Roof Replacement Romsey

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 Romsey the newer estates on the edge of town account for much of this generation of felt. Felt of that age tears at the nail line first. Where the felt has perished, the battens beneath it are examined along their length.

Many period roofs were re-covered in concrete tiles considerably heavier than the slate they replaced, and the rafters beneath have deflected under that load. Stripping the concrete and relaying the slope in a lighter covering reduces the load to what the timbers were sized to carry.

Some of Romsey’s Victorian terraces were re-covered this way, and a strip-back there checks the rafters for deflection before any new covering is specified.

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.

Romsey sits low beside the River Test, where the ground stays wet and the air above it clears slowly. A strip-back there checks the battens along the whole slope, not just where a tile has slipped.

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.

Romsey’s Victorian terraces were built with ornamental ridge tiles, and the new ventilated ridge is detailed to match that profile.

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 town with terraces this old accumulates this kind of patchwork over generations, and Romsey’s centre is no exception. Decorative bargeboards at the gable are removed with the covering and refixed once the new verge is formed.

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. Romsey’s Victorian terraces were roofed mainly in handmade clay tile, with Welsh slate following once the railway arrived. 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. Ornamental ridge tiles are lifted whole during the strip and set back on the new ridge where they survive.

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. Many of Romsey’s older houses were refronted in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and the roof structure behind such a frontage is frequently older than the front wall itself. 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 Romsey service area.