Roofing and Building in Christchurch
We build extensions, repair and rebuild brickwork, plaster, render and re-roof houses across Christchurch, from the Priory streets and Purewell to Mudeford, Stanpit, Burton and Highcliffe. Every job is priced in writing after a free visit.
The site visit is free and so is the written itemised quote. Thomas Hannen prices every job himself.
Last updated
Building work in Christchurch
Extensions, walls and roofs, from one written quote
If you need a builder in Christchurch, ring 07435 839745 or use the form. We build rear and side extensions, rebuild and repair brickwork, plaster, render, fit kitchens and re-roof houses from the Priory streets out to Mudeford and Highcliffe. Thomas Hannen visits, prices the job and puts it in writing, free.
Looking for a builder for the whole job? Builders in Christchurch sets out every trade we take on in Christchurch, how to choose a builder and how pricing works.
Perhaps the kitchen is too small and there is room at the back for more. Perhaps a boundary wall has cracked along an old line, or the render on the front has blown and let the wet in. Or the flat roof on the back addition has given up, and you are wondering whether to fix it or build something better in its place.
We are a building and roofing company based in Boscombe, a short run from Christchurch along the A35. On a building job that means the walls, the roof over them and the plaster inside sit on one quote, priced by one person, with the stages in the order they will happen.
What we build
The jobs we price in Christchurch
Christchurch is two kinds of house for a builder. Around the Priory and the old town, about a fifth of homes were built before 1919, in soft brick with lime mortar. Further from the centre the houses are generally later semis, detached houses and bungalows, with more garden to build into.
Rear extensions
A single-storey room on the back, usually a bigger kitchen or a garden room with doors onto the lawn. Footings dug and signed off by building control, floor laid, cavity walls built, a steel beam where the old back wall comes out, then the roof, the plaster and the floor finish. Allow several weeks on site for a simple one. On a bungalow the same job often works better as a wider, shallower room that keeps the light in the rooms behind it, and we will talk that through with you on the visit.
Side and two-storey extensions
Building over a garage, or out into the side passage. The work takes longer, the scaffold stays up longer, and the new roof has to meet the old one cleanly. On a narrow plot near a neighbour, check the planning limits and the Party Wall Act before paying for drawings (both are explained below). If the extension would only work by taking the neighbour's light, we will say so plainly.
Brickwork, boundary walls and repairs
New garden walls, piers and retaining walls, rebuilds of walls that have leaned or cracked, and repairs where a lintel has sagged or a corner has moved. On the older houses near the Priory we match the brick and point in lime, because cement on soft brick drives the wet out through the face and the face comes off in frost. If a wall only needs its joints doing, see brickwork and repointing in Christchurch.
Plaster, render and kitchens
Plastering new rooms and old ones, rendering an extension to match the house, and replacing render that has cracked and trapped water. See plastering in Christchurch and rendering in Christchurch. We also fit kitchens: strip out, walls and floor put right, then units, worktops and appliances fitted and plumbed. Our kitchen fitting page covers how that runs.
Drives, drainage and soakaways
Driveways, patios, channel drains and soakaways. Much of Christchurch sits on low ground between the Avon and the Stour, and a soakaway needs ground that drains, so it is tested before it is relied on. Where it fails, the water from an extension roof needs another route. More on driveways in Christchurch.
Roofing, and roofers in Christchurch
Repairs and re-roofs in clay and concrete tile and natural slate, flat roofs in EPDM, GRP and felt, leadwork and dry-fix ridges. Period roofs near the Priory need tile or slate matched to what is there. The low-pitched bungalow roofs inland need a tile rated for the pitch, fixed to BS 5534. When the roof is the whole job, our page for roofers in Christchurch goes into it properly.
Rain coming in now? Ring 07435 839745. Scheduled work Mon to Fri, 8am to 6pm. Something urgent? Ring, and if we miss you we call back.
Where the two jobs meet
Choosing the roof for your extension
The roof is the last big decision on an extension, and it is the part that will leak if it is done badly. A flat roof in EPDM rubber or GRP fibreglass, with a real fall and properly dressed upstands, keeps a single-storey extension low enough to sit under the first-floor windows and takes roof lights well. A pitched roof in tile or slate costs more in timber and height, but in a conservation area, or on a street of period houses, it is the one that looks right.
