Roofers and builders in Boscombe
Roofing and flat roofs, fascias and gutters, brickwork and repointing, render and plastering, insulation, driveways and patios, and exterior cleaning across Boscombe and Pokesdown. Our own streets, BH5, BH7 and the Boscombe end of BH1. Free quotes, priced in writing.
The site visit is free and so is the written itemised quote. Thomas Hannen prices every job himself.
Last updated
Our home patch
Our base is on Wolverton Road, so this is the shortest trip we make
Boscombe and Pokesdown are where we are based, not somewhere we drive out to. Our base is at 80a Wolverton Road, Boscombe, BH7 6HX, a few minutes from any street in BH5 or BH7. Getting a ladder up to find out what is wrong is a short trip, and a small job never carries a long drive.
If water is coming in right now anywhere in Boscombe or Pokesdown, ring 07435 839745 rather than using the form, and tell us whether you are in a house or a flat.
Big Victorian and Edwardian villas around Boscombe Chine and the cliff top, many split into flats. Tighter Edwardian streets either side of Christchurch Road through Pokesdown. And a good number of newer blocks of flats built since 2000.
The problems here are predictable: a slipped tile after a south-westerly blow, a felt extension roof holding water, a gutter overflowing down render, mortar you can scrape out with a key.
One visit and one quote cover all of it.
Converted flats and blocks
In a converted villa, the roof usually belongs to the freeholder
About four in five homes in Boscombe are flats. Many are in large Victorian and Edwardian houses divided into flats, bedsits and houses in multiple occupation decades ago. So the first thing we ask is who owns the outside.
On most leases the roof, the main walls, the render, the gutters and the shared paths stay with the freeholder, repaired under the lease and paid for through the service charge. The leaseholder with the ceiling stain usually needs the freeholder or managing agent to instruct the work.
Bigger jobs then need a formal consultation. Where a leaseholder's share of the cost passes a threshold set in regulations, the landlord has to consult every leaseholder before the work goes ahead, under section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. A re-roof on a converted Boscombe villa nearly always triggers it, so allow time for the notices.
None of that should stop you ringing. We will look for free and address an itemised quote to whoever is paying.
What we do here
The jobs this housing actually needs
Every trade below is one we offer, with the work this housing tends to need. Each link goes to the page for that trade in Boscombe.
Roofing
Slipped tiles, cracked mortar ridges, worn lead at chimneys and valleys, and full re-roofs. The big villas carry large roofs and several chimney stacks, where the flashings matter as much as the slate or tile.
RoofingFlat roofs on extensions and dormers
Rear extensions, dormers and garages here are mostly flat-roofed, and plenty are still on felt that has blistered or started to pond. GRP fibreglass, EPDM rubber or torch-on felt all last if the falls and edges are right.
Flat roofingFascias, soffits and gutters
Timber fascias go soft behind a gutter nobody has cleared, and the tree-lined roads around Beechwood Avenue drop a lot of leaves. We replace rotten boards, rehang sagging runs and clear gutters that overflow down the wall.
Fascias and guttering Gutter cleaningRepointing and brickwork
Front walls, piers, chimney stacks and repointing. Older villas and terraces were usually built with lime mortar, so we repoint in lime rather than hard cement, which traps damp and blows the brick face in a frost.
Bricklaying RepointingRender and plastering
Hollow, cracked sand and cement render on the seaward walls, re-rendering in silicone or K Render, and inside, skimming and re-plastering once a leak has been stopped.
Rendering PlasteringInsulation
Loft insulation, boards in dormers and loft rooms, and wall insulation. The cheapest moment to top up a loft is while the roof is already open.
Insulation Loft insulation Wall insulationDriveways and patios
Block paving, resin-bound and tarmac drives and porcelain patios. The drainage, the sub-base and the edge restraint decide whether a drive stays flat far more than the surface you choose.
Driveways and patios PatiosExterior cleaning
Roof, wall and drive cleaning with a biocide treatment afterwards. Sea air keeps shaded slopes damp, so moss returns quickly. We soft wash, because a pressure lance forces water under the tile laps.
Exterior cleaningConservation areas
Five conservation areas, and what they change on a repair
BCP Council keeps the list of conservation areas across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, and five of them lie within Boscombe itself:
- Boscombe Spa, taking in St John's Church, the Burlington and the villas towards Boscombe Chine
- Undercliff Road, the historic terrace by Boscombe Pier
- Boscombe Manor, around Shelley Manor, Beechwood Avenue and St Andrew's Church
- Churchill Gardens, the Victorian square around Borthwick Road, which is on Historic England's Heritage at Risk register
- Knole Road, a small historic area of Boscombe around Knole Road
The Boscombe boundaries follow particular streets, not whole districts, so check the council map for your road. The edge of the East Cliff conservation area also comes close on the town centre side. Southbourne has its own, and our Southbourne page covers them.
Inside one, like-for-like repairs are normally fine, because work that does not materially change how the house looks generally needs no application. Cladding a house in render, stone, timber or tiles needs planning permission in a conservation area, as the Planning Portal guidance on external walls sets out, and a dormer or other roof enlargement loses its permitted development route under Class B of the householder rules.
Converted flats sit outside those householder rights altogether, because the Order defines a dwellinghouse to exclude a building containing flats. We price the like-for-like option either way and tell you where the line is before you commit.
