Roof repairs in Ferndown
Loose hips and ridges, dropping verges, slipped concrete tiles and leaks at flashings and valleys, repaired on bungalows and houses across Ferndown and BH22.
The site visit is free and so is the written itemised quote. Thomas Hannen prices every job himself.
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Roof repairs in BH22
Bungalow edges, tile locks and the joins between roofs
Yes, we repair roofs across Ferndown, from one cracked concrete tile on a hipped bungalow to a leaking valley where an extension meets the house. We trace where the water gets in, mend that spot, and give you a free written itemised quote after a free site visit.
Got water coming through a Ferndown ceiling at the moment? Ring 07435 839745 and tell us whether it is a bungalow, a house or a flat. See emergency roof repairs for what to do meanwhile.
A ridge tile sits crooked as you pull onto the drive. Mortar crumbs keep turning up under a gable end. Or a brown patch has spread across the extension ceiling, right where its roof meets the house wall.
Ferndown is bungalow country, and a bungalow roof is mostly edges: hips, ridge, verges and eaves. Those edges are where these roofs let go first. We look from the garden, go up on a roof ladder where it is safe, check from the loft hatch, and photograph the fault. The quote covers that fault and nothing else. If the covering itself has run its course, we say so, and that becomes a job for our roofers in Ferndown.
What we repair here
Hips, verges and the tiles in between
Most of the town went up after the war, busiest in the late sixties and early seventies, under concrete interlocking tile on bitumen felt. Eighties to early 2000s houses make up roughly three in ten homes in the main part of town, and a few older houses carry clay tile or slate. Our roof repairs page sets out the method; here is how it applies to these roofs.
Hip and ridge mortar. A hipped bungalow has four hips plus a ridge, far more bedded tile than a two storey house of the same floor area. On the post-war roofs each one sits in sand and cement with no mechanical fixing. Frost widens the cracks in the bedding until a hip tile lifts in a gale or mortar lands on the drive. If the tiles are sound, we either rebed the run in fresh mortar with a clip or screw holding each tile, or strip the old mortar and fit a dry fix hip and ridge system to BS 8612 over a vented roll. The quote can price both. Every hip and the ridge on a bungalow is around a day.
Gable verges. On gabled bungalows and chalet bungalows the weak point is the verge, where the tiles stop at the gable wall. The mortar under the end tiles falls away in lumps and the end tiles rattle. We rake out what is left and fit dry verge units clipped over each end tile and screwed into the batten ends. Both gables of a bungalow take about a day.
Slipped and cracked concrete tiles. These roofs were fixed lightly, with a nail every few courses and the side lock left to do the rest. When a nail rusts or a batten softens, a tile slides and opens the lap. Cracks tend to come from a foot put down between battens. We lift the courses above, slot in a tile of the same profile and fix it with a tile clip or nail so it cannot creep again, which is what BS 5534 asks for today. An interlocking tile only seals if its side lock and head lap marry up with its neighbours, so we identify the profile first, and use a reclaimed one if it is no longer made.
Perished felt at the eaves. The bitumen felt under these tiles runs out over the fascia and into the gutter, and that last strip takes the sunlight. It goes brittle and splits, so rain running down the felt ends up behind the gutter, soaking the fascia or the wall top. That is a repair and not a re-roof. We lift the bottom courses, cut back the felt, fit an eaves carrier tray into the gutter, lap new membrane onto it and relay the tiles. Where the fascia board behind has rotted, see fascias, soffits and guttering in Ferndown; it can be done on the same visit.
Where a low roof meets something taller. An extended Ferndown house has joins: a single storey wing against a two storey gable, a chalet bungalow dormer, a flat-roofed extension on the back wall. Each join should have lead soakers and step flashing; cheaper work used a mortar fillet, which cracks away from the brick. The giveaway is a stain on the ceiling right beside the join. We cut it out, fit code lead soakers and step flashing, and repoint the chase, in about a day.
Round the chimney. A leak round a brick stack starts at its base: the front apron, the side soakers and flashing, or the back gutter, where moss and leaves sit in the wet. Cracked flaunching or a loose pot gets done on the same climb. A stack that needs rebuilding is covered under chimney repairs.
