Roof repairs in Bearwood
Slipped concrete tiles, loose ridge and verge, leaking abutments and split garage felt, repaired across Bearwood, BH11, near Kinson and Bear Cross.
The site visit is free and so is the written itemised quote. Thomas Hannen prices every job himself.
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Roof repairs
One fault found, one fault fixed
Yes, we repair roofs in Bearwood, BH11, the BCP estates beside Kinson and Bear Cross: a slipped concrete tile, a loose ridge, a leak where a porch or extension meets the house, or split felt over a garage. We find where the water gets in, mend that point, and put the price in writing after a free site visit.
Water coming through a ceiling as you read this? Ring 07435 839745 and tell us which room it is dripping into.
A ridge tile may have dropped onto the drive, leaving the caps either side loose when you look up from the pavement. A damp line may have crept along the landing ceiling, right on the wall you share with next door. Or the felt over the garage has blistered and the back wall inside is dark after every downpour.
We look from the road and the back garden, go up on a roof ladder where it is safe, and check the underside from the loft. The fault is photographed, and the quote covers that fault and nothing you have not seen. If a whole slope has had its day, we tell you and show you why.
The repairs
Faults on Bearwood's concrete tile roofs, and the fix for each
Nearly all of Bearwood went up after the war, with the 1980s the busiest decade, so the roof above you is very likely large format concrete interlocking tile on trussed rafters and softwood battens, with bitumen felt underneath. Those roofs go wrong in a handful of predictable places.
Slipped, cracked and missing tiles. On plenty of roofs from those decades only the edges and every few courses were nailed, and the tiles between them hang on their nibs. A corroded nail or a snapped clip lets one slide an inch and open its side lock, and rain gets past. A cracked or broken tile lets it straight in. We lift the courses above, fit a tile of the same profile, and fix it and its neighbours to BS 5534. A few tiles from a roof ladder takes a morning.
Ridge and hip on the older houses. Up to the late 1980s these were bedded in sand and cement. If the joints have opened but the bedding still grips, repointing is enough. If the caps rock, we strip them, then either rebed with a screw into each cap or fit a dry ridge to BS 8612. A ridge run is about a day.
Dry ridge and verge on the newer houses. Newer houses, such as the estate off Magna Road finished in 2019, went up after BS 5534 began calling for mechanically fixed ridge and verge, and most carry dry systems. There the fault is a broken union clip or a verge cap blown loose. We replace the part in the same system, and never spread mortar over it, because that traps water and cracks away.
Gable verges. Mortar under the end tiles drops out in lumps onto the path. A clip on dry verge over each end tile, screwed into the batten ends, replaces it. Allow a day for a pair of gables.
Porches and extensions against the wall. Where a lean-to or extension roof meets the house, a cracked mortar fillet or lead that is short, missing or pulled from its joint shows up as a stain on the extension ceiling. We fit soakers and stepped flashing in rolled lead and rake out and repoint the joint above.
Valleys on L shaped houses. Leaves pile up in them, the mortar under valley tiles cracks, or a lead or GRP liner splits. The tiles either side come up to reach it, so allow a day or two.
Felt gone at the eaves. The strip of felt over the fascia turns brittle and tears, so water runs behind the gutter. We fit an eaves carrier tray under the bottom course. Water spilling over a gutter that is blocked, has lost its fall or has a choked downpipe outlet causes the same stain, which is fascias, soffits and guttering in Bearwood.
Garage and extension flat roofs. Felt blisters and splits, the upstand pulls from the wall and the drip edge rots. A patch works on a firm, dry deck and fails on a soft one, so we test the deck before quoting. More on flat roofing in Bearwood.
Chimneys and gales. Where a house has a stack, the flashing and the back gutter behind it are a leak source: see chimney repairs. After a storm, where the wind has lifted tiles or caps, we sheet the gap as a temporary cover first and repair it in dry weather: see emergency roof repairs.
Repair or replace. If battens crumble when a nail goes in and the felt has failed across a whole slope, the roof has little life left and the next patch will not be the last. That is a re-cover, and our roofers in Bearwood page covers it.
How it runs
From your call to a written price
One person to ring from the first visit to the last. The quote is itemised, not a figure on the back of a card: access, where the fault is and what is being opened up to reach it, each tile, slate, ridge or flashing being renewed and what with, making good, and disposal on separate lines, so you can compare it properly against anyone else's.
Nothing is left open or unusable overnight. The site is swept at the end of each day rather than the end of the job, and what comes out leaves with us. If something turns up once we start that nobody could have seen, you get a photograph and a price before we carry on.
No conservation area covers Bearwood, and the nearest, Canford Magna, stops just under a mile away (the council keeps the list). So a like for like repair to a house here needs no application to BCP Council, the planning authority. The listed building recorded nearest the area, 44 and 45 Knighton Lane, lies out toward Knighton, away from the estate housing.
Cost
What decides the price of a roof repair
No rate per square metre, because a slipped tile over a porch and the same tile above a three storey gable are one repair and two very different jobs.