Either way, ask how the new roof meets the old wall. That junction needs a lead flashing or a cavity tray, dressed in properly. On a Christchurch extension, that junction goes on the same written itemised quote as the wall and the roof. See flat roofing in Christchurch, or our comparison of GRP, EPDM and felt.
Permission
Do you need planning for building work in Christchurch?
Three questions, answered separately. BCP Council is the council for all three.
Planning permission. On a house, a single-storey rear extension can often be built without an application if it stays within the permitted development limits: 3 metres past the original rear wall for a semi or terrace, 4 metres for a detached house, and 4 metres high at most. Christchurch Central, Stanpit and Fisherman's Bank, Mudeford Quay and Burton are among the town's conservation areas, and inside them a side extension, a two-storey rear extension or new cladding always needs an application. Flats have no permitted development rights for extensions at all.
Building Regulations. Needed whether or not planning is. Building control inspects the foundations, the structure, drainage and insulation at set stages. Regulation 12 covers giving notice, and Approved Document A sets the structural rules, including any steel beam.
Party wall. Building on the boundary, or digging foundations within 3 metres of a neighbour's building and deeper than its own, needs a notice to the neighbour at least a month ahead under the Party Wall Act.
How we work
What working with us looks like
- A free site visit. Thomas Hannen looks at the job himself and he is the person you ring throughout.
- A free written itemised quote, with each stage on its own line, and anything provisional marked as provisional.
- Scaffold when the job needs it, priced as its own line.
- Nothing left open overnight: an opened roof or knocked-through wall is sheeted and weathered at the end of the day.
- Site swept every day. Waste leaves with us.
- Anything we find that the visit could not show is photographed and priced in writing before the work is done.
Scheduled work Mon to Fri, 8am to 6pm. How we price a job shows what the quote looks like.
Price
What moves the price of an extension or a wall
- What is under the ground. Wet or soft ground, roots and old drains all change the foundation, and building control makes that call with the trench open.
- Getting materials in. A drive a skip and a small digger can use, or a terrace where everything goes through the house by barrow.
- Flood detailing. Where the flood map says so, raised floors, resilient materials and threshold details add cost (see below).
- Matching. Reclaimed brick for an older house, lime mortar, or render and roof tiles that have to meet the existing ones.
- Roof type. Flat against pitched, and tile or slate against a membrane.
- Steel and openings. How wide the new opening is and what the engineer's calculation asks for.
- Finish. Whether our quote ends at a plastered shell or a finished room with a kitchen in it.
With any quote, ours included, check three things: that it is itemised by stage, that it says who will be on site, and that it explains how extras are agreed before they are done. Citizens Advice sets out what to check before you hire a builder.
Christchurch
Near the harbour or the rivers, check the flood map before the drawings
Parts of Christchurch sit in flood zones 2 and 3, from the harbour and from the Avon and the Stour. The Environment Agency runs flood warning areas for the harbour side, naming Mudeford, Stanpit, the Quomps and Wick, and for Bridge Street, Stoney Lane and Monkswell Gardens in Purewell on the Avon. The zone is set per address, so check your own postcode on the government flood map before anything is drawn.
If the house is in zone 2 or 3 and the extension needs a planning application, that application needs a flood risk assessment. The Environment Agency's standing advice for minor extensions recommends floor levels at least 600 mm above the estimated flood level, with flood resistant materials to the same height, or extra resistance and resilience measures if the floor cannot go that high. That changes the floor level, the step at the doors, and what goes into the bottom of the walls, so it has to be settled before the drawings and before we price. If you know your zone when you ring, tell us, and we will build it into the quote from the start.
Our work
Photographs from our jobs
Real jobs from our gallery, captioned for what they show. We have not labelled any of them as a Christchurch address.
Reviews
What customers said
A roofing job and a patio, in the customers' own words. The roofing customer was kept informed and left with a clean site, and the patio customer names Tom and Lloyd and the finished result.
