North-north-west, 26.6 road miles from Nottingham's centre
Skylights & rooflights in Staveley
A Rother valley town built round coal and iron, now close to the M1 at Markham Vale. Winter daylight is short here as everywhere in the region, and the back rooms of a house feel it first.
A name that shaped the whole district
Markham played a large part in the industrial development of the Staveley area, and the old Markham coalfield is now opened up to new building by a loop road that joins the M1.
Staveley, from the Rother to the roof
Staveley lies on the River Rother in the Borough of Chesterfield, Derbyshire, with 15,151 people recorded. It is out towards the far edge of our area, so both the survey and the paperwork want some planning. The chapters below start with the road in and finish with the glass. For the overall picture first, read about skylight installation in Nottingham.
01
A long drive, a loop road and the M1
Staveley is a long haul: 26.6 miles by road, heading north-north-west from the middle of the city, and about 37 minutes in the van. Even so, it falls inside the area we serve.
The M1 reaches the town by an unusual route. The New Markham Vale Loop Road has been completed and opens up the former Markham coalfield to development, linking Staveley to a new junction on the motorway, junction 29A, which opened in July 2008. Close to the centre run the A619, the A6192 and the B6053.
Spur roads and the Chesterfield bypass
The main roads are the quick way in. The side streets are where a van needs care, so we ask about parking when we book.
The A61 Rother Way, also called the Chesterfield Bypass, was built in the 1980s. A short dual carriageway spur crosses the River Rother and the canal, ends at a large roundabout with an access road to a supermarket, and the single carriageway A619 carries on to Brimington. For us it means a straightforward approach by van.
26.6miles
by road, well out towards the edge of our patch
37minutes
drive from the city centre in ordinary conditions
Rail is out
Nothing runs by rail: no station or tram line sits within 2 km on the map. A station opened in 1841 as Staveley, then became Barrow Hill and Staveley Works in 1900 and plain Barrow Hill in 1951. Today we arrive on the road.
Your survey
A trip this long deserves a proper slot, so we agree a time with you and leave room for the visit. It costs nothing. We study the room, then the roof, and a quote follows with one price that does not change. Neighbouring places on the Chesterfield side appear in the list of areas.
02
Coal and iron: how Staveley was built
Staveley is an industrial town, and its history shows exactly how. The Staveley Coal and Iron Company once worked here. Its site later became part of British Steel Corporation after nationalisation, and sections of canal from Chesterfield to Brimington were reinstated as part of the Chesterfield Bypass and opencast schemes on part of that land. Markham played a large role in the industrial development of the whole area.
Poolsbrook, a suburb about 1.3 km from the town point, falls within the same survey area, and we cover it alongside Staveley itself.
Reading your own house
We never judge a roof by the town it stands in. Every Staveley house is surveyed on its own terms, from the loft and from the room below. So we look at your roof, not at an average.
Why a survey matters on reclaimed ground
Where land has been mined, worked or reclaimed, the buildings are worth a careful look. A rooflight is a light item, but it is cut into a structure, so we check how the walls, rafters and ceilings are behaving. If we see something worth a closer look, we say so before we price the job, and we agree a plan with you.
Light in the older rooms
Before any measuring, we ask which room bothers you and at what time of day. A kitchen that is fine at ten in the morning and gloomy by three tells us something different from one that is dim all day, and the answer shapes where the opening goes.
In a house with small back windows, the middle of the plan is the dark part. An overhead window or lantern brings light into the centre of the room, and a sun tunnel does the same for a landing. Both work on a dull day because they face the open sky.
03
Chesterfield Borough Council and the designations on your street
Staveley sits in the Borough of Chesterfield, so planning questions go to Chesterfield Borough Council. Nottingham has no part in them.
Conservation areas near the town centre
Listing and any Article 4 direction are the first things we settle on a Staveley job, before slope or product.
Does Staveley have a conservation area? Not at 1.5 km from the town centre or nearer. Even so, before we order glass for a Staveley address, we ask Chesterfield whether the street has any special designation.
16listed
buildings on record at 1.5 km from the centre
15Grade II
of them, plus one Grade II*
Listed buildings
Historic England lists 16 buildings close to the centre, one at Grade II* and fifteen at Grade II. Anyone living in one will need listed building consent before a roof is opened, an application quite separate from Building Regulations work.
What applies to a house rooflight in Staveley
England applies the same conditions to house rooflights everywhere, so they live in a single page, the rooflight planning guide. It covers what usually needs no application, when one is needed and what a flat or listed home changes.
