Opinions pls re removal of dormer windows

[ginghamstarfish]

Hi all, would like to hear your opinions on this. We live in a Victorian house, the type called 1.5 storey with bedrooms under the roof (small attic space above), having sloped walls to the front, and dormer windows, similar to the photo (not my house - the one here is far prettier!). These are original. They are horrible, the rooms are dark, cold as there is no insulation on the sides/top/sill (or anywhere as it's solid stone walls and right under roof), noisy despite previous owners' secondary glazing panel inside, again as there is probably just wood panels with slates on at the sides/top of the dormers. We are having some problems with leaks around one of these windows, mould appearing, have had temporary fix but rather than have the dormers redone, may be time to have the whole roof redone. As far as the roofer can say it is the original 175 year old roof! In this case, I would like to get rid of the dormers and replace with velux windows, which would give much more light, more soundproofing, less maintenance, less to go wrong and rot in future. We have two velux windows at the rear upstairs. Also think it would be cheaper. My DH thinks it would devalue the house and that I am mad to consider it. Surely if we later sell the house, the buyer will not necessarily know that there were ever dormer windows! What do you think?

What’s the rest of your area like? I’m househunting at the moment in an area with lots of Victorian houses with lots of those types of windows and personally I would be put off if it was the only house in the road with velux windows. I do think they’re not very attractive.

It also depends how high up the windows are and how high / sloping the ceiling is. I lived in a townhouse once with a window like you’re describing and loved to look down on the street. I think if it had been replaced with a velux window the slope of the roof would have made it hard to look out the window and also would have really reduced the standing room making the room seem smaller.

I would say that it would definitely devalue your house. Most people would not consider a bedroom with only Velux windows (especially if they are the only bedrooms in the house, not just the odd spare room).

Renewing the roof would mean renewing the dormers so hey would need to be insulated to current building regs as far as possible. if they are small - I'd see if I could get planning approval to make them bigger to gain space in the room.

It would make your house look like a tiny bungalow or shed... It is a lovely house so don't ruin it! It will also make all the upstairs room feel much smaller and more attic like. Look into ways to insulate, damp proof etc.

To answer the questions - It's the only house for a mile or more in every direction, so nothing to compare it to. That's not my house in the picture! It's just to illustrate the type of dormer set into the roof. Yes, they are the only two bedrooms, there's also a small bed/boxroom - with a velux window, at the back. We're right on a main road, but across the road is just fields and farms, so not at all bothered about looking at the road, rather across to the long distance view.

One of the drawbacks of having the dormers renewed, is the insulation thing. They are already taking so much light off the rooms, so to have insulation added inside would mean even less light or bigger dormers on the outside, which might look top heavy as they are bigger than those in the picture. To add it outside would mean the dormers being wider than they are now, which again I think would look odd. It's only a small cottage, with smallish downstairs windows too. If it was renewed with Velux windows wouldn't that just look as if we have extended into the roof space?

We don't need to gain space in the rooms, they are a reasonable size for bedrooms, but would really like more light and less cold.

Sorry - doing this in dribs and drabs - also there is only one slopey part, along the front where the dormers are, otherwise plenty of 'normal' ceiling height hence my thinking dormers aren't necessary to be able to stand up and look out of the window.

Depending on how much your house is worth I doubt it would make much difference to the value if you ended up with a clean look.

You can get really special looking veluxes - with balconies - or large ones. If you get something quite wow looking that would probably make up for not having the old windows. Or replace them and put in a big dormer across the back.

Planning is likely to be the issue....

@stealthninjamum , @Sprig1, out of interest why are they so bad and devalue a house? I’ve seen quite a few of these 1.5 bungalows where I am looking.

I think I would replace at the front and have velux at the back to gain more light. I think the house may look worse with velux at the front??

My opinion would be to lose the dormers, they are really small and my brother in law used to have a small Victorian dormer and it was freezing in his attic room .
It would be a lot of work to insulate they properly and I know I few people with leaks around dormers. Modern velux would be warmer ,let more light in and the flashings that come with them are first class ( as long as they are installed right).you can get lots of different styles now. The only downside is you might lose some head height in the loft ?

I don’t think it will devalue the house as any future buyers will have never seen the house with the dormers on it.

concreteunderpants I suppose I’m thinking about my bedroom years ago and velux windows would’ve meant my husband having less headroom but op says this wouldn’t be the case.

