Roofers and builders in Bournemouth
Roofing, plastering and rendering, brickwork and repointing, insulation, driveways and patios, and exterior cleaning across Bournemouth, from Westbourne and the town centre out through Winton and Charminster to Boscombe, Southbourne and Kinson. Free quotes, priced in writing.
The site visit is free and so is the written itemised quote. Thomas Hannen prices every job himself.
Bournemouth
The yard is in Boscombe, so this is the short run
Bournemouth is not a town we drive out to. It is where we are based. The yard is on Wolverton Road in Boscombe, BH7 6HX, so getting a ladder on your roof to find out what is actually wrong takes a few minutes rather than a morning. The look costs you nothing, and so does the written itemised quote that follows it.
The other thing that is different here is the range. Every trade, one company, so the whole outside of a building is one firm's problem rather than four.
That sounds like a sales line until you have lived through the alternative. A roof comes off, the fascias underneath turn out to be soft, the render at the verge needs making good and the gutter has to be rehung to the new roofline. Split across three firms that is three quotes, three lots of scaffold and a fortnight of each one waiting on the last. We do the lot while the scaffold is already standing, and you get one price for it.
It works the same way on a smaller job. A patio that needs a bit of brickwork, a re-skim after a leak has been stopped, a drive laid at the same visit as the front wall gets repointed. One team, one person answerable for it.
If it is only the roof you are after, the detail lives on the roofing page for Bournemouth: what a repair involves, what decides the price of a re-roof, and what to do when water is coming in today. This page is for the jobs that need more than one trade.
Flats and maisonettes
Close to half of Bournemouth lives in a flat, and that decides who can order the work
Bournemouth carries a far higher share of flats and maisonettes than the towns around it. Whole streets of Victorian and Edwardian villas were converted, and the post-war blocks added more. It changes the first question we ask on the phone, which is not what is wrong but who owns the outside of the building.
On a flat, almost none of the outside is yours. The roof, the walls, the render, the gutters, the roofline and the communal drive normally belong to the freeholder and are repaired under the lease, with the cost coming back through the service charge. Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 sets out the repairing obligations that sit with the landlord on a lease of this kind. So the leaseholder who watched the ceiling stain spread is very often not the person who can instruct anybody to fix it.
There is a second step that catches people out. Where one leaseholder's share of the bill passes the consultation threshold, currently £250 in a year, the freeholder has to run a formal consultation before the work starts. Section 20 of the same Act is the rule, and the 2003 regulations set out the notices that go with it. A re-roof on a converted villa in Westbourne or a block in Boscombe clears that threshold easily.
None of that is a reason not to ring. We will come out for free, look at the fault properly, photograph it and put it in writing, and address the itemised quote to whoever is actually paying, in a form your managing agent can put in front of the other leaseholders. Plenty of our work in Bournemouth comes through agents and freeholders for exactly that reason.
What we do in Bournemouth
Every trade, one company
The same trades we offer everywhere, on our own doorstep, on houses and on the flats and blocks that make up so much of the town.
Roofing
Repairs, full re-roofs, flat roofing and leadwork. Three kilometres from the sea is close enough for salt to reach the fixings, so on a re-roof near the cliffs we specify stainless or non-ferrous nails and clips rather than the cheaper galvanised option.
Roofing in BournemouthPlastering & Rendering
Skimming and dry lining inside, render and silicone K Render outside. Newer stock here is dry lined on dabs rather than solid plastered, so a wall that sounds hollow when you knock it is usually built that way rather than broken.
Plastering & renderingBricklaying & Repointing
Garden walls, piers, chimney rebuilds and repointing. The Victorian and Edwardian villas near the centre are solid wall, built of soft brick and pointed in lime, and they want a lime mix back rather than a hard cement one that traps the damp inside.
Brickwork & repointingInsulation
Loft rolls, Celotex boards and TLX multi-foil for lofts and loft conversions. The moment to do it on an inter-war Winton or Moordown semi is while the roof is already open for a re-tile, because the access is there and you are not paying for it twice.
Insulation servicesDriveways & Patios
Block paving, resin-bound, tarmac and porcelain patios. Bournemouth sits on sand, which drains well and moves easily, so the sub-base depth and the edge restraint decide whether a drive stays flat far more than the surface you can see does.
Driveways & patiosExterior Cleaning
Roof, wall and driveway cleaning with a biocide treatment afterwards. Sea air keeps surfaces damp between showers and north-facing slopes never dry out properly, so growth comes back fast and the treatment matters more than the wash.
Exterior cleaningThe housing
Inter-war Winton, and the streets that went up all at once
Very little of Bournemouth predates 1919. Most of it went up between the wars and in the long post-war stretch after it, and a good slice again in the 1980s. That is why the jobs here arrive in waves. A roof covering has a working life, and a street that was built in one go reaches the end of it in one go too.