Where Building Control must be told, we make that notification to an inspector, either the borough's or a registered approver's. The fitting itself meets the Regulations current on the day.
04
River, canal and the settling pond
Water near the roofs, and how a rooflight is built to live with it.
The River Rother runs through Staveley, and the Chesterfield Canal is close, with Staveley Town Lock 5a among its named structures. The River Doe Lea and a settling pond are nearby too. King George V Park is under a kilometre from the centre, and Poolsbrook Country Park at the edge of the same radius.
Standing water and green space mean damp air through a rainy week, and that is what the roof has to be built for.
Moisture indoors and on the glass
When a kitchen or bathroom fills with steam, the coldest surface collects it. In winter that is usually the glazing. A unit made with warm-edge spacers keeps the inside pane from getting so cold, and an opening sash lets the steam out. If a bathroom has no window, a rooflight with a vent can solve ventilation and light together.
- Settling pond
- A shallow basin where water is held so that silt can drop out before it flows on.
- Sash
- The part of a roof window or rooflight that moves to open.
- Plasterboard return
- The angled lining that finishes the inside of the opening, from the frame to the ceiling.
- Upstand
- The raised frame around a flat-roof opening that carries the rooflight.
Leaf fall by the park
Streets near parks and the river collect leaves on their roofs. Leaves sit in the corners of a flat roof and against any upstand, the raised frame under a rooflight. The upstand goes in tall enough to keep puddles under the glass, with the roof finish sloping off it. Pitched roofs get a flashing set cut for the slates or tiles already there.
A spring check
Looking at a rooflight twice a year takes minutes. Autumn is the time to clear leaves and spring is the time to look for any staining. Neither needs a ladder if you check from inside.
Each spring, look at the seals and the glass edges from inside. Staining on a plasterboard return, or a damp smell near the frame, is worth telling us about early.
05
How we would approach a Staveley house
Product follows room, and room follows roof. Below are the common cases, set out without assuming anything about your house.
A dark kitchen or dining room at the back
A flat roof rooflight over the dark end suits an extension with a flat roof. If the ceiling can rise into the roof space, a roof lantern adds height as well as light.
A loft bedroom
A roof window lets you see out and open the room to air. In a roof with an old chimney beside it, we plan the position so the flashing does not collide with the stack.
A landing or hall without a window
Where a hallway sits in the middle of the house, a sun tunnel is the gentlest answer. A small dome on the roof collects the light, a mirrored tube carries it down through the loft, and a diffuser spreads it across the ceiling. Nothing structural needs to change beyond a hole of modest size.
Replacement
A rooflight that has fogged inside the glass, or let water in at the edge, has its frame and opening assessed. The new unit often fits where the old one sat. Fitting and replacement both follow current Building Regulations, and the workmanship comes with a ten-year written guarantee.
Seen from the kitchen table
Sit in the room for ten minutes at the dullest time of day and note where you reach for the switch. That habit tells us where daylight should land. A dark dining room at the back wants light over the table, a landing wants light on the treads, and a loft bedroom wants a view of sky from the bed. We keep the position within reach of the room, so the glass can be wiped from inside during the grey months.
On installation day the room is the part you notice: dust sheets down the stairs, the ceiling opened from below once the roof side is watertight, and the lining finished so the new light edge is neat when we leave.
Staveley and Poolsbrook: the questions behind a survey
Is Staveley too far for you to bother with?
No. At about 26.6 road miles, Staveley is inside our 30-mile limit. The visit is free, we agree a time that makes the trip worthwhile for both of us, and we come to you.
Which council do I deal with for a rooflight in Staveley?
Chesterfield Borough Council. A rooflight on an ordinary house often goes ahead without an application, but listed buildings, flats and homes under an Article 4 direction are treated differently. Sixteen listed buildings stand 1.5 km or less from the middle of town. Conservation area? None there, and we still put your address to the council.
My home is near the old industrial land. Does that affect a rooflight?
It does not rule one out. At the visit we check rafters, walls and ceiling for movement and report back before a price is written. A rooflight adds little weight, but it opens the roof up, so we want to know how the building is behaving first.
Can you light a hallway that has no window at all?
Usually. A sun tunnel runs from a roof dome down to a ceiling diffuser and passes through a loft. A hall that sits right under a slope can take a roof window or flat rooflight directly. The loft decides, and we explain our choice.