…The team were professional, friendly and kept me informed throughout the whole job. The workmanship was excellent, everything was completed to a high standard, and they left the site clean and tidy afterwards…
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 Christchurch?
Send the form or ring 07435 839745. Thomas Hannen comes out to Christchurch, 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 Christchurch?
Most repairs in Christchurch 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 Christchurch |
|---|---|
| Who decides | BCP Council is the planning authority for Christchurch. BCP Council's heritage pages set out what it controls. |
| Conservation area | Yes: Christchurch Central Conservation Area, Purewell Conservation Area and Avon Buildings Conservation Area, among others. They cover parts of Christchurch, so check whether your street is inside one. |
| Listed buildings | Yes, there are listed buildings in and around Christchurch. If yours is one, work can need listed building consent. |
| Protected landscape | No National Park or National Landscape covers Christchurch. |
Questions
Questions about building work in Christchurch
How do I find a good builder in Christchurch?
Check the company on Companies House, and make sure the name on the quote matches it. Expect a visit before a price, and a written quote that is itemised, so you can see what each stage costs. Ask who will be on site. Be wary of anyone who wants a large cash payment up front or pushes you to sign on the day. Reviews you can trace to a real job are worth more than a star count. Our company number is 15471719.
What percentage do builders charge on top of materials?
There is no standard figure, and a percentage on top is only one way to price. It means the final bill moves with every material and every change, which makes it hard to compare. We price each stage in writing after the visit, show anything uncertain as a provisional sum, and photograph and price any extra before it is done, so you can see where the money goes.
Do I need an architect before I contact a builder?
Not to get a builder out. We can look at the house, talk through what you want and tell you what the job will need drawn: plans for building control, and for planning if it applies. If you already have drawings, we price from them. Getting a builder's view before paying for full drawings can save you drawing something that the ground, the drains or the neighbours make hard to build.
Can you match the brick on an older house near the Priory?
Usually, yes. We match by size, colour, texture and bond, and on older brick, reclaimed stock is usually the closest match. Samples go up against the wall before anything is ordered. The mortar matters as much as the brick: soft period brick wants a lime mortar. If the house is in the Christchurch Central conservation area or listed, a close match is expected.
Can we live at home while an extension is built?
In most cases, yes. The house stays closed off while the extension goes up outside. The disruptive stage is when the old back wall is opened into the new room, which brings noise and dust indoors, and a kitchen extension means some time without a kitchen. The quote shows those stages so you can plan round them.
Do you cover Mudeford and Highcliffe as well as the town centre?
Yes. The Priory and the Quay, Purewell, Somerford, Burton, Jumpers, Mudeford, Friars Cliff and Highcliffe are all inside our normal working area, broadly the BH23 postcodes under BCP Council. If you are near the harbour, mention it when you ring, because salt air changes the fixings on a roof and the flood map may change an extension.
Trade by trade
Each trade on its own page for Christchurch
Each page below covers one trade in Christchurch: the work itself, what decides the price, and the local rules that change it.
- Extensions and all our building services
- Bricklaying and repointing in Christchurch
- Plastering in Christchurch
- Rendering in Christchurch
- Kitchen fitting
- Driveways and patios in Christchurch
- Roofers in Christchurch
- Flat roofing in Christchurch
- Repointing in Christchurch
- Patios in Christchurch
- Insulation in Christchurch
- Loft insulation in Christchurch
- Wall insulation in Christchurch
- Fascias, soffits and guttering in Christchurch
- Exterior cleaning in Christchurch
- Roof cleaning in Christchurch
- Gutter cleaning in Christchurch
Who you are dealing with
A local firm you can check
Christchurch sits inside our normal working area, from the Priory and the quay out through Purewell, Somerford, Burton, Jumpers and Mudeford, broadly the BH23 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 Christchurch job himself, so the person who quotes it is the person answerable for it. Whatever trades the job involves, they sit on one written itemised quote.
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. Scheduled work runs Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm. For anything urgent in Christchurch, ring rather than use the form, and if we cannot pick up we ring you back as soon as we can.
Free quote
Get a written price for building work in Christchurch
Tell us what you want built or repaired, and whether the house is period, in a conservation area or near the harbour. We will price it on site, in writing, free.