Roofing in Winterborne Stickland

Chimney leadwork matters most in the old part of the village. Flint and brick stacks in Winterborne Stickland are tall, they stand well clear of a steep slope, and they take weather from every side.

A mortar fillet where the stack meets the tiling will crack inside a few winters and it is the classic leak on a Winterborne Stickland stack like these. It comes off and goes back as code rated lead: soakers up the sides, an apron at the front, a stepped flashing cut into the joint, sized so the lead can move instead of splitting.

Valleys and abutments. Cottages added to over two hundred years end up with valleys between one roof and the next, and abutments where a later range meets an earlier wall. Those junctions carry two slopes of water at once, so they wear first, and we line them in lead, never with a plastic trough dropped in. Plain clay tile and natural slate on the older houses, laid over the underlay with no sarking board behind; concrete tile, mostly interlocking, on the later ones. There is no stone slate in the Winterborne Stickland valley, so if a quote offers to match one, ask what that means.

Thatched roofs are part of the character of the street and we do not touch them. What we do is everything the thatcher does not: the tiled slope next door, the leadwork at the junction, the chimney the thatch runs up to and the rainwater goods below. On the exposed slopes above the valley floor wind works the edges rather than the middle. Where the house is post-war we convert to a dry fix system screwed to a ventilated roll, the mechanical fixing BS 5534 expects. On a cottage in the Winterborne Stickland Conservation Area we re-bed and point in mortar instead, because a dry verge trim on that sort of roof is the wrong answer whatever the fixing schedule says. If it is one slipped slate, a split flashing or a single leak rather than the whole covering, that is roof repairs in Winterborne Stickland.

Once the nails have rusted through and the underlay tears at a touch, the covering comes off, soft rafter feet are cut out and replaced, and it goes back on breathable membrane and treated battens with a matched covering. On a steep old pitch that means roof ladders and a proper scaffold, not working off the tiles. Rear extensions, garages and porches in felt, GRP fibreglass or EPDM rubber, deck first. In a valley village a surprising number of leaks begin in the gutters. While a covering is off, insulation and eaves ventilation are far cheaper, and Approved Document L sets the standard a renovated roof is expected to reach.

We do not price roofs by the square metre. That figure hides everything that changes the job. Standing the scaffold. A cottage built tight to a lane has no front garden to stand on, so the scaffold may need a highway licence, and materials come in on smaller loads than an open site would take.

A detached house with a drive is simpler. It is work at height, and the work at height rules are the reason the platform is priced on a line of its own.

Wind off the downs. The most exposed side of a house here faces south west. Wind and driven rain go for the verges, ridge, eaves and flashings, not the middle of the slope, so tiles and battens are fixed to BS 5534, the code of practice for slating and tiling. That can mean more clips and a better membrane than the old roof had.

Matching the covering. If the house is listed, or sits in the part of Winterborne Stickland with extra controls, the tile or slate has to match what is there. Reclaimed or particular clay tiles cost more and can take time to find.

What is under it. Old battens, missing underlay and tired lead only show once the covering is lifted.

Ask any competing quote whether the scaffold and any licence are in, whether battens and membrane are renewed, and which tile they have priced.

People here expect the conservation area to be a problem for repairs, and it is not. Putting back what is there, in the material that is there, is maintenance and nobody needs telling. The place to ask first is anything new added to a roof slope.

Rooflights, sun tunnels and solar panels are ordinarily permitted development on an unlisted house, within set limits, and the conservation area does not by itself take that away. A new flue or vent pipe on a slope facing the road is treated differently here, so ask Dorset Council before planning one on the front.

The practical version: if you are re-covering and want more light in the loft, put the rooflights on the rear slope and the job stays simple. If something has to go on the front, ask the council early rather than discovering a problem late. On a listed building none of that applies, because consent is needed regardless.

Winterborne Stickland is about 19.1 miles from our base at 80a Wolverton Road in Boscombe. We look after the village, Winterborne Houghton, Turnworth and the DT11 addresses towards Blandford. Dorset Council is the planning and building control authority, and the village sits in its Winterborne North ward.

The company is Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 15471719, and it is Thomas Hannen's business. He comes to the house and prices the roof himself. A verified customer gave the firm a score of 10 out of 10 on Checkatrade. Both the site visit and the written, itemised quote are free. Before you book a visit in Winterborne Stickland, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.

Most repairs in Winterborne Stickland 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.