No need for an ugly roof extension with an Arnold Laver loft window

If you’ve ever had the “pleasure” of renting an attic room in a Victorian house, it’s highly likely that it would have had a dormer window fitted at some point in its history (and badly fitted, at that) to give the illusion of creating more space.

Let’s not be too harsh though; let’s balance things out: not all dormers are badly built. If they’re part of the initial construction they can, and should be, a major focal point and when mixed in with loft windows they can look stunning and help to draw the eyes to the roofline.

Going back to the Victorian houses; the original dormers helped to enhance the elevation by adding to the verticality and reducing the “squatness”; but in the case of younger houses the reverse can often be the case.

The classic is the dormer in the roof at the front of a pair semi-detached houses, and especially on bungalows. A dormer on one side may well create a look of imbalance and can be a visual disaster because they’re what can only be described as a “lump” squatting on the roof; and unfortunately many of these carbuncles have been built without planning permission.

A loft window has many advantages over dormer extensions. As we’ve already mentioned they are often far more visually appealing, they also costs a lot less than a full dormer and in most cases they do not need planning permission providing that they don’t protrude more than 150mm beyond the plane of the roof, and are not higher than the uppermost part of the existing top.

There are a few more conditions and even more if the building is listed or in a conservation area, and it’s highly likely you will have to comply with Building Regulations – so make sure your check with your local authority.

Adding a loft window into your home is a brilliant way of injecting some much needed natural light into dark rooms or loft conversions. With many designs opening up at wide angles they are also very effective at letting fresh air into your home, which can often be much needed in stuffy loft conversions.

The most popular choice are the centre pivot windows which have proved to be the perfect choice for creating an airy, open space in the home; and when combined with a blackout blind they are ideal for getting a great night’s sleep in loft conversions. So if you’re planning a loft conversion or just need a replacement window then you’ve come to the right place because we’ve a huge selection of roof and loft windows for you to browse and buy.

To view our range of roof windows and fittings, click below: