Roofers in Claverton Down

The character appraisal for Bath records that most of the non-residential buildings on Claverton Down were put up from the 1960s onwards. The roofs of those buildings were designed for the materials of their day. Many were laid with built-up bitumen felt, a system of layers fused together with hot bitumen. Others have been renewed since with single-ply membranes.

Each system ages in its own way. Built-up felt tends to craze, blister and split at laps and upstands as the bitumen dries out. EPDM is a single-ply synthetic rubber sheet supplied in large pieces; it resists cracking better but depends on its seams and edge adhesive. GRP is glass matting and resin built up wet on the roof and left to harden, which gives a joint-free skin that can still crack where the deck beneath it moves. Whichever of the three is already there decides what can be stuck over it and what has to be stripped.

A flat roof is also rarely truly flat. It is laid to a gentle fall towards the outlets, and when the fall is too slight or the deck has sagged, water sits in pools. Standing water ages the surface, supports moss and adds weight. We measure the fall and mark ponding at the survey, and note it in the report.

The decision most owners face is whether to repair, overlay or strip. A repair suits a roof that is basically sound with a localised fault. An overlay adds a new layer over the old, which is quicker but only works if the existing layers are dry and attached. Stripping to the deck takes longer but shows the condition of the structure and insulation underneath. Our flat roofing page describes these options and the typical costs of each.

Claverton Down is described as primarily rural, and the few farm buildings that predate the twentieth century are the oldest structures on the plateau. A barn or outbuilding of that kind may have a roof of clay tiles or stone slates on heavy timbers, or may have been re-covered in sheeting at some point. Each needs a different eye. The sheeting may be fibre cement, and if it is, it needs care in handling. Asbestos cement is non-licensed work when the sheets are carefully removed without breaking them up, and becomes notifiable if they are broken. Nothing is touched until we know what the sheet is.

The golf course and the buildings around it also have roofs to keep dry. A clubhouse typically has a mixed roof of pitches, flat sections and a porch or veranda, and the points where these join are the weak spots. Outbuildings, sheds and stores need little, but a failing felt roof on a store can ruin what is inside it before anyone notices.

Houses on the Down are few, but the ones that exist share the exposure of the plateau. On a high, open site, gusts reach every part of a roof, and the edges, the ridge and the gable ends take the force. If you live on the Down and a slate or tile has been lost in a gale, check the ridge and verge as well as the gap. Where one piece has slipped, its neighbours are often loose.

The same survey process applies to all of these. We examine the roof, record it with photographs, then put a fixed price on paper for the repair. For a roof on a farm building or an outbuilding the question is often whether to repair, replace the sheeting or re-cover, and we set out what each involves. For help with a general leak, our roof inspections page describes how a survey is carried out and reported.