Roofers in Chewton Mendip

Chewton Mendip's parish once held several lead mines. The metal that came out of them has a second life on roofs, where it does the jobs no tile or slate can do. A roof is a series of overlaps, and overlaps are only waterproof while water runs downhill across them. At every junction with masonry, a dormer cheek or a neighbouring slope, the overlap has to be completed with something that bends to fit, and sheet lead is the traditional choice.

Lead lasts, but it has habits. It expands and contracts more than most roofing materials, so a long, rigidly fixed sheet will crack along the line where it was held in place. Good leadwork is laid in short bays, with joints designed to let the metal slide: rolls over a timber core, drips (small steps) that carry water to the next level, and welts folded into the edges. The specification is expressed as a lead code, the grade number that sets the thickness, and it is chosen to suit the position. We do not publish thickness tables, because the right choice comes from the detail on your roof.

The faults we meet are rarely the metal's alone. A splitting flashing is usually a laying problem, with a bay too long, a clip in the wrong place or an edge hammered flat so it cannot move. Patch repairs have a place on a small split, and a neat patch can buy years, but a long run of cracked lead with the same fault repeating along it usually wants relaying properly.

A MyJobQuote guide from September 2026 reckons a patch of lead at a chimney at about £150 to £250, with whole chimney leadwork averaging around £570 and costing more once scaffold is involved. A flat lead roof is a larger undertaking, quoted per square metre. These are national figures, not our prices; our fixed quote arrives only after we have climbed up and inspected. The detail on laying and repair is on our lead roofing page.

The parish lists Manor Farmhouse, The Old Rectory, Bathway Cottages and a lime kiln at Grade II. A farmhouse, a rectory and a row of cottages are different buildings, but they follow one rule that matters to roofing: the listing covers every part of the building, including the roof.

Planning permission is one decision and listed building consent another, and having one does not give you the other. Bath and North East Somerset Council gives sound advice that holds anywhere: speak to the local planning authority before work begins. In this parish that authority is Somerset Council. Mending a faulty part while keeping the existing covering rarely raises the questions that swapping the material, adding a rooflight or rebuilding a stack would. Work done without consent on a listed building is an offence, so asking first costs little. If the answer is that consent is needed, the application can then be built round a clear description of the repair, with no guesswork about the materials.

What you can do before you ask is get the problem described properly. An officer can only answer something specific, so it helps to arrive with the extent of the damage, the proposed materials and a note of anything altered, all with photographs. Our survey produces exactly that. It sets out what is wrong, what we would do and which parts of the job we think need the council's view.

Building Regulations come into it separately. A modest repair seldom triggers them, but a re-roof across a large share of the building does, and an upgrade to the insulation can come with it. If the job is notifiable, we take care of the notice, going through Somerset's in-house team or a registered approver. Gutters and downpipes, which are often the first thing to change on an old building, are dealt with under guttering and fascias.