Roofing in Minstead

Storm and tree damage is the emergency to plan for out in Minstead, and it behaves differently from ordinary wind damage. Mature oak and beech stand close to the houses, and what comes down is heavy and lands in one place, so instead of a scatter of slipped tiles you get a hole, a cracked rafter and sometimes a punctured flat roof over an addition.

We sheet the opening, prop where the timber has gone and come back to the permanent repair once the whole of it can be seen.

Old plain tile and slate, relaid. Small plain clay tile hung on nibs and pegs, and natural slate, both on steep pitches. When they fail it is the nails, the pegs and the batten rather than the covering, so we strip, hand sort, keep the sound tile and re-lay it on treated battens over a breathable membrane, buying matched tile only for the shortfall. Torching made good where it survives. Inside the Forest Central (South) conservation area what goes back has to look like what came off, which is why the sorting is worth the hours. For one slipped slate, a cracked tile or a single leak by the stack, none of which needs the roof stripped, see our page on roof repairs in Minstead.

Chimney flashings, soakers, back gutters, swept valleys and the abutments where a catslide or a dormer cheek runs into a wall, all in code rated lead cut into lengths that can move without splitting. Minstead cottage roofs carry a lot of junction for their footprint, and mastic over a failed flashing buys a season. Perished felt tears where it laps into the gutter, and under deep shade the batten ends and rafter feet go soft first, so we check that from inside before we say anything about what you can see from the drive.

On the newer houses the mortar bedding cracks at the ridge and gable long before anything happens mid slope, and a dry fix ridge screwed over a ventilated roll is the mechanical fixing BS 5534 expects. On an older cottage we check whether a visible dry verge is acceptable here before specifying one. Rear additions, garages, porches and dormer tops in felt, GRP fibreglass or EPDM rubber, deck first, and a flat roof under trees wants its outlet checked twice a year. Deep overhangs and cast iron rainwater goods are common in Minstead, and cast iron is usually worth repairing and repainting rather than swapping for plastic. Deep shade also means heavy moss and lichen holding water against the covering. Insulation and eaves ventilation are far cheaper to sort while the roof is open, and Approved Document L sets the standard a renovated roof must reach.

We do not work to a rate per square metre. Two roofs of the same size in Minstead can be very different jobs, and these are the things that make the difference.

The lane and the verge. Where a scaffold lorry can unload, where the skip sits and how far every bundle of battens is carried all come from the access. A cottage right on the lane is easier than a house at the end of a gravel track, and both are agreed with you before anything is priced.

The pitch and the platform. A steep slope needs proper edge protection, not a ladder and hope. Planning work at height on a steep pitch is a legal duty, and the work at height rules are why the platform is its own priced line.

What the trees have done. Years of leaf fall and moss sit in valleys and behind chimneys, so valley boards, lead flashing and the underlay beneath are often wetter than they look from the ground. We lift a few tiles before the price is final.

The covering itself. Clay tile, natural slate and concrete interlocking tile all price differently, and where appearance is controlled the new covering has to match the old. Chimneys, valleys, abutments and the ridge are priced one at a time.

When you compare quotes, ask whether the scaffold is in the price, who pays for the skip, and whether the battens and breathable membrane are new or the old tiles are going back on tired timber.

The cheapest time to do anything with a loft is while the covering is off and the access is already paid for. Insulation and ventilation are simple and we will always raise them. Turning the loft into a room is not simple here, and that is worth knowing early.

Minstead is inside the New Forest National Park, where the permitted development rights for roof enlargements do not apply. So a dormer or roof extension for a new room usually needs a planning application, on a timescale measured in months, while the roof work itself is measured in days.

People find this out after the scaffold is up and then want to hold the job open while it is sorted, which costs more than doing it in the right order. If a room in the roof is anywhere in your thinking, tell us at the survey and ask the Park Authority before we start.

Most repairs in Minstead 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.