At Home Tales, we pride ourselves on continuously providing homeowners with clear and detailed design packages to help actualise their dream home renovations in London. We provide an excellent service to accommodate all types of home extension, whether it’s a ground floor extension or loft conversion in London, along with any internal refurbishments.

Glass roofs are often seen in commercial builds such as hotels and restaurants, but they have now become accessible for homeowners that love this look. As well as enhancing a modern interior, glass roofs perfectly complement a traditional interior, as the mix of old and modern adds character and interest to a home. Fortunately, in today’s market no design is off-limits. Most ideas can be realised, with the only restrictions possibly coming from your local planning authority.

The Benefits

The modernity of glass works perfectly with a standard brick house in London as the fragile look of the glass contrasts the rough solidity of brickwork. Its clarity and minimalist aesthetic work well with any material as there is none quite like it. Having a glass roof adds value to any property as it looks luxurious, allows in plenty of natural daylight, perfectly framing the view of the sky, and retains heat well during the Winter months. It’s exciting to look up at a glass roof during rainy or snowy days as you can enjoy the pattering of the weather whilst in the comfort of your own home. This will surely make staying at home a lot cosier. The boost in natural light will provide you with all the vitamin D you’ll need.

A glass roof can work wonders when paired with a kitchen extension, especially if the homeowners want to make the area as spacious as possible. The atmosphere in a cramped kitchen can be instantly improved by adding a glass roof, as it would enhance the indoor-outdoor feel to the home. In theory, the kitchen is no longer confined to the rigidity of the solid walls around it. For a loft conversion that adds bedrooms to a property, installing this type of window allows you to feel more connected with nature, as you can view the stars at night and the clouds moving above. Having a strong connection to nature is important as it improves a person’s mental health. Therefore hospitals, care homes, and schools maximise on the amount of daylight in, views onto green scenery, and require outdoor green spaces which let people spend more time with nature.

Material

There are a few factors worth considering before moving forward with installing a glass roof in your new home extension. Firstly, you must determine what your budget will be, as it will greatly impact what is available to you. A glass roof can be quite costly depending on the size, shape, and material, so deciding what your limitations are beforehand will help inform the type of glass roof you can install.

In terms of material, there are a few popular options. Toughened glass is a more affordable choice and is at least 5 times stronger than normal glass, meaning it takes a greater force to break. It retains heat much better than normal glass and when cracked, will shatter into small even pieces rather than large, sharp shards. Laminated glass is more costly than toughened glass, as it is heavier, and involves multiple layers of glass and plastic. This layering process ensures that when broken, the glass shards will not fall, but will be remain in one piece rather than shattering. Therefore, you won’t need to worry about any safety issues in cases of a heavy hailstorm. Lastly, thermal glass is specially designed with coatings that regulate the amount of heat coming into a room. This is more energy efficient and works great in a room that will see a lot of sunlight, especially during the hot summer months.

Usually glass roofs are made to prevent dirt from accumulating on them, so you will not need to clean them often. However, if the glass is affected by solid dirt such as bird mess or leaves, you will have to physically climb up and clean the roof.

Orientation

Which leads us onto the ideal positioning for new roof lights and windows. This is dependent on the orientation of your house and what you need from your glass roof, assuming your glass roof will be on a slope i.e. side extension. When contemplating the placement of your glass roof, keep in mind the sun rises from the east, is the highest in the south during the afternoon, and sets in the west.

If your glass roof is to be placed on the north side of a house, you run the risk of this space becoming cold due to the lack of sunlight, therefore it’s important to pick glass with a better thermal insulation for this situation and focus on installing high quality installation. Usually in the planning process, a kitchen extension would work best to mitigate the heat from the stove, oven, and stress of cooking.

If it is south facing, the room would be susceptible to overheating, as the sun is highest towards the south. Especially during British heatwaves, you should consider window treatments that would partially deflect this sunshine or allow them to be openable to ventilate the space. You could also install blackout blinds or shutters to mitigate this problem. With these window treatments, this opening would work well with a family room or dining area.

An east facing opening is brightest in the morning and gets dimmer throughout the day. It’s susceptible to cold easternly winds, so good insulation and heating is required. This makes it perfect for a breakfast bar or any activity that will often be used in the morning, which may include an exercise area (Peloton, treadmill, etc.) if you’re a person that prefers to workout before work.

A west facing glass roof/window brings in a lot of sunlight during the afternoon but can be cold in the morning as the sun will be rising from the east. This means heating may be needed in the morning and windows opened in the afternoon. As most of the sunlight will come in during the afternoon and evening, position your dining area here so your whole family can enjoy the sunset during dinner.

When undertaking a home extension, there are many factors that must be considered before any decisions are made. We hope you now have a better understanding of glass roofs in London properties and can move forward with your ground floor extension project with confidence. If you would like to discuss your project, our team of professionals would love to hear from you. You can call us on 02070432378 or contact us via email at hello@hometales.co.uk. Alternatively, you can book a free, no-obligations telephone consultation here. We look forward to hearing from you!