Roofing in Three Legged Cross

Eaves, felt and the gutter. The commonest job on the estates here and the one people ring about last, because it does not show inside. On roofs of this age, and four in ten went up between 1945 and 1982, the bitumen underlay was dressed over the fascia into the gutter with nothing holding it up. It sags, holds water in the fold, then splits along it. Rain then runs behind the gutter and down the wall plate and the rafter feet instead of into the downpipe, and by the time a ceiling stains the timber has been wet for years. Pine and birch debris off the heath fills the gutter as well, so clearing it out is what keeps that fold dry. The fix is to lift the bottom courses, cut the perished felt back, fit an eaves protection tray and re-lay. It is a repair, not a strip.

Edges, coverings and the loft. Bungalows, a quarter of the dwellings here, and hipped semis carry a lot of edge for their footprint, all of it bedded in mortar when the house went up. Once the bedding cracks the tiles rock and the next gale leaves slipped, cracked and missing tiles along that edge, so we strip it and convert to a dry fix system screwed onto a vented roll, the mechanical fixing BS 5534 expects. Nearly everything here is interlocking concrete tile, where the tile outlives the nail or clip holding it. Plain clay tile and natural slate are rare on estates of this age, and there is no stone slate here at all. Plenty of houses were built without a chimney, so the lead is more often an abutment or a valley where an extension meets the main slope than a stack, with soakers cut in where the tiles run into it. Watch for capping: plastic boards were nailed over original fascia and soffit timber on a lot of these houses, and if that timber was wet it is still wet, so we take a section off rather than guess. Roofs of this vintage had little eaves ventilation, and insulation has since been pushed into the eaves and blocked the airway, which shows as condensation under the felt. Vent trays are far cheaper with the roof open, and Approved Document L sets the standard a renovated roof should reach.

No rate per square metre. Estate roads here are wide and nearly every house has a drive, so a scaffold or a tower has somewhere to stand and a lorry can reach it. The exception is the terraced runs, where the platform has to cross more than one property and your neighbour needs telling before anything is booked. Because this is work at height work at height rules make the platform a priced line. When you compare quotes, ask whether battens and membrane are renewed or simply covered over, and who pays for the skip.

Three Legged Cross sits inside the Green Belt, which sounds as though it ought to complicate a roof and does not. Re-covering, repairing, new gutters and fascias and a rooflight are all householder permitted development, and the designation takes none of that away.

Where it bites is anything new standing on open ground, so an outbuilding beyond the permitted development limits, a large extension or an annexe in the garden is where you meet it and where an application can genuinely be refused.

Which matters here because of the garages and workshops. Re-roofing the detached garage you already have is a repair and nothing more. Taking it down and putting up a bigger one with a new flat roof is a planning question first and a roofing question second, so get that answer from the council before you get a price from anyone.

About nine miles from us, covering Three Legged Cross, Verwood and the BH21 addresses out towards West Moors, with Dorset 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.