Roofing and building blog
Straight answers to the questions people ring us about, written so you can act on them without ringing anyone.
Working out what is wrong
A brown stain on the ceiling: what it means and how to trace it
A brown ceiling stain has several causes with very different costs. How to tell rain from a pipe from condensation, and why the hole is not above it.
Weather, storms and maintenance
What a named storm actually means, and what the warning colours mean
What it takes for a storm to be named, what the Met Office yellow, amber and red warnings mean for a roof, and why colour is not a severity scale.
Weather, storms and maintenance
Storm damage to your roof: what to do in the first 24 hours
Storm damage to your roof: why nobody should go up today, how to stop the water from inside, what to photograph before you tidy, and who to ring first.
Weather, storms and maintenance
Someone knocked and said your roof is dangerous: what your rights actually are
A roofer explains the 14 day cancellation right on doorstep building work, the regulation 28 trap that removes it, and how to get rid of a caller.
Weather, storms and maintenance
Roof checks to do before winter, from the ground
A pre-winter roof checklist you can complete with binoculars and a phone without leaving the lawn, plus the dated photographs almost nobody takes.
Permission and regulations
Planning permission, building regulations, listed building consent: which one you actually need
Planning permission, building regulations and listed building consent are separate regimes, not one. What triggers each, who decides, and which two are crimes.
Permission and regulations
Do I need planning permission to replace a roof?
Re-roofing is usually not development, so no planning application. But it is notifiable building work, and changing the tile can change the answer.
Choosing between materials
Concrete vs clay roof tiles: which is right for your roof?
Concrete tiles do not wear out at 30 to 40 years, and clay is often the heavier roof. What the testing shows, and when you should not re-roof at all.
Weather, storms and maintenance
Autumn gutter clearing: why the timing matters more than the frequency
Twice a year is a booking schedule, not a maintenance answer. When leaf fall really finishes, why a blocked gutter damages masonry, and the ladder rule.
These 9 articles cover the things homeowners actually get stuck on: whether a job needs permission, what a damp patch is telling you, why two quotes for one roof differ by thousands, and which material is right for which situation. Every one is written by Thomas Hannen, who prices these jobs himself.
Covering Working out what is wrong, Weather, storms and maintenance, Permission and regulations, Choosing between materials and more. Nothing here is a sales pitch. Several of these articles will tell you that you do not need a builder at all, or that the job you have been quoted for is the wrong job. That is deliberate. If you want the work doing afterwards, the site visit and the written quote are both free, and you can check the company on the Companies House register before you let anyone through the door.
A new article goes up most weeks.
Free quote
Read something here that needs doing?
Tell us what you have found and we will come and look at it properly. The visit and the written itemised quote are both free, and we will tell you if it does not need doing.