Roofers in Thornbury

From Filnore Woods you look out over the river and the Vale. A roof on the open edge of a town like this has few neighbours to shelter it, and wind arrives from a wide arc and not one side. That does not make a roof fail on its own, but it exposes any fixing that was already tired.

Ridge and hip tiles feel it first. They stand proud of the slope and were traditionally bedded on mortar alone, yet the tiling standard BS 5534:2014 asks for mechanical fixings on anything bedded at the ridge or hips. When we re-bed a ridge we supply them. Where old mortar has failed along a whole run, dry-fix is often tidier: clip-on caps and seals that replace the mortar at ridge, hip and verge, with test methods in BS 8612:2018.

The verge is the next place to look. On many houses the end tiles are held by a mortar fillet and little else, and when that cracks, wind gets underneath and lifts them. The course beside it follows. A verge that has been repointed more than once is a good candidate for a mechanical system.

Underlay matters on open ground too. This is the membrane under the battens (thin timbers across the rafters, which the tiles hook onto), and it catches what blows past the tiles and sends it to the gutter. An old sheet that has torn at the eaves or sagged between rafters lets wind-driven rain reach the timber. If you can see it flapping from inside the loft in a gale, mention that when you call.

After a gale the useful steps are simple. Look from the ground for slipped tiles, check the loft for damp, photograph anything you find and ring before water has had a week to spread. Leaks get priority from us, and we stop the water first and mend afterwards. The full approach is on our ridge and verge repairs page.

Thornbury's older buildings carry dates you can read: a charter of 1252, a church begun in the 12th century, a castle begun in 1511 and renovated in 1824. Ordinary houses in the old centre share streets with buildings that may be protected, and some of the houses themselves may be listed.

Listed building consent is granted by the local planning authority, and for Thornbury that authority is South Gloucestershire Council. Its consent differs from planning permission. Carrying out work on a listed building without it is an offence. Repair that keeps the same tiles and lead may raise few questions, while a new covering, a rebuilt stack or a fresh roof window is better agreed first. Whether your street sits inside a conservation area is worth asking the council as well, along with any direction that removes permitted development rights, before planning a change that shows from the road.

No legal ruling on your house comes from us. What we do supply is a description detailed enough for that conversation: covering, lead, fixings and method. A council officer can respond to a specific proposal far more usefully than to a general idea.

Older roofs beside a church and mature trees are also where bats and nesting birds may be sharing the space. Both are protected, and we will tell you before work begins if we see signs of either.

Where an old roof can be repaired, we repair it, and where it cannot we show you the defect in photographs and explain why. Our work carries a ten-year guarantee on workmanship, given in writing, and the figure on the quote is the figure you pay.