known as Livingstone Park.

Horton Chapel, from 1901, is Grade II listed and stands in the grounds of the former hospital. The retained buildings and the new ones are very different things to put a rooflight in.

From hospital land to housing

  1. 1896Land boughtLondon County Council buys the land for its psychiatric hospitals.
  2. 1899Manor Hospital opensOne of the five hospitals of the Epsom Cluster.
  3. 1901Horton ChapelBuilt in the grounds, now Grade II listed.
  4. 1996Manor closesMost buildings are demolished and new housing goes up beside the Manor House.
  5. 1997Horton closesFlats and houses replace the main buildings in what is now Livingstone Park.

New flats and houses on the old hospital land are modern builds. Their roofs are engineered, often flat or of shallow pitch, so the job is often a replacement unit, a larger opening or a new flat glass rooflight over a stair. The conversion of a retained building is another matter. There the structure is red brick, the roof has its own history, and the conservation rules for the Hospital Cluster apply. The same town therefore holds both a short job on a modern flat and a slow, careful one on a retained building, and the survey tells them apart.

NextRain on flat glass in a kitchen or garden room

Rain on flat glass

Rain on flat glass in a kitchen or garden room

Rain is the noise a rooflight adds to an Epsom room, and it is loudest on flat glass over a kitchen or garden room.

The noise a rooflight adds to an Epsom room is rain, and it is loudest on flat glass over a kitchen, a garden room or a rear extension.

A lantern or flat rooflight is a hard surface that the weather lands on directly. A pitched tiled roof softens a shower because there are layers between the drops and the room. A sheet of glass has none. Thin glass with thin seals turns a steady shower into a constant drumming, which is unwelcome over a kitchen table or a home office.

The fix is in the build, not in a cushion of insulation added afterwards. A laminated inner pane damps the vibration that raindrops set up in the glass. Panes of different thickness in the same unit stop the two sheets ringing together. Continuous seals keep the frame from rattling, and a properly insulated upstand means the kerb is not a hollow box that amplifies every drop. Acoustic laminated glass explained walks through the make-up, and how to reduce rain noise under a flat rooflight covers the flat-roof case in more detail.

The build that quietens rain

  1. 1Laminated inner pane Damps the vibration that raindrops set up in the glass.
  2. 2Panes of different thickness Stops the two sheets ringing together.
  3. 3Continuous seals Keep the frame from rattling.
  4. 4Insulated upstand The kerb is not left as a hollow box that amplifies every drop.

The quiet spec describes the glazing build and why it was chosen, in words a homeowner can check against the delivery note.

NextReplacing the unit you already have

Replacing an old unit

Replacing the unit you already have

A misted pane means the sealed unit has failed, and replacement is the moment to renew the whole build.

A house in Epsom may already have a rooflight from a loft conversion done years ago. Replacing it is the ideal moment to renew the whole build, not just the pane.

An older unit tends to have thinner glass, a single seal and a flashing that was made for a different covering. If the pane has misted, the sealed unit has failed and the cavity has taken in air. The answer is to replace the unit, and the choice is between a like-for-like swap and a better build in the same opening. Our page on replacing an old skylight explains that choice, and the misted and failed rooflight replacement page covers the unit itself.

The decisions sit in a short list:

  • Is the frame in good order, so that only the glazed unit needs swapping?
  • Does the flashing match the present tile or slate, or was it made for the roof before last?
  • Would a larger opening fit between the rafters, or does the roof structure limit it?
  • Is an acoustic laminated inner pane worth specifying for this room?

The last question is the one many installers skip. It costs little to ask at the survey, and it is hard to change once the plasterboard is finished.

NextChoosing the product for an Epsom room

Product for the room

Choosing the product for an Epsom room

The loft, the extension, the stair and the flat each point to a different product.

The rooms that take a rooflight in Epsom are the loft, the extension, the stair and the flat. Each points to a different product.

Loft bedroom

Usual product
Roof window
Watch for
Tile line, rafter spacing

Kitchen extension

Usual product
Flat rooflight or lantern
Watch for
Rain noise, upstand

Dark stair or landing

Usual product
Sun tunnel or fixed unit
Watch for
Route through the roof

Flat in a new build

Usual product
Flat glass rooflight
Watch for
Existing roof build-up
RoomUsual productWatch for
Loft bedroomRoof windowTile line, rafter spacing
Kitchen extensionFlat rooflight or lanternRain noise, upstand
Dark stair or landingSun tunnel or fixed unitRoute through the roof
Flat in a new buildFlat glass rooflightExisting roof build-up

For a pitched roof, the roof window installation page covers the detail of fitting into tile or slate. For the extension, flat roof rooflight installation and roof lantern installation cover the flat glazing side. Where the room is large enough to want a feature, the lantern adds height as well as light, and a good specification keeps it from drumming.

