Roof Care & Maintenance

Roofs don't ask for much — but the difference between a roof that reaches its full lifespan and one that fails a decade early is almost entirely the small stuff done (or not done) along the way. None of it is complicated, and most of it is visible from your garden.

The annual look (from the ground)

Once a year — ideally after the winter — stand back and sight the roof with binoculars. You're looking for: slipped, cracked or missing tiles; a wavy or broken line along the ridge; crumbling mortar at ridge or verges (chunks in the garden are the giveaway); vegetation in the gutters; and anything odd around the chimney — cracked flaunching, white staining, lifted flashing. Five minutes, and it catches most problems while they're still small ones.

Gutters: the highest-value maintenance there is

Clear gutters annually — twice yearly under trees — and glance at them working during heavy rain: water sheeting over the edge or dribbling from a joint is damage happening in slow motion to the wall below. Gutter care is cheap; the damp problems from years of overflow are anything but.

Moss, honestly

Light moss is cosmetic. Heavy moss holds moisture against ageing tiles and sheds into gutters and valleys — worth managing, but gently: never let anyone pressure-wash your roof, whatever they promise. The full picture is in moss on your roof.

Fix small things promptly

The economics of roofing are brutally simple: a slipped tile refixed this month is a modest job; the same gap after two winters of soaking the felt and battens beneath is not. Almost every large repair we do began life as a small one that waited. When in doubt, photographs to the contact page cost nothing and settle it.

And every few years

A proper close-up inspection every four or five years — and always after a major storm or before buying a house — finds what the ground can't see: felt condition, fixing fatigue, valley wear. Our lifespan guide explains what to expect at each stage of a roof's life.