Roof Replacement Eastleigh

The bitumen felt beneath most twentieth-century roofs becomes brittle earlier than the tiles above it, and tears at every lap, admitting water to the battens. A roof inspection from within the loft establishes its condition before any decision to strip and renew.

A pair of Eastleigh’s inter-war or post-war semis sits beneath a single continuous roof, so where the felt has torn we trace the tear across the full width of the slope before pricing.

Roofs of the earliest generation were laid without any underlay, so the slates or tiles are the only barrier between the loft and the weather. A membrane can only be laid where the covering above it is lifted, so a replacement is the point at which every slope receives one.

The terraces built for railway workers, when Eastleigh’s population was still counted in the hundreds, predate underlay altogether. Their slates sit straight on the battens.

Roofs patched by successive contractors carry mismatched tiles, sealants and flashing details, each of a different age. The layers beneath a patch cannot be assessed until it is lifted, so a full strip removes every patch and the roof is relaid in one covering on new battens.

Eastleigh’s original railway-town terraces have passed through generations of owners since the 1890s, each adding a repair of their own.

Roofs from the post-war decades frequently incorporate asbestos cement in undercloaks, soffit boards or verge details, invisible until the tiles come off. Our team is trained to identify it, work stops around it, and a licensed contractor carries out the removal. The verge and soffit details are then rebuilt in new timber.

Many of Eastleigh’s semis date from the post-war decades that make asbestos cement common. Our surveys check the verge boards before pricing.

Lofts beneath older impermeable felt exhibit black mould and damp timber on the coldest mornings, because moisture from the household cannot pass through it. A replacement installs a breathable membrane permeable to that moisture, and a ventilated ridge at the head of every slope. Damp timber found at the same time is replaced before the membrane goes down.

Eastleigh’s terraced streets were built with low, tight lofts. Mould shows on the felt there before any leak reaches the ceiling.

The scaffold, the skip and the first deliveries of battens, underlay and tile arrive at times and locations agreed beforehand. You move garden furniture and vehicles clear of the working area before the first morning. Our team manages everything else on the schedule.

The morning forecast determines how many courses come off, and no more is stripped than new underlay and battens can close by evening. Any section not reached is left weathertight, so the loft and the ceilings beneath it are protected overnight.

If the strip-back uncovers a rafter, purlin or flashing detail beyond the quote, work there stops until you have seen it and agreed the price. A written note records any further work before it proceeds. No item appears on the final invoice without your approval.

Underlay, battens, flashings and the new tiles go on in that order, each course lapping the one beneath. Whether the specification is tile roofing or natural slate, each slope is completed and its ridge and verge detailed before the next is started.

A director walks you round the finished roof from ground level and hands over the written documentation for the work. Our team removes the waste and clears the new gutters, and the scaffold is booked off site once the final check is signed.

Four factors determine the cost of a replacement:

• The quantity of tile and batten removed, and its disposal
• Any rafter or batten renewal the strip-back proves necessary
• The dimensions, pitch and complexity of the slopes
• The tiles or slates going back on, over new underlay and fixings

A free survey conducted by a director establishes all four, and your written, itemised quote follows within 48 hours of it, with every item priced and no hidden extras.

Yes, and the match is specified at survey. Eastleigh’s oldest terraces wear whatever tile or slate was fitted for the railway works, and a replacement matches it like for like. Clay tile is matched to the original gauge and ridge pattern, or slate roofing to the same dimension and colour, whichever the roof carries. On the estates around Chandler’s Ford and Hedge End, the profile is measured from the roof before any tile is ordered.

In most cases, no. Where the new roof is similar in appearance to the one it replaces, a like-for-like replacement is normally permitted development and no application is necessary. A listed building is the exception, and consent is required before the covering or the chimney stack details change. Controls in a conservation area differ from one designation to the next, and a change of covering can require consent. We establish which applies at survey, and the quote accounts for it before any work begins.

On an older property it generally is. The railway-era terraces and the inter-war streets that followed them carry roofs at the age where individual repairs begin to recur. A replacement adds the layers absent from a roof of that generation, including a breathable roof underlay, mechanically fixed tiles and a ventilated ridge. The fixings then meet current standards across every slope, and the loft has a ventilation path.

Contact us by telephone or through the enquiry form on this website. The free survey is conducted by a director at a time convenient to you, covering the eaves, flashings and loft interior. If the roof retains serviceable life, we recommend a repair and quote for that instead. Otherwise your written, itemised quote for the replacement follows within 48 hours of the visit. We cover the whole of our Eastleigh service area.