Roofing in Corfe Mullen

Ridge and verge are the weak point on roofs in Corfe Mullen. Mortar bedding from the 1960s and 1970s cracks, washes out and lets wind under the edge of the covering. We replace it with a mechanically fixed system screwed onto a ventilated roll, which is what BS 5534 expects and vents the roof space along the ridge.

Nearly two thirds of the housing here went up between 1945 and 1982, with a third of the whole village in the 1970s and early 1980s alone, so those edges are reaching the same age at the same time. A third of the homes are bungalows, which means a lot of metres of edge for the size of house.

Repairs run to slipped, cracked and missing tiles, rocking hip and ridge tiles, storm damage, and leaks traced back to where the water genuinely enters. Most of the housing carries concrete interlocking tile. In the old village there is plain clay tile and natural slate, plus the odd cob and thatch property we will point you elsewhere for. Sarking felt of this generation sags and tears where it laps into the gutter, which is the one place it must be sound, and that is the usual cause of a wet fascia. Underneath sit the battens and rafter feet, checked from inside before we recommend anything.

When nails, battens and membrane have gone together, the covering comes off, soft timber is replaced, and it goes back on breathable membrane and treated battens with a matched tile. We will tell you plainly when a covering has years left, which on this stock it usually does.

Garages, rear extensions and porches come in felt, GRP fibreglass or EPDM rubber, deck first then falls, upstands and outlet, with chimney flashings, soakers, valleys and abutments in code rated lead. Gutters and downpipes are worth more attention here than most places: on ground that shrinks and swells, a downpipe discharging beside a foundation is wetting and drying the ground next to the house, which is a structural nuisance rather than just a damp one. While the covering is off, insulation, eaves ventilation and condensation are far cheaper to deal with, and Approved Document L sets the standard a renovated roof is expected to reach.

Corfe Mullen roofs are not priced at a rate per square metre. On a roof of this age the first question is repair or re-cover, and the honest answer is often repair.

Edges first. Mortar-bedded ridges and verges from that period crack and let go, often long before the concrete interlocking tiles wear out. Dry fixing the ridge and verge is priced by the length of edge and costs a fraction of a re-cover. BS 5534 now expects ridge and hip tiles to be mechanically fixed, so re-bedding in mortar alone falls short.

The underlay. Felt of that era often sags and rots at the eaves where it drops into the gutter. If the rest of the felt is sound, eaves carrier trays fix that without stripping the roof.

When it is a re-cover. If the tiles have gone porous or the battens are soft, stripping to the rafters, new battens and a breathable membrane, then re-covering, is the right call. Changing to a lighter or heavier tile alters the load on the trusses, so that is checked first.

Which house. A bungalow has more edge for its size but a cheaper platform; a two storey detached is the reverse. The work at height rules make the scaffold its own line, and on the plateau a lorry pulls up close, while in the old village it may not.

Ask any other roofer whether the ridge and verges are being dry fixed or re-bedded, whether the felt is being renewed or just patched at the eaves, and whether the scaffold and skip are included.

Corfe Mullen is two places that grew separately and still sit on different ground, about forty five metres apart vertically. The old village sits low on the river terrace near the Stour; the larger newer part sits on the plateau above it along Wareham Road.

That decides almost everything else. On the plateau it is post-war and 1970s estate housing, concrete tile, no designation, and the job is usually edge work. In the old village there is genuinely old fabric, a conservation area over it, and a matched repair in clay tile or slate with careful stripping. Same trade, two conversations, settled by the street name. The postcode will not tell you.

Most repairs in Corfe Mullen 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.