Roof Repair Petersfield

Lifted or cracked flashing lets water track down the brickwork behind it and into the rooms below. We trace a roof leak to the abutment before assuming the tiles are at fault.

Petersfield’s older buildings meet in an unusually wide range of wall materials, from sandstone and flint to render and timber framing. We detail the lead dressing at each abutment to the wall it meets rather than to a single standard.

Slates that slip one after another with no visible evidence of breakage indicate nail fatigue: the fixings have corroded while the slate itself remains intact.

Slate reached Petersfield’s Victorian and Edwardian streets once the railway arrived in the mid-nineteenth century, and those roofs are now well beyond the working life of their first nails. We re-fix whole courses instead of chasing individual slipped slates.

Valleys carry more water than any other part of a roof. Once the lining has deteriorated, or debris has packed the valley solid, rainwater travels sideways under the tiling and reaches the rafters.

The larger houses built around Petersfield at the turn of the twentieth century favour sweeping, intersecting roof shapes. It is the valleys where those slopes meet that we reline most often.

A slipped or cracked tile on the main slope indicates a failed fixing or impact damage. Rainwater then reaches the batten and underlay beneath, rotting the timber long before any discoloration appears on the ceiling below.

Petersfield’s timber-framed buildings have settled unevenly over centuries, so the battens beneath their handmade clay tiles rarely run true. A director checks the run either side of a slipped tile before fixing a replacement to it.

On a flat roof the seams and edge trims fail long before the field of the membrane does. Each lap, kerb and upstand absorbs the movement of the deck beneath it.

Flat-roofed extensions and garages came with the estates added around Petersfield from the 1960s onward, and their seams and upstands are what usually bring us out to those newer streets.

Contact us by telephone or through the contact form, and a director attends to inspect the roof at a time arranged with you. The visit carries no obligation, and your written, itemised quote follows within 48 hours of it, with every defect itemised separately.

Where water is entering the building, we arrange a callback within 24 hours and a make-safe visit that closes the opening until the full repair is scheduled. The emergency roof repair service covers those callouts across Petersfield.

Before any access equipment is installed, we agree the position of ladders or a scaffold tower with you. Parking and anything your neighbours require in advance are settled at the same time. Gardens, paths and the ground beneath the working area are protected before the first tile is lifted.

The team carries out the work under director oversight, in tiles, mortar, lead, soakers and fixings matched to what is already on the roof. Mortar and membrane repairs are scheduled around the weather, and the site is cleared of debris at the conclusion of each working day.

At handover you receive photographs of the defect and of the completed repair, and our findings on the remainder of the roof covering are provided in writing. Where a slope requires monitoring instead of repair, the report identifies it, and nothing further is booked without your instruction.

The cost of a repair follows its scope, and refixing one slipped tile is an entirely different undertaking from rebuilding a slope after extreme weather. The difference lies in the number of tiles lifted, the access equipment required, and whether the battens and underlay beneath have deteriorated.

Every repair is therefore priced from a free site visit, and no quotation is provided without an inspection. Your quote itemises every defect separately, with no hidden extras.

Genuine emergencies receive a callback within 24 hours, followed by a make-safe visit to close the opening. The full repair is then scheduled once the roof is watertight. Damage caused by extreme weather is booked as storm and wind damage and answered on the same timescale. For planned repairs the survey comes first, and the quote follows within 48 hours of it. Scheduling then follows the forecast, because mortar and membrane repairs require dry, mild conditions.

A contained fault is repaired: a run of slipped tiles, a length of failed flashing, a worn valley lining. At the survey a director probes the battens and the fixings across the entire slope. Where the battens are soft and the fixings corroded, each new repair is anchored into timber that will no longer hold it, and a full roof replacement becomes the more reliable course.

In Petersfield that question comes up most on the Victorian and Edwardian slate roofs reaching the end of their original nails. On the Petersfield estates built from the 1960s onward the covering is concrete interlocking tile with years of service left, so we replace the cracked units and leave the rest of the slope undisturbed.

Yes. Replacement tiles and slates are matched to what is already on the roof. Where a range is no longer manufactured, reclaimed slate or clay is sourced from regional reclamation yards in the corresponding size, thickness and colour. Fixings, underlay laps, batten gauge and verge detail are then set out to the BS 5534 specification.

On Petersfield roofs that means handmade clay tile and tile-hanging in the historic centre, slate on the Victorian and Edwardian streets, and concrete interlocking tile on the estates built since the 1960s.

Contact us by telephone or through the contact form, and a director attends for a free site survey. The roof is inspected, the options are set out with you, and your written, itemised quote follows within 48 hours of that survey. Where a repair is not the appropriate solution, we will advise against work that is not required. Appointments are available across the whole of our Petersfield service area.