Q. I live in a semi-d where part of the kitchen is jutting out into the back garden and has a slanting, tiled roof. The only window is over the kitchen sink, which directly overlooks the east-facing garden.
Some additional light comes in through a glazed rear door, which is to the side but I would really like to increase the light levels. Is the most effective way of doing this to install a Velux? Is this a complicated/expensive job?
I can’t really increase the size of the existing window as there are kitchen units on either side.
A.
Not being familiar with your exact house, I am imagining a kitchen from a friend’s house.
Though not necessarily exactly the same, it should be similar or at least my advice should be transferable.
The issue with semi-detached houses is that, as one of many houses built in a housing estate, it is unlikely that this house design will have been fully optimised for light.
Yes, it may well have been designed by an architect, as many such houses are today, but your house and your neighbours’ houses may very well be exactly the same or perhaps mirror images of each other regardless of their orientation to the sun.
What I am imagining here is that you have access to light from the East over your rear garden but also access to light from the South from the side of your house, given that you are receiving good light from your glazed side door.
Light from the South is the holy grail of daylight orientation so this is where I’d like to concentrate my focus, and your budget.
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