4.7 road miles out, north-north-east from the middle of Nottingham
Skylights & rooflights in Arnold
A market town of around 40,000 people just beyond the city boundary, with parks close to the centre and the suburbs of Redhill and Daybrook on its doorstep. A back room with no window to the sky can feel gloomy for half the year.
A brewery sold with 450 pubs, and a market since 1968
A local brewery stayed in family hands until 1986, when it was sold with 450 Nottinghamshire pubs, and Arnold has held a market since 1968. Hosiery factories were once part of the picture too. The town those trades built is still here, street after street of homes that want daylight in the darker months.
Arnold, read from the roof down
Arnold is a town of 40,016 people in Gedling borough, close enough to Nottingham that the two run into each other on the map. This page covers what shapes a rooflight job here: the council, the roads, the parks and the weather a roof faces, from the ridge down to the gutter line. If you want the whole service first, begin with skylight installation in Nottingham.
01
Parkland on the doorstep and what it does to a roof
Trees, leaf fall and long wet weeks.
Arnot Hill Park was laid out around 1792 as a backdrop to Arnot Hill House, and it sits about 1.1 km from the middle of the town. It is one of several green spaces close by. Millennium Gardens, Salop Street Park and Coppice Park are all within roughly a kilometre and a half, and Overstrand Close Open Space is nearer still at 0.9 km.
Further out there is a string of small nature reserves: Calverton Road, Faith Marroit, Sandy Banks, Woodthorpe Meadow and Sunrise Hill, all within about three kilometres. Where a street has trees near the house, they matter to a roof.
Leaves, moss and the flat roof
Leaf litter is the usual enemy of a flat rooflight. It collects against the upstand, the raised frame the glass sits on, and keeps the roof finish damp for weeks. We set the upstand tall enough that a puddle never reaches the glass line, and we make sure the roof falls away from it. If a flat roof in Arnold already has a rooflight that holds water on its upstand, the survey will show it.
On a pitched roof the problem is shade and moss. A roof window under a tree gets less light than one in the open, and the slope next to it stays green. We note where the trees stand when we plan the position, because a window set a little higher up the slope can look past the canopy and into the sky.
6parks
parks named in the map data, all close to the middle
5reserves
named nature reserves within 3 km
Light that arrives low
From October onwards the sun stays low and the sky is often a flat grey sheet. A rooflight does its best work then, because it faces straight up at the brightest part of the sky rather than sideways at a neighbour's fence. That is the reason we begin with the dark room and not the product.
02
A hosiery town, and what that left behind
Arnold has had a market since 1968, and the town used to have numerous hosiery factories. The brewery that shared the town's story stayed independent until 1986, when the family owners sold it with its 450 Nottinghamshire pubs. The town grew around work: a weekly market, a brewery and hosiery factories. Rather than assume anything about a street, we start every job with a method that suits a roof of any age.
Reading the roof on the survey
The first look is from the loft hatch, if there is one. We check how the roof is built. Hand-cut rafters can be trimmed around an opening; factory trusses need a different approach. We measure the gaps between the timbers, because a window that fits between two neighbouring rafters needs less cutting and finishes cleaner.
Then we look at the covering. Tiles, slates and flat roof membranes all take a rooflight differently, and the flashing that seals the window has to match what is on the roof. A matching flashing keeps rain running over the joint and not under it.
Inside the house
We also stand in the dark room. A landing at the heart of a semi, a back kitchen, an upstairs bathroom with no window: each wants something different. We look at where the light gives out and talk through where an opening would help most, before anything is priced.
The survey is free. The quote comes afterwards, in writing, with a fixed price. If the work needs Building Control, we deal with the notification ourselves.
03
Gedling's planning desk and the listed roofs around the centre
Arnold sits in the Borough of Gedling, so your local planning authority is Gedling Borough Council, and not the city. For a job in Arnold, planning questions go to Gedling, and Building Control goes to an inspector, either from the borough or a registered approver.
Conservation areas and listed roofs near Arnold's centre
No conservation area is recorded within 1.5 km of Arnold's centre. Gedling keeps the definitive map and the Article 4 list, so if you think your street might be covered, tell us and we check both before any glass is ordered.
The same ring holds 16 buildings on Historic England's list: two at Grade II* and fourteen at Grade II. If your house is on the list, the council must consent before anyone cuts a new opening in its roof. If yours is one of them, we say so at the survey and talk through what the council is likely to ask.
