Roofers in Box

Box Ground is a strong variety of Bath stone, and for many years the quarries and underground workings in the parish supplied it. Those workings are now closed, and by 2015 the only remaining source of Box Ground was Hartham Park quarry at Corsham. That changes what we do when a stone chimney or coping needs attention. We cannot assume a fresh block of identical stone is available, so our first move is to ask whether the existing stone can stay, with its joints repaired, rather than replaced.

Where stone does have to be replaced, matching is a matter of colour, grain and weathering. A new block against old looks raw for a time, and an experienced stone supplier can advise on sourcing reclaimed or closely matching material. On a listed house, the choice of stone will be part of the consent conversation with Wiltshire Council.

Joints are the more usual repair. Soft limestone is porous, and it relies on the mortar around it to be the weaker, more sacrificial element. If a hard cement mortar is used, the stone becomes the weak point instead, and it spalls at the arrises (the sharp edges). Lime mortar is softer and more open. It lets moisture escape through the joint, so the stone stays drier and survives longer. That is why we use lime on stone stacks, copings and parapets, and why we rake out and repoint in sections rather than slapping over the old pointing.

The same attitude applies to the lead flashing where a stack passes through the roof. The lead is tucked, or chased, into a groove cut in a joint of the masonry, and then pointed. If that pointing has failed, the lead lifts, and water gets behind. Our chimney repairs page walks through each stage, from raking out to a full rebuild.

In the wider village, the cottages and terraces on the hillside share the same rule: leave sound stone alone and fix what holds it.

Springfield House is a Grade II listed building of 1729 that served as a workhouse and a school and has since been turned into flats. It shows a pattern that is common wherever old buildings are subdivided: a single roof over several households, each with a say in what is done to it. The same is true of terraces where a roof runs across the whole row, or of a pair of semis with a shared valley.

Shared roofs raise questions that single houses do not. Who calls us out? Who pays? What happens if one owner wants a repair done now and another wants to wait? The best way through is to put the facts on paper early. We survey the roof, photograph the defects, and give a written scope with a fixed price for a managing agent or residents' group to pass round. If part of it is urgent, such as a leak into one flat, we make that safe first and set out the remainder as separate items.

A listed building in this position adds a layer. Any alteration to the roof needs consent from Wiltshire Council, and who applies is something to settle with the council and your managing agent. Keeping the existing slates, lead and stone is the simplest route.

Roofs of this age tend to hide their problems. A Georgian building has usually been altered many times, and the loft may show patches of different periods: old rafters, newer purlins, a later felt. We look at how loads are carried, whether rafter feet have rotted where they bear on the wall, and whether the gutter behind a parapet has been leaking quietly into the masonry.

For larger buildings with several owners or a commercial use, the work is scoped on survey. Our roof repairs approach scales to a block as well as a single house.