Velux loft conversion - Create a new room for your home

A Velux loft conversion is often considered the quickest, easiest, cheapest approach to converting a loft space simply because it's the least 'invasive'. Velux is the name of the company that produces these most recognised windows that are used to add light into an attic space, but technically they're just skylights or rooflights. These are the windows that you could easily mistake for solar panels if at a glance - but the change they make inside a house is quite dramatic! They are the perfect choice for a house that has a high roof cavity that just needs light.

In these times of belt-tightening, not many people have piles of cash to throw around, but need to convert an attic into a useable room to allow their house to grow with the family. While dormer or mansard conversions offer more headroom by building new walls and ceiling, they come at a much higher price; a Velux conversion is perfect if your loft already has a fair amount of headroom.

Fitting a window into the line of the roof, without making any structural changes, means there is very little disruption in the actual roof conversion, meaning that the man hours will be spent on the completion of your new room, and, for the most part, they don't need planning permission.

By having a Velux loft conversion you save time because the changes made are minimal: no chance of problems because of bad weather as it can be done in a matter of hours. Obviously, not building new external walls and ceilings saves a lot of time!

Lack of planning permission and minimum changes to your home mean that getting light into your new loft conversion is far cheaper than if you had to build new walls and ceilings to add headroom that you otherwise don't have.

As they follow the line of the room, Velux windows allow light to flood in, which is fab in spring and autumn, but can make a room very hot in summer and maybe too bright at night. Of course there are custom-fitted blinds that counter this problem, but will add another cost to your loft conversion. Some of the blinds on the market have thermal silver backing, which keep the heat in during winter and keep it out during summer.

Getting a Velux loft conversion means you are able to put your funds into doing up your loft conversion - maybe by adding a bathroom where you might not have been able to afford one if you'd had to spend your hard-earned cash on a mansard or dormer conversion.

Skylights - There's More to Them than Meets the Eye

Have you have changed your loft into a bedroom, playroom or study/office? And then realised that there is just not enough natural light in the room? Of course, most lofts don't have any windows to start with so here you are at a real disadvantage in making the most of any natural light, unless of course you fit a roof window or skylight.

In other cases even "normal" the rooms you have upstairs don't feel bright enough and thus you would like to have more natural light. The skylight (or roof window) is one answer, but there you will need to consider what type of skylight you might like. The pitch of the roof and the shape of the ceiling in the room determines the type and shape of the skylights which can be used, and remember, putting in skylights is not just about making a hole in the roof and sticking a window or dome into it. Great care must be taken in what shape and size your skylight will be and then in fitting it. After all, you don't want it in the wrong place or leaking all over your room every time it rains.

The loft space skylight dictates how much and what sort of light you will receive. You will also need to be aware of the direction your skylight will face, if you have a traditional style skylight fitted flush to an east facing roof, you will get a lot of early morning light which may cause a problem in the bedroom of a light sleeper. You may also want to consider whether you want your skylight to open as good ventilation is important to your well being as well.

There are many styles and shapes of skylight to choose from. For instance, tubular skylights are placed on your roof in a vertical position. Light is then channelled down a reflective tube into a diffuser where it creates light in the room. This light has no UV rays (as it is reflected), so does not cause fading or other damage to furnishings or carpets. Some tubular skylights also allow you to adjust the amount of light entering the room, making them ideal for very bright days when you might want to limit the amount of light. These skylights are therefore particularly useful for rooms where a standard skylight is simply unsuitable.

Light can also be controlled in fixed or ventilating skylights by using blinds or rollers as there will be times when you want more or less light in the room.