Roofers and builders in Poole
Roofing, plastering and rendering, brickwork and repointing, insulation, driveways and patios, and exterior cleaning across Poole, from the Old Town and the quay out through Parkstone and Branksome to Canford Cliffs and Sandbanks. Free quotes, priced in writing.
The site visit is free and so is the written itemised quote. Thomas Hannen prices every job himself.
Poole
Sea air gets into the fixings long before it gets into the tiles
On a Poole roof the fixings usually fail before the tiles do. Salt carried off the harbour and the open bay corrodes nail heads, tile clips and steel flashings from the edge inwards, so a covering can look perfectly sound from the pavement while the things holding it down have quietly given up. Anywhere within reach of the water we specify stainless or non-ferrous fixings rather than the cheaper galvanised option.
Poole covers a lot of very different housing. Georgian and Victorian property in the Old Town, Edwardian and inter-war villas through Parkstone and Branksome, and modern, high-value houses out at Canford Cliffs and Sandbanks.
What links them is the air. Anywhere within reach of the harbour or the open bay the wind carries salt, and salt is hard on metal. Nail heads corrode, tile clips give up, and steel fixings and flashings rust from the edge inwards. A covering can still look perfectly sound from the pavement while the things holding it down have quietly failed, which is why a tile slipping on a Lilliput or Hamworthy roof is often not the tile's fault at all.
On a re-roof anywhere near the water we specify stainless or non-ferrous nails and clips rather than the cheaper galvanised option, and we look hard at existing lead, zinc and steelwork before agreeing that any of it goes back on. It puts a small amount on the quote and a lot on how long the roof lasts.
Fixing specification is not a matter of opinion here. The British Standard code of practice for slating and tiling, BS 5534:2014+A2:2018, sets out how a roof covering should be mechanically fixed and how exposure is taken into account, and Poole is about as exposed as this coast gets. It is also why we dry-fix ridges and verges near the water rather than trusting mortar alone.
Exposure
Gales off Poole Bay find the ridge first
The exposed elevations here look south-west, straight into the weather coming up the bay. Wind rarely takes a whole roof. It works at the weak points instead: the ridge, the hips, the verges and the last course of tiles at the edge.
Mortar-bedded ridge and hip tiles are the usual casualty. Once a bed cracks, water gets in behind it, frost opens the crack wider, and the next proper gale lifts the tile. We see the same sequence on exposed roofs all along the harbour side and out towards the peninsula.
The durable answer is a dry-fix ridge and hip system. The tiles are mechanically screwed down onto a ventilated roll instead of being bedded in sand and cement, so there is no mortar to crack and nothing to wash out, and the ridge line ventilates the roof space at the same time. On an exposed slope we would also expect clipped tiles rather than nailed-only, and verges either dry-fixed or re-bedded properly.
What we do in Poole
Every trade, one company
The same trades we offer everywhere, specified for what the harbour and the bay actually do to a building.
Roofing
Repairs, full re-roofs, flat roofing and leadwork. Close to the water the specification matters more than the tile you pick: stainless fixings, clipped tiles on the seaward slopes, and a dry-fix ridge instead of mortar the wind will eventually find.
Roofing servicesPlastering & Rendering
Skimming and dry lining inside, render and silicone K Render outside. A south-west elevation here takes driven rain off the bay, so a render that sheds water and resists algae is doing real work rather than just changing the colour of the house.
Plastering & renderingBricklaying & Repointing
Old Town and older Parkstone property is solid-wall, built of soft brick and pointed in lime. Repointing that in modern cement traps moisture in the wall and blows the face off the brick, so we point it in a lime mix that lets the wall dry out through the joints.
Brickwork & repointingInsulation
Loft rolls, Celotex boards and TLX multi-foil for lofts and loft conversions. The best moment to insulate a Parkstone or Branksome villa 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. Around the Old Town, the Quay, Baiter and Hamworthy the ground is typically sand over clay rather than sand all the way down, so water drains through the top and then sits on the clay beneath it. That makes the sub-base depth, the drainage and the edge restraint the things that decide whether a drive stays flat, not the surface you can see.
Driveways & patiosExterior Cleaning
Roof, wall and driveway cleaning with a biocide treatment afterwards. Salt-damp render and shaded north slopes green up quickly here, and soft washing lifts the growth without forcing water up under the tile laps the way a pressure lance can.
