Shed Dormers in West Sussex
Our teams install shed dormers throughout West Sussex, handling structure, weatherproofing, glazing and finish as one job with one point of contact.
Shed Dormers — indicative geometry
Shed Dormers for West Sussex homes
Roofs across West Sussex are dominated by Victorian and Edwardian terraces, interwar semi-detached houses and post-war bungalows, and that mix decides almost everything about what a dormer here needs to look like and how it has to be built.
A shed dormer has one plane, pitched more shallowly than the main roof, running back to meet it. Because there are no hips or valleys it is the cheapest wide dormer to build, and it can stretch across most of a rear elevation without looking like a bolted-on box. It suits 1930s semis and chalet bungalows particularly well.
Key specification
| Typical projection | 2.4m – 7.0m wide |
|---|---|
| Pitch | 15° – 25°, shallower than main roof |
| Roof finish | Interlocking tile, slate or membrane |
| Structure | Rafters spanning to a ridge beam |
Planning and building control in West Sussex
If the property is in a conservation area or the dormer faces the road, a full planning application is needed. We prepare the drawings and handle the submission either way.
Building regulations approval is separate and always required. We submit the application, book the inspections around the programme and hand you the completion certificate at the end — the document a buyer's surveyor will ask to see.
Why homeowners in West Sussex use us
Everything is priced from a measured survey, not a phone call — which is why our quotations tend to be the ones that still hold at the end of the job.
Send us the address and roughly what you are hoping to gain, and we will come back with a realistic answer rather than an optimistic one.
Other dormer work in West Sussex
FAQs
Shed Dormers in West Sussex — FAQs
Can I put a dormer on the front of my house?
Front-facing dormers are not covered by permitted development and always need a full planning application. Approval depends heavily on the street scene — planners look at whether other dormers already exist on the road, and at proportion, position and materials. Hipped and pitched forms are approved far more often than flat boxes on a front elevation.
Do you handle the planning application?
Yes. We prepare measured drawings, elevations and sections, submit the application or the lawful development certificate, and deal with the case officer's queries. On conservation and listed work we also put together the heritage justification the application needs.
What is the difference between a dormer and a Velux?
A rooflight sits flush in the roof slope and gives you light without any extra height — you still have a sloping ceiling. A dormer projects out from the roof and creates vertical walls with a level ceiling behind them, so you gain genuinely usable standing space and floor area, not just daylight.
Do you work on listed buildings and in conservation areas?
Yes. That work is detail-led: matching sightlines, glazing bar widths, cill projections and cheek finishes to what survives, and specifying timber, lead and natural slate rather than modern equivalents. We prepare the drawings and heritage statement for listed building consent alongside the planning application.
Can a dormer include an en-suite?
Very often, yes — a full-width or L-shaped dormer usually has enough floor area for a bedroom plus a shower room. The practical constraints are getting soil and waste down to an existing stack, and whether the head height over the shower tray works. Both are settled at survey.
Find out what your roof will take
A free measured survey in West Sussex tells you what is achievable, what it needs, and what it costs — before you commit to anything.