Roof Repairs

How we approach a roof repair

The difference between a repair that lasts and a repair you pay for twice is diagnosis. Water is misleading: it runs along felt, rafters and ceilings before it shows itself, so the stain on the bedroom ceiling is often a long way from the actual point of entry. That's why every repair starts with a proper look at the roof — from the ground, from a ladder or, where it earns its keep, from a drone survey — before we tell you what it needs.

Once we know the cause, we quote for fixing the cause. Sometimes that's a single replacement tile; sometimes it's re-dressing the lead flashing around a chimney; occasionally it's the honest conversation that the covering has reached the end of its life and money spent on patching would be better put towards a replacement. We'll tell you which, and why.

Repairs we carry out every week

Leak finding and repair is the heart of the job — tracing water back to slipped tiles, failed flashings, worn valleys or perished mortar. Alongside that sit storm damage work (including temporary weatherproofing and photographs for your insurer), ridge and hip tile repairs, valley repairs and flashing repairs in lead and modern alternatives.

Chimneys deserve a special mention: a large share of "roof" leaks turn out to be the chimney — cracked flaunching, tired repointing or failed flashing. Those are covered on our chimneys & leadwork pages.

Repair or replace?

A repair is right when the covering as a whole is sound and the problem is local. Replacement starts to make sense when tiles are failing across the roof rather than in one place, when the felt beneath has perished, or when you're paying for the same kind of patch every winter. Our guide to repairing versus replacing a roof sets out how we make that call — and when we inspect, we'll give you our honest view either way.