Roof repairs in Holt
Tile, slate, lead, chimney and flat roof repairs across Holt near Wimborne Minster, BH21, including Holt Heath, Broom Hill, Bothenwood and Gaunts Common.
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 Holt, Dorset
A leak, a loose tile or a lifted flat roof near Wimborne
Yes. We repair tiled, slate and flat roofs across Holt, the parish north of Wimborne Minster in BH21 that takes in Holt Heath, Broom Hill, Bothenwood and Gaunts Common. We find the spot where water gets in, repair that spot, and put the price in writing after a free site visit.
If water is dripping into a room as you read this, ring 07435 839745 and say which hamlet you are in and which room it is coming into.
A plain tile from the porch roof is lying in the flower bed. Water tracks down the chimney breast in the front bedroom whenever rain comes in hard across the open ground. The felt on the garage has peeled back at one corner and the boards under it have gone dark.
We look from the garden, go up on a roof ladder where it is safe, and check the underside from the loft hatch. You get photographs of the fault and a written quote for putting it right.
The repairs
What fails on Holt roofs, and how each fault is fixed
Around the parish you will find plain clay tile, natural slate and interlocking concrete tile, with felt, GRP or EPDM over garages, workshops and extensions. They fail in different places, so the first thing we do is name what is on yours and look for the fault that covering is known for.
Plain clay tiles that crack or slide. A plain tile hangs on its nibs, and on an older roof only every fourth or fifth course was nailed. When the batten under it softens or a nib snaps, the tile drops and opens the lap. We slide out the broken one and fit a reclaimed handmade tile that matches the colour and the camber, held with a hook or a tingle where there is no nail hole to reach.
Slate and nail sickness. Slates hang on two nails each. When those rust through, slates start slipping one after another, which is nail sickness. A handful get a tingle, a strip of lead or copper turned up under the bottom edge. If slates are coming down across a whole slope, a tingle for each one is money wasted, and the slope wants stripping and re-nailing.
Interlocking concrete tiles. These rely on the side lock and the head lap. A tile that has crept down an inch lets driven rain in at the lock. The replacement has to be the same profile, and it goes back with a clip or a nail, which is what BS 5534 now expects on a tiled roof.
Ridge, hip and verge. On a plot facing the heath or the fields, wind reaches the ridge and the gable ends first. Old sand and cement bedding cracks, the tile rocks, and in the next gale it lifts. On an unlisted house we either re-bed the run in fresh mortar with a screw or clip in each tile, or fit a dry ridge and dry verge to BS 8612. A ridge run is usually a day's work on the roof, and the written quote gives the time. On a listed roof we keep the bedded look, for the reasons set out below.
Chimneys. A brick stack stands proud of the roof and takes rain on all four faces. The leak comes from the stepped flashing pulling out of its joint, split soakers under the tiles, a blocked back gutter behind the stack, or cracked flaunching round the pots. A stain on the chimney breast that only shows in driven rain points at the stack. We re-dress or renew the lead and repoint the joint it sits in. The masonry side is on our chimney repairs page.
Valleys. Leaves and needles from nearby trees settle in a valley and hold water against it. A lead valley splits where it has been walked on, and mortar-bedded valley tiles crack. Either way the tiles each side come up so the lead or a GRP trough can go in properly. The quote sets out how long that part will take.
Porches and abutments. Where a small tiled roof meets a rendered or cob wall, the joint was usually finished with a cement fillet. That cracks away from the wall and water runs in behind it. We cut it out and fit lead, or a lime fillet on an old wall.
Flat roofs. Felt blisters and splits, GRP crazes at the edges, and EPDM lets go at a seam or at the upstand against the wall. The outlet is the other weak point. If the deck under a split is dry and firm, a patch is usually a small job. If the boards flex when you step on them, they are wet through, and no patch will bond to them. Next to any thatched roof, a patch goes down cold-applied, never with a torch. More on flat roofing in Holt.