Getting to it. In Bearwood that can be a mid terrace with no side access, where ladders and tiles go up from the front, a link detached house with a garage roof between it and next door, or a hipped bungalow whose eaves are within reach of a roof ladder. A tile over a porch or a bungalow eaves can often be reached from a ladder and a roof ladder. A ridge, a chimney or a valley on a two storey house usually wants a tower or a scaffold, so a small repair can still need a proper platform. The work at height rules decide that, which is why access is its own line on the quote and not hidden inside the repair.
Finding the cause, not the stain. Water runs along the battens and the underlay before it drips, so the mark on the ceiling is rarely under the fault. Tracing it back to a cracked tile, a lifted flashing, a perished valley or a ridge joint that has opened is part of the job, and a repair priced before anyone has looked is a guess.
What the repair uncovers. Lifting a few tiles shows the battens and the underlay around them. If they are sound the repair stays small. If the felt has perished or the battens have rotted, you get a photograph and a separate written price before anything more is done. Where patching stops being worth it is a conversation you have with the facts in front of you.
Comparing quotes? Ask what fault they actually found and where, whether access is included, what is being replaced and with what (a matched tile, new or reclaimed slate, which code of lead), whether the ridge and verge are being bedded in mortar or mechanically fixed, and what happens if more is found once the roof is open. Two quotes for the same job are usually two different jobs.
If it is leaking now
Water coming through a ceiling
Ring rather than use the form. Put a bowl under the drip, keep anything electrical away from the wet patch, and if a ceiling is bulging keep everyone out from under it. The first visit is about finding where the water gets in and making the roof weathertight, and the permanent repair is priced in writing once the fault can be seen properly. On a terrace or a link detached house, if the wet patch is on the party wall side, tell next door too, since the fault may sit on their half of the roof. Scheduled work runs Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm. For anything urgent, ring rather than use the form, and if we cannot pick up we ring you back as soon as we can.
Terraces and link houses
Your roof carries on into next door's
Nearly three in ten homes in Bearwood are terraced, and many more are link detached, built in runs. The tile courses, battens and ridge carry straight across the party line without a break, so the roof over your house is one piece with the roof next door.
That changes a repair in three ways. A slipped course or a cracked ridge at the boundary can be half on your neighbour's slope, so talk to them before we start, and we can price it so each of you sees your share. Where next door has already re-roofed in a different tile, the join between old and new courses is a weak spot, sealed with cut tiles and a lead or mortar detail. You can repair that join properly or re-cover your side to match, which is work for our roofers in Bearwood. And many 1980s interlocking profiles are no longer made, so ask whether the replacement will lock into your old tiles. A reclaimed tile, or one borrowed from the back of the garage, may be the only true fit.
Ordinary tile and ridge repairs do not normally need a party wall notice. the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 can apply if the work cuts into the party wall itself.
Who you are dealing with
A local firm you can check
Bearwood, BH11, sits with Kinson, Bear Cross, Merley and Longham in the patch we cover from our base on Wolverton Road, Boscombe, about five miles away, and BCP Council is the planning authority. You are dealing with Bournemouth Roofing & Building, the trading name of Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 15471719, which you can look up in a minute. Thomas Hannen's business, and he is the one who comes out to price the job, not a salesman. A verified customer's 10 out of 10 on Checkatrade. The visit and the written quote are both free.
Nearby, and next door
Roof repairs near Bearwood
Nearby places we also cover for roof repairs, with straight-line distances from Bearwood, and the other trades we offer in Bearwood itself.
Roof repairs nearby
Our other trades in Bearwood
Everything we do in Kinson Roof repairs, all areas Every area we cover
Questions
Questions about roof repairs in Bearwood
My tile profile is not made any more. What goes in its place?
First choice is a reclaimed tile of the same profile, sourced from a reclamation yard. If none turns up, sound tiles come off a slope nobody looks at, such as the rear of the garage, and the nearest new profile goes there instead. A tile that almost matches leaves a gap in the side lock, so we do not fit one on a slope that has to stay dry.
The leak is where next door's new roof meets mine. Whose job is it?
The join belongs to both roofs, so it is worth one conversation with your neighbour first. We look at both sides from the ground and the loft, show you photographs of where the water enters, and price the join so each owner can see their part.
Do I need scaffold for a few tiles?
Not for every job. A slipped eaves tile on a hipped bungalow is ladder work. The ridge of a two storey terrace, or a valley above a conservatory, needs edge protection, which means a tower or a scaffold, and you see that as a separate line on the quote.
Can you repair it in the rain or in winter?
Tiles, clips, dry ridge and leadwork can go on in most dry spells through the winter. Mortar should not be laid in frost or heavy rain, so in bad weather we make the roof weathertight first and bed any ridge or hip once conditions allow.
How much should I pay for a roof repair?
We do not publish prices, because the same fault costs very different amounts on a bungalow and on a two storey mid terrace. Access, the tile, how far any damage has spread and the detail involved decide it. How we price a job explains each line.
How do I tell a dodgy roofer?
Ask for photographs of the fault before any extra work, an itemised quote in writing, and a company you can look up. Ours is company number 15471719 at Companies House. Be wary of anyone who knocks after a gale to say your roof is unsafe.
Free quote
Tell us what your Bearwood roof is doing
Send your street and what you have spotted: a tile on the drive, a stain on the landing or a wet garage wall. We come out, look properly and put the repair in writing.