Roofers in New Milton
Repairs, dry ridge and verge, full re-covers, flat and communal roofs and leadwork across BH25. Free site visit and an itemised written quote.
The site visit is free and so is the written itemised quote. Thomas Hannen prices every job himself.
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Bournemouth Roofing & Building are roofers covering all of New Milton and BH25. We repair slipped tiles and leaks, fit dry ridge and verge, re-roof, lay flat roofs and renew leadwork, and Thomas Hannen comes out free and prices the job in a written, itemised quote.
You might have tiles off a gable after a south westerly, a damp patch on a bedroom ceiling, a felt roof over a garage or a block of flats that has split, or a gutter that has overflowed all year. Each of those is a roofing job we price and do across BH25.
Thomas gets on the roof where it is safe, looks in the loft if there is a hatch, and photographs what he finds. If water is coming in today, ring 07435 839745.
The work
From one slipped tile to a whole new roof
Roof repairs cover slipped, cracked and missing tiles, storm damage and leaks. A leak is traced to where the water actually gets in, which is often a flashing or a valley some way from the stain on the ceiling. With most of the town built after the war, expect concrete interlocking or plain tile on most roofs you see here.
Chatsworth Park, its first stage at Stevenscroft, and the North Milton Estate all went up in the early 1980s, so a lot of roofs in North Milton are reaching the same age together. At 35 to 40 years the bitumen felt at the eaves goes brittle and tears, and the mortar under the ridge and verges cracks and drops out. The fix is to re-felt the bottom of the slope over an eaves carrier tray, then strip the mortar and fit dry ridge and dry verge, screwed down onto a ventilated roll, which holds the edge mechanically and vents the roof space.
A quarter of the homes around the town centre are terraced, and the North Milton Estate was built in rows. The covering runs straight across the party wall, so we strip a short way into next door's slope, form the join with soakers or a flashing line, and tile back so it does not show from the street. Work that touches the party wall itself can bring in the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, and your neighbour hears from us before the scaffold goes up.
The east side of Station Road is 1970s flat roofed blocks with shops on the ground floor and flats or offices above, and the estates in North Milton include small blocks of flats. When one of those flat roofs fails, it comes off and goes back in GRP fibreglass, EPDM rubber or torch-on felt, laid to BS 6229. The deck is checked first, then the falls, the upstands, the box gutters and the outlets, which silt up out of sight. Garages and rear extensions are the same job at a smaller scale.
Fernhill has 1940s bungalow estates on Oakwood Avenue and Brook Avenue North, and the 1970s Hollands Wood Estate mixes houses with bungalows. A hipped bungalow has four hip ridges to check as well as the main ridge, and the low eaves can often be reached from a tower or a short run of scaffold. Insulation pushed hard into the eaves blocks the air path, so condensation forms and rots the battens. We clear the eaves and fit vents while the roof is open.
Chimneys are repointed, the flaunching on top renewed and the lead re-formed: soakers and step flashing down the sides, a back gutter behind, and new lead in valleys and at the abutment where an extension or a dormer cheek meets a wall. Fascias, soffits and bargeboards are replaced in uPVC or capped over sound timber, with new gutters and downpipes off the same scaffold. Around a roof window, a failed flashing kit is replaced and the tiles dressed back to it. Moss is lifted by hand as part of a roof clean.
When the nails, battens and underlay have all gone, patching stops being the cheaper option. A re-roof means stripping the covering, replacing any soft timber, laying breathable membrane on new treated battens, and tiling back with a matched tile and the fixings BS 5534 calls for. If most of the slope is sound, we tell you to repair it and leave the re-roof for later. For a single slipped tile, a cracked ridge or a leak you want traced, see our page on roof repairs in New Milton.
How it runs
From the first look to the last ridge tile
Thomas Hannen comes out, looks at the roof from the ground, the eaves and the loft, and prices it himself. The quote comes from him.
The written quote is itemised: scaffold or tower, stripping, battens, membrane, the covering, each ridge, hip, verge, valley and abutment, the leadwork, and the skip. It names the tile and the fixings. Rotten timber or a failed abutment found once the tiles are off is photographed and priced before any extra work, and you decide. Nothing is left open overnight and the drive is swept each evening.
In a block of flats, or a flat over a shop on Station Road, the freeholder or managing agent instructs the roof work. Where a leaseholder's share passes the legal threshold, the landlord has to consult first under section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. Housing Association tenants on the North Milton Estate report a leak to their landlord.
Planning and building control sit with New Forest District Council, and a like for like re-cover is not normally a planning matter under Planning Portal guidance on roofs. The quote says whether your job needs notifying to building control.
Cost
What moves the price of a BH25 roof
Three things decide what a New Milton roof costs: the covering you have now, what is under it, and how we get up there. None of it can be priced honestly from a photo.
The tile you have now. Most of the town went up between the late forties and the late eighties, so the usual covering is a concrete interlocking or concrete plain tile. Some of those profiles are no longer made, so patching a mid terrace can mean reclaimed stock or re-covering the whole slope. What is under the tiles. Bitumen felt that has perished at the eaves, battens gone soft, and a chimney, valley or abutment needing new leadwork are each priced one at a time. Getting up there. A terrace means a scaffold across the frontage or through to the back, a block needs a spot the managing agent has agreed, and a bungalow may only need a tower. Scaffold over the pavement in front of a Station Road shop needs a licence from the highway authority. The work at height rules make the platform a line of its own on the quote, not a hidden extra.Before you sign
How to tell a good roofer from a dodgy one
A dodgy roofer is easiest to spot on paper. A proper roofing quote is written and itemised, comes from a firm you can look up, and names what goes on your roof. Run these five checks on any quote, ours included.
