Roofers in East Preston

1.1 What we check on a stack

From the ladder we look for cracked flaunching, pots that have loosened and pointing eroded back from the brick face. Where the stack meets the slope we look for lead that has lifted or split, or has been covered with a bead of sealant, which seldom lasts. In the loft we follow any damp up the breast to where it starts. A stack that leans or has open joints high up may need taking down and rebuilding, and we tell you so with photographs. A stack with sound brick and tired pointing needs repointing and fresh lead, and nothing more. The ranges below give a national guide, and the survey fixes your own figure.

1.2 Thatch, flues and the rules

Where a flue serves a stove or open fire, Approved Document J, the government guidance on chimneys and flues, sets heights above the ridge and asks for larger clearances where thatch is close by. Flue heights are a matter for the installer and building control, so ask them before you alter one. Removing a chimney breast is another job altogether. The Planning Portal says Building Regulations approval always applies to it, and GOV.UK says a party wall notice is needed where the breast sits on a shared wall. Our chimney repairs page covers repointing, new flaunching and rebuilding in detail.

A repaired stack lasts when the lead is dressed properly into the brickwork and the flaunching is sloped to shed water. We check both before we leave.

Thatched cottages add one more consideration. Sparks and heat from a stove matter more beside thatch, so a stack on such a house is worth a look whenever the way it is used changes, for example when an open fire becomes a wood burner. Ask the installer or building control about any change to the flue, and tell us if you are planning one so we can time the stack repair around it.

3.1 Gutters and the overhang

From the garden, the roofline tells us a good deal before we climb anything. A fascia is the board that carries the gutter, and a soffit is the board closing the underside of the overhang. If either is soft, the gutter loses its support and its fall, water sits in the run and spills over the wall. Where soffits also carry ventilation slots, we keep them clear, since a loft needs air moving through it. Our gutters, soffits and fascias page sets out the options for replacement.

3.2 Flat roofs on extensions

Many houses in a village this size have a flat-roofed extension, a garage or a porch. MyBuilder says a flat roof typically lasts 15 to 30 years, and the covering matters: Less puts EPDM, a synthetic rubber sheet, at 30 to 50 years, while GreenSpec gives 20 to 30 years, so treat any figure as a range. Falls matter more than most owners expect. Citing BS 6229, IKO recommends a finished minimum fall of 1:80 and a design fall of 1:40 to allow for tolerances. A roof that holds a puddle for days is telling you it has lost its fall, and the survey will show where.

3.3 Edges, upstands and outlets

Most flat-roof leaks start at a detail, not across the open surface. We look at the upstand, the short vertical return where the roof meets a house wall, at the drip edge that throws water clear of the fascia, and at the outlet or hopper that takes the water away. A cracked edge trim or a blocked outlet is a small fault to put right if it is caught early, and a costly one once the water has reached the ceiling below. Our flat roofing page explains repair and replacement.