Roof Replacement Petersfield

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.

In Petersfield the streets built up around the station account for much of this generation of felt, and a director inspects the loft interior before the strip-back is priced. Where the felt has perished, the battens beneath it are examined along their length.

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.

Petersfield’s timber-framed and Georgian houses in the historic centre belong to this generation, many roofed in handmade clay tile. A membrane is then laid over the rafters and counter-battened.

Valleys and chimney junctions convey considerably more water than any part of a slope, so the boards and lead beneath them deteriorate first. Where the strip-back exposes decayed junction timbers, new boards and lead go in as the slopes around them are laid.

Petersfield’s older houses carry dormers and gabled additions that break a single slope into several smaller ones, so a strip-back there tends to find more junctions than a simple roof would have.

Tiles are nailed to battens, and battens decay where moss and overhanging trees keep a slope damp. The covering above stays in line while the timber beneath it softens, so a tile refixed there has no sound timber to hold it, and the slope is stripped and re-battened.

Petersfield sits ringed by wooded hills, and the leafy plots this gives many houses keep roofs damp longer than an open site would. A strip-back there checks the battens along the whole slope.

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.

A market town with houses spanning several centuries accumulates this kind of patchwork, and Petersfield’s older terraces are no exception. Handmade clay tile is sorted as it comes off and reused where it is sound.

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. Petersfield’s oldest houses were roofed in handmade clay tile or slate, and the Victorian terraces near the station carry the same materials. A replacement on either matches like for like. Slate roofing goes back in the same dimension and colour, or clay tile to the original gauge and ridge detail. The size and camber of a handmade tile vary between batches, so the new tiles are matched against those coming off.

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. Petersfield’s timber-framed, Georgian and Victorian houses 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 Petersfield service area.