01903 299063 Get a quote

Roofers in Westergate

Westergate is the main centre of Aldingbourne parish, on flat coastal plain where older timber, thatch and flint buildings sit among newer housing. A photographed survey comes before any quote.

Get a quoteCall 01903 299063

Old cottages, open ground and Aldingbourne church

  • A cottage roof with an extension

    Timber, thatch and flint cottages

    The Tudors is a timber-framed cottage with a thatched roof and a southern section of flint, and Westergate also has a mid-16th-century cottage.

    Read more about Timber, thatch and flint cottages

    On roofs like these the weak spots are the joins to later tiled or flat extensions.

  • Tiled roofs on level ground

    Low, level ground

    Aldingbourne parish lies between 25 and 50 feet above sea level, rising to 120 feet on its northern edge. Terrain and topography both feed the wind calculation for a roof, so fixings are chosen for the site, not the street.

  • A clay tiled church roof

    A tiled parish church nearby

    The parish church, St Mary the Virgin at Aldingbourne, is built of rubble, dressed with ashlar and covered in tile, according to the county history.

    Read more about A tiled parish church nearby

    A tiled roof only keeps out the weather while its ridge, valleys and gutters stay in order, on a church as on a house.

Street map of Westergate, west of central Worthing, with a pin on the town.

Westergate: what is protected and what is not

Planning authority
Arun District Council
Councils
Arun District Council and West Sussex County Council
Conservation area
Arun's list names Aldingbourne and Norton, not Westergate; check your address with Arun
Article 4
None for Westergate; Arun names Article 4 directions only at Craigweil House, Aldwick
National Park
Outside the South Downs National Park boundary
From central Worthing
16.8 road miles, west, about 26 minutes by car

Westergate roofs

Old cottages on the open plain

Cottage joins, the open plot and the repair-or-replace call: three matters for a Westergate roof.

Chapter one

Where an old cottage meets a newer roof

Westergate's older buildings have grown by additions, and the leaks start at the joins where one age of roof meets the next.

The Tudors, in Westergate, is a timber-framed cottage with a thatched roof and a southern section of flint, and the village has a mid-16th-century cottage besides. Buildings like these have grown by addition over the centuries: a tiled wing, a flat-roofed kitchen, a lean-to at the back. The old parts and the new parts move at different rates, so cracks open at the joins. A ceiling stain often sits under the junction of two roofs and not under the open slope next to it, so we follow the water back to that junction before we price anything.

At a glance

  • Joins between old and new roofs leak before slopes
  • Code 3 lead suits soakers only
  • Flat roofs are laid to a fall of 1:40
Lead-lined valley where two clay-tiled roof slopes meet
Lead-lined valley where two clay-tiled roof slopes meet

1.1 Flint, chimneys and lead

Where a pitched roof stops against a flint wall, lead is cut into the mortar joints in steps that follow the slope and folded down over the tiles. A flint face is uneven, so the channel must be cut cleanly and the lead wedged tight. Leadworx names Code 4 as its usual pick for flashings in general and Code 3 for soakers alone, the small lead sheets woven between tile courses at an edge. Chimney stacks are checked in the same visit: we look at the flashing round the base and at the mortar crown set around the pots, which sheds rain away from the flues. Our lead roofing page explains the codes.

Lead-lined valley where two clay-tiled roof slopes meet
Lead-lined valley where two clay-tiled roof slopes meet

1.2 The flat roof on the back

A flat extension roof is the other usual suspect. IKO, citing BS 6229:2018, gives a recommended minimum fall of 1:80, and advises designing for 1:40 to allow for building tolerances and sag. A roof laid dead level holds water, and standing water finds every pinhole. We check the fall, the upstand, which is the lip where the covering is carried up a wall, and the outlets. Whether it is felt, EPDM or GRP, the cure for a failing patch is rarely a second skin on top. The flat roofing page describes the options. The survey photographs come with the written quote. If a patch repair will hold, we recommend that and price it, instead of a new membrane.

Victorian terrace chimney stacks with spalled bricks and old lead flashing

Fig. 1 On the survey Lead lifted away from a masonry wall

Chapter two

Fixing a roof on level ground

Flat land is not sheltered land, and a tile fixing schedule is worked out for the plot rather than the postcode.

New single-ply membrane flat roof with a welded upstand and edge trim near the sea
New single-ply membrane flat roof with a welded upstand and edge trim near the sea

Aldingbourne parish lies between 25 and 50 feet above sea level, rising to 120 feet on its northern edge, and Westergate is its chief centre. Level ground is not the same as sheltered ground. In Marley's account, the wind load for a roof begins with the site's basic wind speed, which is then adjusted for the terrain, the lie of the land and the building's height and length. The method is the same for a house on open land and a house on a hill, and the answer belongs to the plot. A neighbour's schedule cannot be copied across a fence, and hedges, outbuildings and the next house along all change what a roof faces. We note what stands around the plot when we survey it.