The coast
Salt and south-westerlies on the cliff-top roads
The roads nearest the edge, along Boscombe Overcliff and above Boscombe Chine and the pier, take the weather straight off the bay. Salt corrodes nails, clips and steel fixings long before the tiles fail, and south-westerly gales work at the ridge and verges.
Within reach of the sea in Boscombe we specify stainless or non-ferrous fixings, clip the tiles on the exposed slope, and dry-fix the ridge rather than trusting a mortar bed. BS 5534 sets out how exposure changes the fixing specification for a pitched roof, and a cliff-top site is exactly where it bites.
Render on the seaward face suffers too. Hairline cracks let driven rain behind sand and cement render until it sounds hollow and comes away. Silicone render sheds water better, so we suggest it on exposed walls.
Inland, through Pokesdown, the work is driven by age instead: Edwardian terraces needing repointing, and 1930s roofs reaching the end of their working life.
How a job runs
From your call to the site being swept
You ring or send the form. Thomas Hannen, who owns the firm, comes out, looks at the problem properly and prices it himself. You get a written, itemised quote, so you can compare it line by line with anyone else's.
You deal with one company from the quote to the finish. The site is swept each day and the waste leaves with us.
If we open something up and find more than the quote allowed for, we stop, photograph it, show you and price it before doing any extra. Nothing goes on the bill that you have not agreed first.
Scheduled work runs Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm. If something is urgent, water coming through a ceiling, ring rather than use the form. If we miss the call we ring you back.
Next door
Not quite in Boscombe?
If you are just outside Boscombe, Southbourne lies further east along the coast, the rest of Bournemouth is to the west, and Christchurch is over the river at Tuckton Bridge. Each has its own page.
- Roofers and builders in Southbourne: the cliff top, the Grove and Tuckton, further east along the coast.
- Roofers and builders in Bournemouth: the rest of the town, west of Boscombe.
- Roofers in Christchurch: over the river at Tuckton Bridge.
Reviews
What customers said
A new roof and a patio, both written by the customer after the job. The roofing review talks about good communication through the week, and the patio review names Tom and Lloyd and the updates they gave.
I am really pleased with our new roof. The team were friendly and professional and kept up good communication with us through the week. We had no issues and I'd definitely recommend to anyone. Thank you!
Really happy with our new patio from Bournemouth Roofing & Building. It looks beautiful and we couldn't be more pleased with how it's turned out. Tom and Lloyd were both lovely, really knowledgeable and kept us updated throughout, which was reassuring…
Free quote
How do you get a free quote in Boscombe?
Send the form or ring 07435 839745. Thomas Hannen comes out to Boscombe, looks at the job and puts an itemised price in writing, and neither the visit nor the written quote costs anything.
Our base is at 80a Wolverton Road, Boscombe, Bournemouth BH7 6HX. Scheduled work runs Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.
Planning at a glance
Do you need planning permission in Boscombe?
Most repairs in Boscombe need no application at all. What decides whether a change to the outside of your house does is who the council is, whether a conservation area or a listing applies, and whether the place sits in a protected landscape.
| Question | In Boscombe |
|---|---|
| Who decides | BCP Council is the planning authority for Boscombe. BCP Council's heritage pages set out what it controls. |
| Conservation area | Yes: Boscombe Manor Conservation Area, Boscombe Spa Conservation Area and Churchill Gardens Conservation Area, among others. They cover parts of Boscombe, so check whether your street is inside one. |
| Listed buildings | Yes, there are listed buildings in and around Boscombe. If yours is one, work can need listed building consent. |
| Protected landscape | No National Park or National Landscape covers Boscombe. |
Questions
Boscombe questions
How quickly can you get to a property in Boscombe or Pokesdown?
Our base is at 80a Wolverton Road, Boscombe, BH7 6HX, so every street in BH5 and BH7 is a few minutes away. Scheduled work runs Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm. If something is urgent, ring rather than use the form, and if we miss the call we ring you back.
I own a flat in a converted house. Can I get the roof fixed myself?
Usually not on your own: the roof, main walls and gutters of a converted villa normally belong to the freeholder, so the freeholder or managing agent instructs the work. Ring us anyway. We will look for free and address an itemised quote to whoever is paying.
Is my house in a conservation area?
It may be. Five conservation areas lie within Boscombe, but each covers particular streets, so check the BCP Council map for your road. Like-for-like repairs are normally fine inside one. New render cladding or a dormer needs planning permission.
Do I really need stainless fixings on a cliff-top roof?
Near the sea, yes. Salt corrodes ordinary nails, clips and steel fixings long before the tiles fail. Further inland, through Pokesdown, the standard specification is usually enough and we will say so.
What happens if you find more work once the job has started?
We stop and show you: if opening up turns up something the quote did not allow for, such as a failed deck under a flat roof, we photograph it and price it in writing. Nothing extra is done until you have agreed it.
Who you are dealing with
A local firm you can check
We cover Boscombe and Pokesdown, from the Overcliff and the pier up to Christchurch Road and the railway, broadly BH5 and BH7 plus the Boscombe end of BH1, all under BCP Council.
You are dealing with Bournemouth Roofing & Building, the trading name of Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 15471719. That takes a minute to check. Thomas Hannen owns the firm and he prices every Boscombe job himself, so the person who quotes it is the person answerable for it.
There is a verified customer's 10 out of 10 on our Checkatrade profile. The site visit is free and so is the written itemised quote.
Free quote
Get a price for your Boscombe property
Send a couple of photos or book a visit, and we will put a clear written quote in front of you.