Roofing in Canford Cliffs

Repairs. Slipped, cracked and missing tiles, storm damage after a wind straight off the sea, and leaks traced back to where the water really gets in, which is rarely directly above the stain. The detached houses in Canford Cliffs are big and many are hipped, with several slopes, valleys and more than one chimney, so a leak has more places to start. A straightforward repair is a morning or a day.

Pines and what they leave behind. Canford Cliffs is heavily wooded, and pine needles are finer than leaves. They mat in valleys and gutters, hold water against the lead and the tile edge, and in a downpour the valley overflows sideways under the tiles. Shaded north slopes also carry moss and algae that lift the tails of the tiles. Clearing the debris and freeing the valley often cures a leak on its own, and when that is all it needs, that is all we quote.

Ridge, hip and verge. Mortar bedding cracks, frost opens it, and the next gale lifts the tile. We rebed where the roof suits it or convert to a dry fix system, with a dry ridge screwed to a ventilated roll and a dry verge on the gables, which takes the mortar out of the equation.

Re-covering. When the nails, battens and underlay have all failed together, patching stops making sense. The covering is stripped, soft timber and rafter ends replaced, and it goes back on breathable membrane and treated battens. Most of the housing in Canford Cliffs went up after the war, so expect concrete interlocking tile on a lot of it, with clay plain tile and natural slate on the older villas. This close to the cliff we fix every tile to the exposure BS 5534 sets out, with clips and stainless nails. A detached re-roof takes a couple of weeks, weather allowing. If your tiles are sound and only the ridge or a valley has failed, we will tell you a new roof is money you do not need to spend. For a single slipped tile, a lifted flashing or a leak you want traced, see our page on roof repairs in Canford Cliffs.

Leadwork and the blocks. Chimney flashings, soakers, valleys and abutments in code rated lead. Many of the post-war blocks of flats here have a flat roof behind a parapet, and the pitched ones have long runs of abutment where a tired flashing can feed water into a top flat for months before anyone notices. The bungalows at Imbrecourt, off Canford Cliffs Road, are a far simpler roof to get onto.

The loft while the roof is open. Insulation, eaves ventilation and condensation are cheapest to sort with the covering off, and Approved Document L sets what a renovated roof should reach. Fascias, soffits and gutters can be done off the same scaffold.

No rate per square metre, because the square metres are the easiest thing to measure and the least useful thing to know.

Getting to it. A detached house behind a gravel drive and a stand of pines, a bungalow at Imbrecourt and a tall block of flats on Canford Cliffs Road are three very different scaffolds, and the trees often decide where the tubes can stand. Some roofs come off a tower, most want a scaffold, and how long it stands matters as much as its size. This is work at height and the work at height rules are why the platform is a priced line rather than an optional extra.

Junctions and substrate. Chimneys, valleys and abutments are priced one at a time, because that is where the leadwork hours go. Battens, membrane and fixings are the part nobody sees and the part that decides what a re-cover costs.

Comparing quotes? Ask whether the scaffold is in the price, whether battens and membrane are renewed or covered over, what grade of lead is going on the chimney, and who pays for the skip.

We cover Canford Cliffs from the village on Haven Road down to Cliff Drive, Flaghead Chine and Canford Cliffs Chine, and across BH13 into Branksome Park, a little over four miles west of our base in Boscombe. BCP Council handles both planning and building control here.

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. Before you book a visit in Canford Cliffs, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.

Most repairs in Canford Cliffs 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.