Roofing in Everton

Fixings, and why they go first. This is the Everton job. Half the village went up between 1945 and 1982, most of it concrete tile and the great majority interlocking, and two and a half kilometres from the water salt does not bother a concrete tile much but it eats the galvanising off a nail and corrodes a clip from the head down. On a slate roof it shows as nail sickness, slates sliding off in ones and twos with nothing wrong with the slate. On a tiled roof it shows at the verge and along the eaves course first. We renew in stainless or aluminium rather than galvanised. Ask any quote what grade of nail is going back on: on a roof this close to the water it matters more than the brand of tile.

The older properties along the main road and the lanes off it carry plain tile, clay tile and natural slate on battens over sarking felt. There is no stone slate on this coast. Thatch we decline and always say so: we will tile and flash a new extension up to a thatched roof, and the thatch itself belongs to a thatcher.

Ridge, hips and verges. Two in five homes here are bungalows, which puts a lot of edge on a small footprint, and mortar bedding on the seaward side takes wind, rain and salt together, so it is always the first thing to give. We strip it and convert to a dry fix system screwed down onto a ventilated roll, the mechanical fixing BS 5534 expects. When the nails, the battens and the underlay have gone together there is nothing left to patch to, and the covering comes off, soft rafter feet come out, and it goes back on breathable membrane and treated battens with a matched tile.

Garages, rear extensions, porches and sun rooms come in felt, GRP fibreglass or EPDM rubber, deck checked first, then the falls, upstands and outlet. Chimney flashings, soakers, valleys and abutments in code rated lead, which is the one metal up there salt leaves alone. Gutters, downpipes, fascias and soffits are a bigger item here than inland, because the brackets and screws rust while the gutter itself is still good. Salt air also keeps a surface damp between showers, so moss holds on shaded slopes and clearing debris comes round more often than it does two miles inland. While a covering is off, insulation and eaves ventilation cost a fraction of what they cost later, and Approved Document L sets the standard a renovated roof is expected to meet.

No rate per square metre. Everton is one of the places where access works in your favour: a single storey roof is lower, so the platform is smaller, and a lot of the eaves, gutter and verge work comes off a tower rather than a full scaffold, with plots open enough for a lorry to set out. How long a platform stands matters as much as its size, and the work at height rules are why it is a priced line. Ask what grade of nail and lead is going back on, and who pays for the skip.

Just under thirteen miles from us, covering Everton, Hordle, Tiptoe and the SO41 addresses between Lymington and New Milton, with New Forest District Council for planning and building control. 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.