Roofing in Tolpuddle
Tile and slate repairs, chimney leadwork, flat roofs and full re-covers in Tolpuddle and along the valley, priced in writing after a free visit.
The site visit is free and so is the written itemised quote. Thomas Hannen prices every job himself.
Tolpuddle sits in its own conservation area, so the look of a roof is controlled here in a way it is not two miles up the road. Putting back what is already on the building is maintenance and needs nothing. Changing the covering for something different is a change of appearance, and that goes to the council first.
The village is a short run of old buildings with newer houses behind and around them, and that mix is the whole story of the work. We take on tile and slate. We do not take on thatch, and we say so before we come out rather than after, so nobody wastes a morning.
Where a tiled range adjoins a thatched one we will happily do our half and tell you who should look at the rest. About eighteen miles from us, so it is planned work rather than a van passing the end of the lane, and the site visit and the written itemised quote are both free.
The work
Most of what we take off is somebody's mastic
Chimneys, valleys and somebody's mastic. Old cottages have big stacks and short valleys between ranges, and both are where the water gets in. Flashings, soakers, back gutters behind a stack, and the abutments where a roof meets a wall, all in code rated lead cut so it can move without splitting. A junction sealed with mastic by somebody in a hurry is the single most common thing we take back off. Slipped, cracked and missing tiles after storm damage are the other half of what we get called to. Clay ridge bedded in mortar is the next commonest failure, because mortar bedding gives out long before anything above it does. On a modern roof we convert to a dry fix system, dry ridge and dry verge screwed onto a ventilated roll, the mechanical fixing BS 5534 expects; on a building where the ridge is part of the appearance we re-bed the original instead, and we say which one yours is at the survey.
Coverings, underlay and the loft. The older buildings carry plain tile, clay tile and natural slate, often handmade and no two quite alike, and the newer houses interlocking concrete tile. There is no stone slate in this county, so where a covering has to be matched it is matched on size, colour and weathering rather than bought off a pallet, and in a conservation area that is what keeps the roof looking right. An old covering here often has no underlay at all, just battens over the rafters and no sarking board behind, which means every fixing matters and there is no second line of defence when one lets go. On a strip and re-cover, breathable membrane and treated battens go in for the first time and soft rafter feet are cut out. Rainwater goods here fill with leaf debris, and clearing the gutters and downpipes is what keeps the fascia and soffit sound, while algae on the shaded side holds damp against the tile. On an old roof the loft needs thinking about rather than stuffing: one that has always breathed through the covering can turn to condensation if it is insulated without eaves ventilation designed into it, and Approved Document L sets the standard a renovated roof is expected to reach.
How it runs
From your call to a written price
One team, one person to ring, and an itemised quote you can hold against anyone else's. The village is a conservation area and there are twenty seven listed entries in a place this size, which is a high chance that yours is one of them. A like for like repair or re-cover is maintenance and needs no application. A change of covering, an altered roof line or a rooflight on a slope that can be seen is a different matter, and Planning Portal guidance sets out where the line falls. Listed buildings need listed building consent for work an unlisted house would not need permission for at all, so we check the address before we price anything.
Cost
What decides the price of a roof
No rate per square metre. Out here access usually works in your favour: there is room for a lorry and somewhere for a scaffold or a tower to stand, which is not true in a town. The exception is the older frontages, where there is no way round the back and everything goes through the building or over the roof. The platform is a priced line rather than an extra, because work at height rules apply. Ask any quote whether the underlay is renewed and who takes the old covering away.
If it is leaking now
Water coming in today
Ring rather than use the form. Anything letting water in goes to the front of the queue, and the first visit is about making it safe. We are eighteen miles away, so tell us on the phone how fast it is coming in and we will be straight with you about when we can be there. The phone is answered 24 hours for emergencies; scheduled work runs Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.
Worth knowing
The conservation area decides the covering
Tolpuddle Conservation Area covers the village, and what it controls is appearance. That has one practical consequence for a roof: the covering that is on the building is very close to the covering that is going back on it. Swapping natural slate or handmade clay tile for a cheaper concrete tile is the kind of change the designation exists to stop, and finding that out after the scaffold is up is an expensive way to learn it.
It is not a reason to put work off. A repair is a repair, and maintenance in the same materials is exactly what the designation wants to see. It does mean two things are worth doing early. Ask for the covering to be named in the quote rather than described as a tile, so there is no argument later about what was priced.
And have the address checked against the list of listed buildings before anything is ordered, because twenty seven entries in a village this small is a real chance rather than a formality. We do both at the survey and it costs nothing.
Who you are dealing with
A local firm you can check
About eighteen miles from us, covering Tolpuddle, Burleston and the DT2 addresses along the valley, with Dorset Council for planning and building control. Send the postcode if you are not sure whether we come out that far. 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.
Questions
Tolpuddle questions we get asked
Can I swap slate for tile inside the conservation area?
Not without agreeing it first. Tolpuddle Conservation Area controls how the buildings look, and going from slate to tile alters the coursing, the shadow and the colour of a whole elevation, which is exactly what the designation is written to catch. Slate back for slate is repair. If you want the change, Dorset Council decides it, and asking first is a great deal less painful than taking it off twice.
Will the Poole Harbour nutrient rules delay a loft conversion?
They can, though never for roof work. Tolpuddle drains into the Poole Harbour catchment, where nutrient neutrality is triggered by schemes adding overnight accommodation. Re-covering or repairing a roof adds none, so it does not engage. Convert the loft into a bedroom and the nutrient position has to be dealt with before Dorset Council issues a decision, which is worth knowing before you fix the order of the work.
My cottage is one of the listed ones. Where do I start?
With the conservation officer at Dorset Council, before anyone quotes for anything. The village holds 27 listed entries, Martyrs' Cottage and the former Methodist chapel among them, and consent covers whatever changes the character of the building rather than only the obvious alterations. Owners apply, not contractors, so we set out in writing what the work involves and you or your agent puts that in front of them.
Do you need a licence to stand scaffold on the street?
Where it goes on the pavement or the carriageway, one is needed, and it comes from Dorset Council as the highway authority. Cottages fronting straight onto the road through Tolpuddle usually need one, and it takes time to come through, so we apply as soon as the job is agreed rather than the week before starting. On a property with its own frontage the scaffold sits inside the boundary.
How many days would a small cottage roof take?
Reckon on a working week for one slope of an ordinary cottage, and longer where the timbers turn out worse than the covering. That includes the scaffold going up beforehand and being struck at the end of it. On a listed or conservation area job it is the consent rather than the labour that sets the start date, and that part is out of our hands.
Nearby, and next door
Roofing near Tolpuddle
Roofing nearby
Our other trades in Tolpuddle
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Get a written price for your Tolpuddle roof
Send the postcode and what you have noticed. We come out, get on the roof, look in the loft and put the price in writing.