- Is it written and itemised? Scaffold, skip, stripping and each part of the roof should sit on a line of its own.
- Can you look the company up? A limited company has a number you can check on Companies House. Ours is company number 15471719.
- Does it name the materials? The underlay or membrane, the tile, and the nails and clips. "Re-roof" on its own is not a specification.
- What is wanted up front? Citizens Advice says get quotes in writing and keep any deposit small. Be wary of a demand for cash before work starts.
- How are extras handled? Anything found once the roof is open should be photographed and priced before it is done.
Turn away anyone who knocks on the door, has spotted loose tiles you cannot see, and wants to begin there and then.
If it is leaking now
Tiles off after a blow from the sea
Water coming through a ceiling needs a phone call, not the form. Put a bucket under the drip, switch off and unplug anything electrical near it, and keep out of any room where the ceiling is bulging or sagging.
The first visit finds where the water is getting in and makes it safe with a sheet or a temporary refix, and the permanent repair is priced in writing once the roof is dry. In a flat, tell us who manages the block. After a south westerly, look from the ground at the gable ends and the ridge on the weather side, and check the drive for broken tile.
Scheduled work Mon to Fri, 8am to 6pm. Something urgent? Ring, and if we miss you we call back.
Worth knowing
Salt reaches this far inland
The fixings on a New Milton roof usually fail before the tile does. The station and town centre sit about two kilometres from the cliff top at Barton, close enough for wind driven salt off the sea. Salt does no harm to a clay or concrete tile, but it holds moisture against metal long after the rain stops.
Galvanised nails, mild steel clips and painted gutter brackets corrode where nobody looks, and a roof can read as sound from the ground until half a slope moves in a gale. The south west slope takes the salt and the driven rain together, so have that one checked first. On any quote here, ask what the nails and clips are. We name them: stainless steel or silicon bronze on the exposed slopes, which is where BS 5534 points once exposure is taken into account.
Who you are dealing with
Who comes up your ladder
Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd is registered in England and Wales, company number 15471719. It is Thomas Hannen's business, and Thomas comes out to New Milton and prices your roof himself. A verified customer has given us 10 out of 10 on Checkatrade. The site visit is free, and so is the written, itemised quote.
New Milton is about eight miles east of our base in Boscombe. We cover all of BH25, from Old Milton Green out to Fernhill, Ashley, Bashley and Barton on Sea.
Planning at a glance
Do you need planning permission in New Milton?
Most roof repairs in New Milton need no application at all. A change of appearance depends on which authority covers your address and whether it is in the conservation area or listed.
| Question | In New Milton |
|---|---|
| Who decides | New Forest District Council for the town. The rural part of the parish around Bashley is in the New Forest National Park, where the National Park Authority decides. The Park's property map shows which side an address falls. |
| Conservation area | One: Old Milton Green, the old village centre around the Green and the parish church, designated in September 1999. The town centre is outside it. Inside the boundary, raise any change of covering with the council first. |
| Listed buildings | A handful of listed entries in and around the town, including the Water Tower, the war memorial in the recreation ground and St Magdalene's church, so listed building consent rarely touches an ordinary New Milton home. |
| Building regulations | Re-roofing usually needs approval, because a roof is a thermal element under Approved Document L and the insulation should come up where that is cost effective. |
| Protected landscape | The town is outside the National Park. The Bashley fringe of the parish is inside it. |
Questions
Questions about roofers in New Milton
Should I repair the roof or have it re-roofed?
Repair it if the problem is local: a few slipped tiles, one failed flashing, a cracked ridge. Re-roof when the underlay has perished across the slope or the battens and nails have gone, because patching then chases one leak into the next.
How long does a re-roof take?
A plain re-cover on a semi or a bungalow is usually around a week of working days once the scaffold is up. Chimneys, valleys, dormers and bad weather add to that.
Is the scaffold included in the price?
On our quote it is a line of its own, with any tower or pavement licence. Ask the same of any other quote, because scaffold left off the first price is the easiest way for a cheap quote to grow.
It is a terrace. Can you re-roof just our part?
Yes. We strip a short way into next door's slope, form the join with soakers or a flashing line, and tile back so it does not show. Your neighbour hears from us before the scaffold goes up.
My flat is over a shop or in a block. Who sorts the roof?
Usually the freeholder or managing agent, because the roof belongs to the building. Report the leak to them in writing with photographs. We quote to whoever instructs the work, itemised, so every leaseholder sees the same breakdown.
Can you re-roof in winter?
Yes. The roof is stripped a section at a time so nothing is left open overnight. High wind stops roof work more often than cold does, but mortar and some flat roof systems need dry, milder weather, so a GRP job may wait for a better week.
Nearby, and next door
Roofing near New Milton
Nearby places we also cover for roofing, with straight-line distances from New Milton, and the other trades we offer in New Milton itself.
Roofing nearby
Our other trades in New Milton
Roofing guides
Concrete vs clay roof tiles: which is right? Planning, building regs or listed building consent Storm damage to a roof: the first 24 hoursBuilders in New Milton: all our building work Everything we do in New Milton Roofing, all areas Every area we cover
Free quote
A written price for your New Milton roof
Tell us the street and what the roof is doing. We look at the whole of it, fixings included, and put a price in writing.