A dark stair or an inner landing is a different case. A sun tunnel carries daylight down from the roof through a tube, which suits a space with no outside wall. Its opening in the roof is small, so the effect on the roofline is slight, which matters in a conservation street.

Sizing and position come from the room. A rooflight that is too small leaves the dim corner dim. One that is too large overheats the room in July and loses heat in January. Our guide to sizing a rooflight for the room gives the method, which starts from the darkest corner and works back to the glass.

NextBuilding Regulations, notification and the written guarantee

Regulations and guarantee

Building Regulations, notification and the written guarantee

We install to current Building Regulations and handle the Building Control notification where the work is notifiable.

A new rooflight or a replacement is building work. It has to meet the current Building Regulations, and we install to them.

The parts that matter are Part L for energy, Part K for protection from falling, Part B where a roof is near a boundary, and Part F for ventilation. The thermal performance of the glass, the U-value of the unit and the seal around the frame are all measurable. Where the work is notifiable, we handle the Building Control notification. Our page on Building Regulations for rooflights explains each part in plain terms.

Ventilation matters too. A loft room with a fixed rooflight and no opening vent will get warm in summer. An opening roof window, or an electric and opening rooflight, gives purge ventilation without anyone climbing a ladder.

The parts that matter

  • Part LEnergyThe thermal performance of the glass and the seal around the frame.
  • Part KProtection from fallingCovers people in and around the opening.
  • Part BRoof near a boundaryApplies where the roof sits close to the boundary.
  • Part FVentilationAn opening roof window gives purge ventilation without a ladder.

The work carries a 10-year workmanship guarantee. It is a workmanship guarantee and is not insurance-backed, and our guarantee page sets out what it covers in full. The quiet spec sits beside it as the written record of what was fitted and why.

NextWhat an Epsom survey covers, and what you get back

The survey visit

What an Epsom survey covers, and what you get back

One visit and one written result, with the glass chosen afterwards and the spec in front of you.

A survey is one visit and one written result. The glass can be chosen afterwards, with the spec in front of you.

On the day we go into the loft or out onto the flat roof, measure the rafters, check the condition of the covering and note where the light falls in the room. We listen. Rain is the main thing to consider in Epsom, so we look at how the roof surface is built and whether the room sits under flat glass. We check the address against the conservation list, and we say plainly whether consent looks likely to be needed.

What comes back is a quote with a quiet spec attached. The spec names the glazing build, the seals and the upstand, and explains the choice. It is a document you can compare with another quote. If you are choosing between a roof window and a flat unit, it says why we picked one over the other for your room.

From survey to written spec

  1. 01Go up to the roofInto the loft or out onto the flat roof, measuring the rafters and checking the covering.
  2. 02Note the lightWhere it falls in the room.
  3. 03ListenRain is the main thing in Epsom, so we look at whether the room sits under flat glass.
  4. 04Check the conservation listWe say plainly whether consent looks likely to be needed.
  5. 05Receive the quote and specThe spec names the glazing build, the seals and the upstand, and explains the choice.

Nearby towns are covered in the same way, and the pages for Ewell and Ashtead describe their own housing. You can start with a message on WhatsApp or use the quote form.

NextEpsom owners' questions, answered from the roof

Common questions

Epsom owners' questions, answered from the roof

Short answers on conservation areas, the old hospital land, rain noise and replacing a misted unit.

These are the questions that come up when an Epsom household starts to plan roof glazing.

Can I put a rooflight in an Epsom conservation area?

It is often possible, on a rear or hidden slope and with a slim, flush unit. It depends on the address, because Adelphi Road, Epsom Town Centre and Pikes Hill are designated and a listed building has stricter rules. We check the position for the address and tell you whether consent is needed before you commit.

Will a rooflight on the old hospital land be simpler?

On the new flats and houses in the Horton and Manor areas, usually, because they are modern builds. A retained building within the Hospital Cluster conservation area is another matter, and the survey sorts the two apart.

Is rain noise a problem in Epsom?

Wherever there is flat glass, rain will be heard. The answer is in the build: laminated inner glass, unequal pane thicknesses, good seals and an insulated upstand. The spec lists each choice.

Can you replace a misted rooflight in a tiled roof?

Yes. We replace the unit, and where the old flashing no longer suits the tile we renew it so the new rooflight sits correctly. You can get a quote once you have photographs of the room and the roof.

The home page gives the wider picture of what we install and replace, and the costs page explains what moves a price.

Near Epsom

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  • Quiet spec included
  • 10-year guarantee

Prefer to message? WhatsApp us or call 01293 974093, or email info@clearskylightscrawley.co.uk.