16listed
protected buildings inside a 1.5 km radius
2Grade II*
of those 16, the rest Grade II
Which council, which slope, which notice
Nothing in the permitted development conditions or the building rules changes at the town boundary, so we hold them on a single page, the rooflight planning guide. What belongs to Arnold is the local detail: which slope of the roof, which council, and whether Building Control needs telling.
If it does, we make that notification for you. The finished work meets today's Building Regulations. At handover you get the paperwork and a ten-year workmanship guarantee in writing.
04
Getting to you from the city centre
The road distance from Nottingham city centre to Arnold is about 4.7 miles, heading north-north-east, and the drive takes around 15 minutes. Two classified roads pass within a kilometre of the middle of the town, the A60 and the B6004. There is no railway station or tram stop within 2 km, so we arrive by van and bring ladders and materials to your door.
A railway did once matter here. The town's old station was an important junction on the Nottingham Suburban Railway, the Leen Valley Line and the Friar Gate Line. None of that runs now.
The neighbourhoods we cover
Several named neighbourhoods lie in and around Arnold. The nearest to the centre is Redhill, 0.8 km away, followed by Daybrook at 1 km. Further out are Woodthorpe, Bestwood Park Estate, Mapperley and Warren Hill. We work in all of them. The table lists them with their distance from the middle of town.
| Neighbourhood | Distance | Covered |
|---|---|---|
| Redhill | 0.8 km | Yes |
| Daybrook | 1 km | Yes |
| Woodthorpe | 1.8 km | Yes |
| Bestwood Park Estate | 2.1 km | Yes |
| Mapperley | 2.5 km | Yes |
| Warren Hill | 2.5 km | Yes |
Planning a survey visit
When we book the survey we ask a few practical questions. Where can a van stop? Is there a side path to the back of the house, so we do not carry ladders through your hall? Is the loft hatch clear? Those answers shape how long we spend on site, and they cost nothing to sort out in advance.
The visit is free and you are under no obligation. We look at the room and the roof, take measurements, then price what we have seen. For more about the wider patch we cover, see areas we cover.
4.7miles
road distance in from the city centre
15minutes
by van, traffic allowing
05
What we would fit in a town like this
We match the product to the problem in the room, whatever the age of the house. Three things come up in towns of this size, and each has its own answer.
A kitchen or extension that runs deep
If a house has grown backwards with a single-storey extension, the far end of it is often where the light gives out. A roof lantern draws sky down from several sides at once, and it reads bright even when the cloud is thick. A wide flat rooflight over the darkest corner can do a similar job at a lower profile. The flat roof rooflights page covers the choices.
A loft room or an upstairs bedroom
A pitched roof suits a roof window. It opens for fresh air and gives you a view of the sky from bed. We place it low enough to look out of while seated, and we talk about blinds at the same time, so the early summer sun does not become the new problem.
- Upstand
- The raised kerb a flat-roof rooflight is fixed to, lifting the glass clear of standing water.
- Lantern
- A raised, pitched glass roof set on a flat roof, glazed on several faces.
- Flashing
- The shaped metal skirt that keeps water out where a window meets the roof covering.
A landing or bathroom with no window
A bathroom in the middle of a house can have every wall shared with another room. A sun tunnel carries daylight down through a reflective tube from a dome set into the roof. On the roof it is a small job. In a windowless bathroom on a grey November morning it makes the whole room.
Swapping a tired rooflight in Arnold
Sometimes an old unit has fogged inside the glass, or its frame has tired. Swapping it on the opening already there can be simpler than cutting afresh. We tell you which route applies after the survey, and the price is then fixed in writing before any work begins.
Questions from Arnold before the survey
Is my house in a conservation area in Arnold?
The planning data shows none near the middle of Arnold. Gedling Borough Council holds the definitive map and can confirm the position for your street. We put the question to them before we order any glass, and we also check whether your house is listed.
Who handles the paperwork for a rooflight in Arnold?
Planning here sits with Gedling Borough Council. The national permitted development rules are in our planning guide. If Building Control must be told, we send the notification ourselves, so you do not chase anyone.
How do I light a bathroom that has no window?
It depends on what is above it. With the roof directly overhead, a roof window or a small flat rooflight is the plain answer. With loft space above, a sun tunnel can pass through it and end in a ceiling diffuser. We weigh both when we visit, then put one fixed price in writing.
Do you cover Redhill, Daybrook and Woodthorpe?
Yes. Redhill, Daybrook, Woodthorpe, Bestwood Park Estate, Mapperley and Warren Hill all lie within about 2.5 km of the centre, and we work in each. Every address inside our 30-mile road radius is covered, and nobody is charged for the survey. We come to your home, because there is no showroom to visit.