Roof repairs in Lover
Slipped tiles, cracked slate, loose ridges, chimney lead, leaf-choked valleys and split flat roofs repaired at Lover, one fault at a time.
The site visit is free and so is the written itemised quote. Thomas Hannen prices every job himself.
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Roof repairs at Lover
Find the one fault and put it right
Yes, we repair roofs at Lover: a slipped tile, a cracked slate, a loose ridge, a leaking valley, chimney lead or a split felt roof over the garage. We find the exact point the water gets through, mend that part, and write the price down after a free site visit.
Water coming through a ceiling at Lover right now? Ring 07435 839745, say where the drip is and what sort of roof sits over it.
Maybe a tile or a length of ridge is lying on the lawn after a south-westerly blow. Maybe a brown ring is spreading across a bedroom ceiling, and the gutter above that room is thick with leaves. Or perhaps the felt over a porch or back extension has split and there is a drip by the door.
We walk round the house, go up where a roof ladder is safe, and look at the underside of the roof from the loft with a torch. You get photographs of the fault and a written quote that names it. A worn-out roof that needs stripping is work for our roofers in Lover. This page is about mending the part that has failed.
The repairs
What goes wrong on a Lover roof, and how each fault is mended
If your roof is clay plain tile. Each tile hangs on its batten by two small nibs, with a nail every few courses. When a nib snaps or a nail rusts away, the tile slides down and leaves a gap two courses deep. We ease up the tiles above, hang a replacement and hold it with a clip or a tingle. On older clay the new tile has to match the old in size, colour and curve, so we look for a reclaimed one. A handful of tiles takes a morning from a roof ladder. If tiles are sliding all over one slope, the nails have given up across the whole of it, and stripping and re-nailing is a job for our roofers in Lover.
If your roof is concrete interlocking tile. These crack more than they slip, usually where someone has stood on them or a branch has hit them. The replacement must be the same profile, because an interlock from another range will not sit in the lap. If the profile is discontinued, a sound tile moved from a hidden slope fills the gap.
If your roof is natural slate. Welsh slate is on roofs at Lover, St Mary's Church on Church Hill among them. Slate outlives the nails that hold it, and when they rust through, slates start arriving in the flower bed. We cut the broken one out with a slate ripper, slide in a reclaimed Welsh slate of the same size and thickness, and hold its tail with a copper or lead tingle.
Ridge, hip and verge. The mortar under a ridge or hip tile cracks with frost and the wind does the rest. After a south-westerly gale, check the verge on the south-west gable and the ridge first, because that is the side facing the weather. We re-set loose tiles with a screw or clip through each one, or fit a dry ridge and dry verge, so the edge is held mechanically the way BS 5534 sets out for an exposed roof. Re-fixing the full length of a ridge takes about a day.
Chimneys. A damp patch on a chimney breast points at the stack. The stepped flashing, the soakers tucked under the tiles, the back gutter on the uphill side and cracked flaunching round the pots can each let water in. We re-dress or renew the lead and re-point the chase it sits in. Loose brickwork or pots are chimney repairs.
Valleys and abutments. A valley carries the water off two slopes, so a split in its lead leaks hard. We lift the tiles either side and re-line it in lead or a GRP valley. Where a lean-to roof meets the house wall, the flashing along that joint lifts and cracks the same way.
Flat roofs on garages, porches and extensions. Felt blisters in the sun, splits at the upstand where it meets the wall and gives way at the outlet. Over a dry, firm deck, a split can be patched. If the deck is soft underfoot, a patch or an overlay will not last, and that is flat roofing in Lover.
Gutters and fascias. A wet outside wall or a stain high on an inside wall can come from a gutter overflowing or a rotten fascia, with the roof itself sound. That work is fascias, soffits and guttering in Lover.
Storm damage. An open slope gets sheeted first so the house stays dry, and the proper repair is priced once the damage can be seen in daylight. See emergency roof repairs.
Repair or re-cover? The tiles are rarely the deciding factor, as BRE's testing of sixty year old roof tiles shows. The felt and battens are. Felt that crumbles when touched, slipping right across a slope, or the same slope mended again and again all say the roof has had its time. Otherwise, repair it. We do not work on thatch; a thatched roof at Lover is a job for a specialist thatcher.
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.
Planning decisions at Lover are made by the New Forest National Park Authority, and Wiltshire Council handles building regulations. Mending an unlisted house in matching tile or slate needs no application, as the Planning Portal guidance on roofs explains. There are eight listed entries in and around Lover, and on a listed house works affecting the character of a listed building need consent, so check the National Park heritage and conservation guidance and give us the address before we price.
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. At Lover that could be a garage or porch roof reached off a ladder, a two storey house with the fault behind the chimney, or a roof where an overhanging branch has to be cut back before a tower can go up. 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. If a branch has come down on the roof, leave it where it lies and mention it when you ring, because dragging it off can pull more tiles and the ridge down with it. 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.
Trees and roofs
Woodland on the doorstep: leaves, moss and falling limbs
Lover sits hard against Loosehanger Copse and Meadows, a Site of Special Scientific Interest on its south-east side. On a roof near that much woodland, a leak can come from leaves with no broken tile anywhere. Leaves and moss pack the valley, the back gutter behind the stack or the gutter at the eaves, the water backs up and runs under the tile laps. So the first repair is to clear and check that valley or gutter before a single tile is priced. We also look at how the valley is built: an open lead or GRP valley sheds leaves, while a narrow trough valley silts up and wants clearing again each autumn.
Moss comes off by hand, with a scraper. A pressure washer forces water up the laps and strips the face off old clay tile. After a gale, look under any overhanging limb for a cracked tile or a broken ridge, and have the limb cut back by a tree surgeon before we replace anything, or the new tile breaks in the next storm. If you have seen bats using the roof or the eaves, tell us before any tile is lifted, because bats and their roosts are protected by law.
Who you are dealing with
A local firm you can check
We cover Lover, Redlynch, Woodfalls and the rest of the SP5 lanes in Redlynch parish from our base at 80a Wolverton Road in Boscombe, 18.1 miles away, with the National Park Authority for planning and Wiltshire Council for building control. 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.
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Questions
Questions about roof repairs in Lover
How much will a roof repair at Lover cost?
We do not publish figures, because the price is set by the job in front of us. Access, matching the tile or slate, how much lead is involved and what the battens look like once a few tiles are lifted all move it. How we price a job goes through each line of the written quote.
Why price a repair by the job and not by the day?
A day rate tells you nothing about the finished result. A fixed, itemised price for the named repair does, and you can hold it against another quote line by line. If more turns up once the roof is open, you get a photograph and a separate price before that part goes ahead.
What should I check before letting a roofer start work?
Look the firm up: ours is company number 15471719 at Companies House. Get the price in writing, itemised, before work starts, and ask for photographs of the fault. Walk away from anyone who pushes for cash or a large deposit on the doorstep, as Citizens Advice warns.
Who is responsible if a roofer falls off my house?
On work at your own home, a domestic client's CDM duties pass to the contractor, so planning safe access is down to the roofer. The HSE guidance on work at height explains the platforms, ladders and edge protection that go with it.
Will a repair hold on a roof that sits under trees?
Yes, if the cause goes as well. Clear the valleys and gutters, cut back limbs that touch or overhang the roof, and keep moss off by hand. A new tile under a branch that still rubs it is money wasted.
Free quote
Spotted a fault on your roof at Lover?
Send the postcode and what you have seen: a tile on the lawn, a stain under a valley, a branch on the ridge. We come out, find the cause and write down the repair and its price.