Roofers in Frampton Cotterell

The estates built from the 1960s, among them the streets of Benson's Estate, have roofs that are now around sixty years old. Nobody builds a roof of that age to last for ever, and many of them have been repaired, patched and in some cases re-covered once already. The practical question for the owner is whether to keep patching.

A repair makes sense while the covering is healthy and the fault stays local: a slipped tile, a cracked ridge, a loose verge. A re-covering becomes the right route when the fixings, the battens or the underlay have worn out across the whole slope, because each repair then disturbs the next weak spot. The test is how many repairs the roof has needed lately, and where. We set out on site which category you are in.

A full re-roof is a project of its own. It usually involves scaffolding, stripping the old covering, renewing battens and underlay, laying the new covering and replacing flashings and ridge. MyBuilder's cost guide gives a national range of £5,000 to £12,000 for a typical roof replacement, with a gable roof at the lower end and a hipped roof at the upper, and with scaffolding adding about £1,125. These are typical UK ranges, not our price, and our fixed price follows the survey.

Building Regulations enter the picture too. Only small re-covers escape approval, meaning work below 25% of the envelope and below 50% of the roof, and a whole-roof job usually crosses both lines. Approval then applies, with extra loft or rafter insulation possible to meet the thermal rules. A heavier covering, 15% or more, needs a structural check as well. On notifiable work we take care of that side.

Read more about the process on our roof replacement page. Good timing helps: a re-roof planned in advance costs less than one forced by a leak in January.

The hat factory on Park Lane is one of the Industrial Revolution landmarks of Frampton Cotterell, and it points to a type of roof found in villages like this one: the large, plain roof of a works, barn or workshop. These buildings have long spans, many rooflights and a lot of roof area behind a modest frontage.

A works has faults a house does not. A long-span roof relies on trusses or beams that carry the weight over a wide gap, so any water that reaches the timber or steel is a structural matter, not just a damp one. We look at the bearing ends of timbers, the fixings of purlins and the way the covering is held down in wind.

Rooflights deserve attention. On older buildings the rooflight may be a glazed panel in a patent glazing system, or a plastic sheet that has gone brittle in the sun. Cracks, loose seals and a build-up of grime on the surface cut the light and let water in. They also need safe handling, since a worker can fall through a rooflight that looks like part of the roof.

Valley and parapet gutters on larger buildings carry large volumes of water and should be looked at first once heavy rain has passed. A parapet gutter, a lined channel behind the edge wall, is hard to inspect from the ground. If it is blocked or the lining has split, the water goes into the wall or the room below. Cleaning, checking the outlets and relining where necessary are standard parts of a commercial survey.

Conversion of an old works to flats or offices raises the further question of insulation, ventilation and fire. Those are matters for building control, and the roof has to be built to suit. Design is not our part, but we can set out what the roof needs and price it. If the building is a former factory now in business use, flat roofing sets out the coverings suited to lower pitches, and the survey covers what applies to yours.