As a personal preference I prefer the look of a Victorian house with the dormer windows externally. I said that I’m househunting in an area with lots of Victorian houses, but it also has lots of bungalows with bedrooms added upstairs with dormer windows and velux windows. With those 1950s buildings I don’t really have a preference, the velux windows just match better. I imagine what a house looks like must make some difference to price because the smaller Victorian semis are on the market for more than the bigger detached bungalows nearby that are a 1950s style and often have a garage, parking and a wider / bigger garden.

I'd say it would devalue. Losing any traditional feature isn't good on a period property. Could you speak to a specialist builder that's used to dealing with period properties for advice?

Velux windows on the front always look odd.

Get the roof redone and have the dormers replaced. You can have double glazing on the side panels for more light.

Check if you need planning permission to change the roof shape/windows (e.g. if house is listed or in a conservation area).

If you Google something like Victorian former refurb you'll find something to copy. It would be a shame to lose the feature, but I love these types of houses.

Oh, so more about the change/removal in features as it’s Victorian, rather than dormers per se. Thanks

Since you’re replacing the roof anyway, would it be possible to build a full dormer wall across the front of the house, and insert the Victorian windows vertically back into that wall?

It would then look not too dissimilar from the outside, but you’d have an extra 2-3 metres standing space instead of the nooks and crannies of two dormer windows. And although the dormer wall would probably be wood you could insulate it as much as you wanted.

I can’t find any pictures online of exactly what I mean so perhaps it’s not generally a good idea!

@RandomMess

I think I would replace at the front and have velux at the back to gain more light. I think the house may look worse with velux at the front??

There are already velux windows at the back - the bedrooms don't go front to back, there's a bathroom and a boxroom behind them. I am quite happy with the velux windows there!

@Chumleymouse

My opinion would be to lose the dormers, they are really small and my brother in law used to have a small Victorian dormer and it was freezing in his attic room . It would be a lot of work to insulate they properly and I know I few people with leaks around dormers. Modern velux would be warmer ,let more light in and the flashings that come with them are first class ( as long as they are installed right).you can get lots of different styles now. The only downside is you might lose some head height in the loft ?

I don’t think it will devalue the house as any future buyers will have never seen the house with the dormers on it.

Yes, I'm thinking really of them being warmer, won't really lose head height as the rest of the rooms have proper ceilings, just the one sloping wall to the front where the dormers are. I'm also on the fence about devaluing the house, agree that future buyers will not have seen the house as it was, and it will look like a house where we've gone up into the loft.

@BaubleBubble

Since you’re replacing the roof anyway, would it be possible to build a full dormer wall across the front of the house, and insert the Victorian windows vertically back into that wall?

It would then look not too dissimilar from the outside, but you’d have an extra 2-3 metres standing space instead of the nooks and crannies of two dormer windows. And although the dormer wall would probably be wood you could insulate it as much as you wanted.

I can’t find any pictures online of exactly what I mean so perhaps it’s not generally a good idea!

That sounds (even more!) expensive. Not bothered about extra space, rooms are otherwise spacious with lots of headroom.

@BlackDogBlues

Depending on how much your house is worth I doubt it would make much difference to the value if you ended up with a clean look.

You can get really special looking veluxes - with balconies - or large ones. If you get something quite wow looking that would probably make up for not having the old windows. Or replace them and put in a big dormer across the back.

Planning is likely to be the issue....

I have seen the ones which turn into a balcony, they are lovely, but wouldn't want them here as we are just a few feet from a busyish main road! Would be lovely at the back if we ever redo the existing velux windows there.

Have tried to call the council planning dept but no-one there.

If they are on the front it may need pp. Often dormers give necessary head height for the rooms to be classed as habitable. Are you in a conservation area, greenbelt etc? Agree it may make the property less saleable and attractive longer term. Could you not repair roof and reinstate nicer dormers?

Just do what YOU think

Veluxes are noisy when it rains. They also don’t gain you head height.

There may be fire regs issues with having only Veluxes in a bedroom. You would need it to be a fire escape window which means it should be no more than 1.1m off the ground and the opening must be at least 0.33m2 in area. Also needs to stay open by itself with a 0.33m2 opening. So top hung Veluxes are better than middle hung as there is a single clear opening, and you will need to choose a size of Velux so that the opening is big enough. It’s the size of the gap between window and roof when the window is open that you need to consider, not the size of the window itself. Hope that makes sense.

this is a helpful page on the subject