Mystery skylight

#1

Following on from the Mystery of the Hallway Piss Puddle, and its sequel, the Mystery of the Neighbour’s Broken Window, I bring you the third installment of HYG’s domestic mysteries!

We were sitting in our communal garden last night, when, looking up at our flat, I noticed something odd. We live on the top floor of a three-story Victorian terrace, above us is a loft. There are hatches (one in the hallway, one very tiny one in the bathroom), but we’ve never been up there and no reference to it is made on the inventory. From the outside though, I noticed that there is a skylight in the roof, directly above the loft that would be above our bedroom.

Is it usual to have a skylight in an unfinished loft (as far as we know it’s just empty space, it hasn’t been converted to habitable space)? Or do we definitely have some terrifying person living up there?

#2

you need to go up there, alone, and with an incredibly unreliable source of light, immediately (tonight)

#3

When we first moved in I saw there was a metal pole with a hook thing and tried to get the hallway hatch open just to see, but I couldn’t get it to work, and I left it.

What a fool I was.

#4

metal pole thing hook car hand door

#5

maybe it is partially converted but doesn’t meet regs, so they have removed access. You should start utilising this extra space/sub letting it

#6

Get a ladder and put some welly into it. When I went up into our attic I found a gun cabinet, maybe you will get one better and get an actual gun or a dead body or a crazy lady in a wedding dress or something

#7

I don’t even own a gun, let alone many guns that would necessitate etc etc

#8

For anyone who hasn’t yet seen popular hit movie The Hereditary, it’s definitely a great idea to go investigate :+1:

#9

A google map illustration:

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Screen Shot 2018-06-19 at 15.55.34.png570×992 589 KB

#10

@marckee What do you know of skylights?

#11

#12

Maybe the owner had a crack at doing the loft him/herself? When we bought our old place, the loft had been done by the old owner. Was really ropey and he didn’t get planning permission, so they couldn’t sell it as X bedrooms. It also had a skylight.

So maybe when the owner decided to rent it out, someone said “Oi, you can’t use that as a room. Best lock the hatch”.

#13

Maybe the hatch was a glass panel before it was replaced. To allow extra light into the upper landing from the skylight through the glass panel.

#14

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a “ceiling window” in place of a loft hatch.

#15

They exist in my mum’s house. Also doubles up as a hatch for access into the roof.

#16

Pics or it didn’t happen

#17

They’re quite common in Victorian houses.

It’s either that or the room was used as storage/office/train set and they just wanted to get light up there, but it doesn’t meet the regulations to be classified as a habitable room.

If it’s not leaking or broken then there’s no reason to replace it, so it stays, I guess.

#18

Can you show me a picture of a glass loft hatch? I can’t picture what it would be like and can’t find anything that resembles it.

Makes sense they might have made a stab at converting it in the past, shame I can’t get up there, might have to give it another go.

#19

you can get up there! and you’re getting up there tonight and finding something cool and posting pics

#20

Which we’ll refer to as found footage.