Valleys on L-shaped plans. An L-shaped bungalow has an internal valley where its two roofs meet. Here that is concrete valley troughs bedded in mortar or an open lead valley, and once the pointing cracks or debris builds up, water backs over the channel edge. A cracked trough or split lead means lifting the cut tiles each side and relining in lead or GRP, over one to two days.
Flat roofs on garages and extensions. Felt, GRP and EPDM over a garage, porch or dormer cheek fail at a blister, a split upstand or a puddle at the outlet. On a firm, dry deck a patch takes a few hours; a deck that gives underfoot is wet through and needs more. See flat roofing in Ferndown.
After a gale. A lost ridge tile or lifted verge is made weathertight, then repaired, with dated photographs for your insurer. See what the insurance industry means by a storm.
When one repair leads to the next. Tiles cracked across the slopes, felt that crumbles when a tile is lifted, and soft battens mean patching will not hold. That roof wants re-covering, which is work for our roofers in Ferndown.
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.
A like for like repair on a Ferndown roof is maintenance and needs no planning application, and the Planning Portal guidance sets out where that line sits. Dorset Council is the planning authority here; if your house is listed, read its page on listed building consent before anything on the roof is changed.
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 Ferndown that can be a hipped bungalow whose ridge sits within reach of a roof ladder, a chalet bungalow with a dormer and a valley behind it, or a two or three storey block of flats. 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. In a Ferndown flat, the managing agent orders the permanent repair, so tell them as well as us. 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.
Getting up there safely
A roof you can almost reach from the lawn
A bungalow's eaves sit not far above head height, and that changes the repair. A slipped tile, a loose hip or a dropped verge on a single storey slope can be reached from a ladder with a roof ladder hooked over the ridge, or from a tower, with no scaffold wrapped round the house. The HSE does not ban ladders for short jobs like these, set up properly. So there is less reason to leave a loose tile until it becomes a wet ceiling.
The same low eaves tempt owners to go up and look. Please do not. A concrete interlocking tile takes weight over its batten and cracks if you step anywhere else, so a look round can cause the leak you were hunting for. A ladder on grass can sink or kick out at the foot. Look from the ground with binoculars or from the loft with a torch, and send us photos. On a homeowner's job, a domestic client's CDM duties pass to the contractor, so safe access is on us.
Who you are dealing with
A local firm you can check
We cover Ferndown and BH22, including Stapehill, Tricketts Cross and Ameysford, and out to Longham and West Parley, from our base in Boscombe. Dorset Council handles planning and building control here. 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 Ferndown
Nearby places we also cover for roof repairs, with straight-line distances from Ferndown, and the other trades we offer in Ferndown itself.
Roof repairs nearby
Our other trades in Ferndown
Everything we do in Ferndown Roof repairs, all areas Every area we cover
Questions
Questions about roof repairs in Ferndown
Can one slipped tile on my bungalow be put back without scaffold?
On a single storey slope over firm, level ground, a ladder and roof ladder are enough for a short job like that. Beside a chimney or on a two storey part, it can need a tower. Access has its own line on the quote.
If a roofer is hurt on my roof, who answers for it?
On domestic work, CDM 2015 moves the client's duties onto the contractor, so the firm doing the job has to plan the access and work safely. Your part is to pick someone you can check: a written itemised quote that describes the access, and a company number you can look up. Ours is 15471719.
How can I tell if it is the ridge that needs rebedding or the whole roof that needs replacing?
Look at where the trouble is. Cracked bedding, a rocking ridge or hip tile, or mortar on the path is an edge fault, and edges get repaired. Tiles cracked or slipped across the slopes, with torn felt visible from the loft, point to the covering going. We photograph it and price what the roof needs.
What makes one roof repair cost more than another?
Getting to it, how far the fault is from the stain, and what turns up once tiles are lifted. We do not price over the phone. You get a free visit and an itemised written quote, and how we price a job explains each line.
Free quote
Show us what your Ferndown roof is doing
Send your postcode and a photo from the lawn or the loft. Thomas comes out, finds the fault and writes down what the repair involves.