Exterior cleaningOlder stock
Old Town brick, and the inter-war flat roof
The oldest streets in Poole are solid-wall construction. No cavity, no membrane, and a brick that was made to breathe. Those walls handle damp by letting it evaporate out through the mortar joints, which only works if the mortar is softer and more permeable than the brick. Point one of them in cement and the moisture starts leaving through the brick face instead, taking the face with it every time it freezes.
Some of those streets are also within a conservation area, which changes what a repair is allowed to look like. BCP Council lists every conservation area in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (there are 48 of them across the three towns), so it is worth checking your street before you commit to a material. We will quote the like-for-like option either way.
Move out into the inter-war suburbs and the recurring job changes completely. Rear extensions, garages, porches and dormers from that period are mostly flat-roofed, and a lot of them are still on felt that has done its time. Blisters, splits at the upstands and standing water in the middle are all signs the covering has stopped working. Felt, GRP fibreglass or EPDM rubber will all last if the falls and the edge details are right, and we will tell you which one suits the deck you have got.
Worth a look
What keeps coming back on Poole roofs
None of these mean you need a new roof. They are the faults that turn up again and again on exposed, salt-washed elevations, and they are all cheaper to catch early.
- Ridge or hip mortar cracked and washing out after a wet, windy spell
- Rust staining running down the tiles from corroded nails, clips or fixings
- Tiles slipping on the south-west slope while the sheltered side is untouched
- Lead flashing at a chimney or abutment lifted, split or thin on the seaward face
- Blistered or split felt on an inter-war extension, garage or porch roof
- Soft, hollow or crumbling mortar joints on solid-wall Old Town brickwork
Questions
Poole roofing questions
Does being close to the harbour really shorten the life of a roof?
It shortens the life of the metal in the roof, which comes to the same thing. Salt carried in on the wind attacks nails, tile clips, steel fixings and the softer edges of lead and zinc. The covering can look fine from the ground while the fixings holding it down have corroded to the point where a strong gust is enough to move a tile. When we inspect a roof on the harbour side or out towards the bay, the fixings and the flashings get looked at as carefully as the tiles do.
What is a dry-fix ridge, and do I need one in Poole?
A dry-fix system screws the ridge and hip tiles down onto a ventilated roll instead of bedding them in sand and cement mortar. There is no mortar bed to crack, wash out or drop, and the ridge line gets ventilation into the roof space at the same time. On an exposed elevation facing the bay it is the more durable choice by a long way, because mortar bedding is the detail the wind and the rain break down first. On a sheltered roof, or on a period property where the appearance of a mortar bed matters, bedding done properly is still a reasonable option and we will say so.
Can you repoint an Old Town wall without damaging the brick?
Yes, and the way to do it is to point in lime rather than cement. Older Poole property is solid-wall, built of soft handmade brick and originally pointed in a lime mortar that let the wall dry out through the joints. Cement is harder and less permeable than the brick around it, so moisture leaves through the brick face instead, and the face spalls off in frost. We rake out the old joints by hand where the mortar is soft enough to allow it, and repoint in a lime mix matched to the wall.
Which parts of Poole do you cover?
All of it. We are based in Bournemouth and travel, so the Old Town and the quay, Hamworthy, Oakdale, Creekmoor, Parkstone, Branksome, Lilliput, Canford Cliffs, Sandbanks and Broadstone are all comfortably inside our working area, which is broadly the BH12 to BH18 postcodes. Poole comes 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 Poole
The same local evidence, read through each trade in turn. Ground conditions decide a driveway, exposure decides a roof, and the age of the housing decides insulation.
- Roofing in Poole
- Flat roofing in Poole
- Bricklaying and repointing in Poole
- Repointing in Poole
- Driveways and patios in Poole
- Patios in Poole
- Plastering and rendering in Poole
- Rendering in Poole
- Insulation in Poole
- Loft insulation in Poole
- Wall insulation in Poole
- Exterior cleaning in Poole
- Gutter cleaning in Poole
- Fascias, soffits and guttering in Poole
Who you are dealing with
A local firm you can check
We are in Poole most weeks, across the Old Town and the quay, Hamworthy, Oakdale, Creekmoor, Parkstone, Branksome, Lilliput, Canford Cliffs, Sandbanks and Broadstone, broadly the BH12 to BH18 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 Poole property
Send a couple of photos or book a visit. We will look at the roof, the fixings and the flashings properly, then put a clear written quote in front of you.