On the inter-war semis and bungalows through Winton, Moordown, Charminster and Ensbury Park the recurring faults are the same ones every time: mortar-bedded ridges that have cracked and started to wash out, clay plain tiles gone brittle at the nail hole, and timber fascias and soffits that have softened behind a gutter nobody has cleared in years.
The post-war and 1980s stock brings a different list. Concrete interlocking tiles that have gone porous and hold moss on the shaded slope, sarking felt that has perished at the eaves so the water runs behind the gutter instead of into it, and flat roofs over porches, garages and dormers still on their original felt.
Parts of the town are protected, too. There are conservation areas and listed buildings scattered through Bournemouth, and in both cases what a repair is allowed to look like changes. BCP Council publishes every conservation area across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and a guide to listed buildings, and both are worth a look before you settle on a material. We will quote the like-for-like option either way.
Worth a look
What keeps coming back on Bournemouth buildings
None of these mean you need a new roof. They are the faults we find again and again on this mix of housing, and every one of them is cheaper caught early.
- Ridge or hip mortar cracked and washing out after a wet, windy spell
- Concrete interlocking tiles gone porous and holding moss on the shaded slope
- Sarking felt perished at the eaves, so rainwater runs behind the gutter
- Fascias and soffits soft behind a gutter that has not been cleared in years
- Blistered or split felt on a porch, garage or dormer flat roof
- Sand and cement render cracked and hollow on a south-west elevation
Questions
Bournemouth questions
Half the homes in Bournemouth are flats. Can I order work on mine?
Usually not on your own, and that is not a brush-off. On a flat or a maisonette the roof, the outside walls, the render, the gutters and the communal drive are almost always the freeholder's responsibility, repaired under the lease and paid for out of the service charge. So the person who instructs the work is the freeholder or the managing agent, not the leaseholder who spotted the stain on the ceiling. Ring us anyway. We will come and look for free, put the fault in writing with photographs, and address the quote to whoever is actually paying so you have something to hand your agent.
You are based in Boscombe. Does that make any difference to me?
It makes the site visit easy. Our yard is on Wolverton Road in Boscombe, BH7 6HX, which is inside Bournemouth rather than an hour up the road, so getting a ladder on your roof to find out what is wrong is a short trip and it costs you nothing. It also means the same faces come back for the second stage of a job. The phone is answered 24 hours for emergencies, and scheduled work runs Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.
Do you really do all fourteen trades, or is some of it sub-contracted?
We do it ourselves. One multi-trade team covers roofing, plastering and rendering, brickwork and repointing, insulation, driveways and patios, and exterior cleaning, and none of it goes out to somebody you have never met. That matters most on the jobs that cross trades. A re-roof that needs new fascias, a render patch where the scaffold already is, and a gutter run rehung while the roofline is open all happen in one visit under one quote, instead of three firms taking turns and each blaming the last.
Which parts of Bournemouth do you cover?
All of it. Boscombe, Pokesdown, Springbourne and Southbourne on the east side, the town centre, Westbourne and Alum Chine to the west, and inland through Winton, Charminster, Moordown, Throop, Muscliff, Strouden Park, Littledown, Wallisdown, Talbot Village, Ensbury Park, Redhill, Kinson and Bear Cross. That is broadly the BH1 to BH11 postcodes, all under BCP Council. Tell us the postcode when you ring and we will confirm it straight away rather than leaving you guessing.
Trade by trade
Each trade, written for Bournemouth
The same local evidence, read through each trade in turn. Exposure decides a roof, sandy ground decides a driveway, and the age of the housing decides insulation.
- Roofing in Bournemouth
- Flat roofing in Bournemouth
- Bricklaying and repointing in Bournemouth
- Repointing in Bournemouth
- Driveways and patios in Bournemouth
- Patios in Bournemouth
- Plastering and rendering in Bournemouth
- Rendering in Bournemouth
- Insulation in Bournemouth
- Loft insulation in Bournemouth
- Wall insulation in Bournemouth
- Exterior cleaning in Bournemouth
- Gutter cleaning in Bournemouth
- Fascias, soffits and guttering in Bournemouth
Who you are dealing with
A local firm you can check
Bournemouth is home ground. We are on roofs and drives here most weeks, from Boscombe, Pokesdown and Southbourne across to the town centre, Westbourne and Alum Chine, and inland through Winton, Charminster, Moordown, Throop, Muscliff, Strouden Park, Littledown, Wallisdown, Talbot Village, Ensbury Park, Redhill, Kinson and Bear Cross, broadly the BH1 to BH11 postcodes 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 job himself, so the person who quotes it is the person answerable for it. One multi-trade team does the work, and none of it is sub-contracted out to somebody you have never met.
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. The phone is answered 24 hours for emergencies, and scheduled work runs Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.
Free quote
Get a price for your Bournemouth property
Send a couple of photos or book a visit. We will look at the whole outside of the building, tell you what needs doing now and what can wait, then put a clear written quote in front of you.