Underlay and gutters. Old bitumen felt perishes first at the eaves, where it drapes into the gutter. We lift the bottom courses, cut it back and fit an eaves tray. A gutter or downpipe running over can pass for a roof leak, and a rotten fascia behind it is fascias, soffits and guttering work on the same visit.
Repair or replace. Tiles cracking right across a slope, felt that tears wherever it is lifted and battens you can push a screwdriver into all mean the roof has little life left. A roof in that state needs re-covering, and that belongs with our roofers in Holt.
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.
An unlisted house in Holt needs no planning application for a like-for-like repair, because Holt village is not in a conservation area, and the Planning Portal guidance on roofs explains where that line sits. If your house is listed, read Dorset Council's page on listed building consent before a repair changes the look or the material of the roof.
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. Around Holt that can be a tiled porch on a cottage reached from a ladder, a two storey farmhouse with its stack at the ridge, or a felted garage or workshop at the back of the plot. 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. When you ring from Holt, give us the hamlet and the road, and say whether the roof over the drip is tiled, slate, flat or thatched. 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.
Listed roofs in Holt
Thatch on many listed cottages, tile on a few, and why it changes the repair
Most of Holt's listed buildings are thatched cottages and farmhouses of cob or timber frame, such as Holt Farmhouse and Vicarage Farmhouse near St James's church and Pixie's Holt at God's Blessing Green. The thatch itself needs a specialist thatcher, so we leave it to one.
Their tiled parts are small: a gabled porch, a pentice over a door, a tiled wing on a thatched range. Those, the brick stacks and the joint where lead or tile meets a cob or plastered wall are what we repair. A cement fillet on cob cracks off and lets water in behind, so that joint goes back in lead or a lime mix, as guidance on lime and cement in old walls explains.
On Petersham Lane, Petersham Farm House, the listed farm range beside it and Gardener's Cottage are tiled, not thatched. Gardener's Cottage carries crested ridge tiles and carved bargeboards, and the farmhouse has a coped gable. A dry ridge or plastic dry verge units would change how a roof like that looks, so we re-bed the ridge in a suitable mortar, reuse or match the crested tiles, and leave the bargeboards as they are.
Where a repair would alter the appearance or the material, it can need listed building consent (works affecting the character of a listed building need consent). We check with Dorset Council before anything changes. If your house is not on the list, a like-for-like repair goes ahead without an application.
Who you are dealing with
A local firm you can check
We cover all of Holt parish, BH21, from the houses by St James's church out to Holt Heath, Broom Hill, God's Blessing Green, Bothenwood, Gaunts Common and Pig Oak, and Dorset 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 Holt
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Questions
Questions about roof repairs in Holt
My cottage is thatched and listed. What can you repair?
Not the thatch. That is a specialist thatcher's job. We repair the tiled porch or wing, the brick stack and its lead, and the flashing where a tiled roof meets the cob or plastered wall, in materials that suit a listed building.
Is it worth repairing, or does the roof need replacing?
If the fault is in one place, such as a slipped tile, a split valley or a loose ridge, repair it. When the covering is failing everywhere at once, a repair only moves the leak along, and the quote will say so and price both. Whole roofs are covered by our roofers in Holt.
Will my insurer pay for storm damage?
That is for the insurer to decide, and we cannot promise it. Read the three questions the Financial Ombudsman asks about a storm claim before you claim. What we can give you is dated photographs and a written description of the fault to send with it.
How can I tell a good roofer from a bad one?
Ask to see the fault in photographs and get the price in writing, itemised line by line. Check the firm on Companies House: ours is company number 15471719. Be wary of anyone who knocks on the door saying they spotted a problem from the road.
Which months suit a roof repair best?
Late spring to early autumn is easiest, with dry days and no frost. Lead, tiles and clips can go on through most of the winter, but mortar should not be laid in frost, so in a cold spell we make the roof weathertight first and bed the ridge later.
Free quote
Tell us what the roof at your Holt house is doing
Send the hamlet, the road and what you have spotted, whether it is a tile on the grass or a stain by the stack. We come out, look properly and put the repair in writing.