At a glance

  • Aldingbourne parish lies 25 to 50 feet above sea level
  • Dry-fix ridges are tested to BS 8612:2018
  • Eaves ventilation depends on the roof's pitch
Worthing rooftops of slate and tile running down to the sea
Rooftops of slate and tile running down to the sea

2.1 Ridge, hip and verge

BS 5534 changed in 2014. Tiles bedded along a ridge or hip now get a screw or clip too, because mortar by itself is no longer treated as the only fixing. Mortar is not banned, and a bedded ridge can stay when it is also fixed mechanically. In a dry ridge, clips and a ventilated roll take the place of the mortar bedding, as BS 8612:2018 specifies. On cost, MyBuilder gives £300 to £600 for new ridge tiles or a fresh bedding, and £40 to £60 per linear metre for a dry ridge. Along a verge, the edge of the roof beside a gable, we look for lifted tiles and cracked bedding, because wind finds an open edge before anything else. The tile maker's fixing schedule, written for the site, tells us how many fixings each tile needs.

Worthing rooftops of slate and tile running down to the sea
Rooftops of slate and tile running down to the sea

2.2 Low pitches and the loft

Marley flags pitches below 30 degrees: the slope the wind meets first can see strong suction, and an extension or porch roof often sits under that line. Ventilation matters too. Marley's figures for a cold roof with high-resistance underlay are 25 mm of unbroken eaves ventilation at pitches of 15 degrees or below and 10 mm at steeper pitches. A loft that has lost its airflow breeds condensation, which looks like a leak and gets repaired as one. We check both ends of the loft, and the insulation between, before blaming the tiles. Where the real cause is a blocked eaves or a missing vent, that is what we tell you, with a photograph of it.

What sets a Westergate fixing and ventilation plan

Code of practice
BS 5534:2014+A2:2018
Ridge, hip and verge dry-fixing
BS 8612:2018
Eaves ventilation, pitch of 15 degrees or less
25 mm, with high-resistance underlay (Marley)
Eaves ventilation, pitch above 15 degrees
10 mm, with high-resistance underlay (Marley)
Pitch under 30 degrees
Windward slope can meet severe suction (Marley)

Source: BSI; Marley, fetched October 2026

Chapter three

Boundaries, the church and when to re-roof

Westergate has no Article 4 direction on record, its conservation position needs checking address by address, and age decides the repair-or-replace call.

Arun District Council's conservation area page names Aldingbourne and Norton, and does not name Westergate. Their boundaries are drawn on Arun's maps, so for your own address ask Arun before you change a covering. If a house is neither in a conservation area nor listed, putting back the same covering is ordinary maintenance and rarely needs planning permission. For a listed building, changes to the roof need consent first. We ask the status question at the start of every survey, listed or not, inside a boundary or not, because a quote built on the wrong answer helps nobody.

At a glance

  • Arun names Aldingbourne and Norton conservation areas
  • No Article 4 direction is recorded for Westergate
  • Clay and concrete tiles carry a 60-year benchmark
Edwardian semis with concrete tile roofs, brick chimneys, rooflights
Edwardian semis with concrete tile roofs, brick chimneys, rooflights

3.1 The parish church as a benchmark

The county history describes Aldingbourne's church as rubble walling with ashlar dressings under a tile roof, and that gives a useful yardstick. Marley reports that the Building Research Establishment fixed a minimum life expectancy of 60 years for clay tiles, with concrete at around 60 years, and neither is a promise. A plain tile roof kept in order can outlast those figures. One that is neglected fails sooner, and we judge the roof on your house, whatever the leaflet number says.

Edwardian semis with concrete tile roofs, brick chimneys, rooflights
Edwardian semis with concrete tile roofs, brick chimneys, rooflights

3.2 Repair or replace

We lean towards repair when the faults are local and the rest is sound: a bad valley, a patch of slipped tiles, one failed abutment. We recommend a new covering when fixings, battens and underlay are failing across the whole roof. Under the Planning Portal, repairs normally need no building control application while less than 25 per cent of the building envelope and less than 50 per cent of the roof is touched. Part L adds that the whole roof element is upgraded when more than 50 per cent of its surface is renovated, so a big re-roof can bring insulation work with it. Access, the covering and the roof's shape move the price, and a scaffold standing on a public footway needs a licence, which the scaffold firm applies for, so ask when you are quoted who arranges it. For the full sequence of a new covering, see our roof replacement page, which runs from stripping the old tiles to the final ridge.

Typical UK costs for older houses and extensions

  • Moderate roof repair£500 to £1,000
  • Flat roof, semi£2,500 to £6,000
  • Lean-to roof, semi£3,000 to £5,500
  • Gable re-roof, semi£5,000 to £8,000

These show the scale of a job; the survey comes first, and the paperwork that follows names a single total for your own roof. Source: MyBuilder new roof price guide, updated 21/08/2026.

Roofing help for Westergate houses and cottages

Roof questions from cottages to the coastal plain

How do you stop leaks where an extension meets an old Westergate cottage?

We find which line the water follows, which is often the join between old and new roof rather than the open slope. The cure is usually a stepped lead flashing cut into the wall, a properly dressed valley or a re-laid abutment on the flat roof, not another coat of sealant. Photographs show you the failed join, and the written quote follows as a single total. If the join is sound and the leak starts elsewhere, we follow it to the real source.

Is Westergate inside a conservation area?

The conservation areas on Arun District Council's list are Aldingbourne and Norton, and Westergate is not named. Arun's maps show the lines street by street, so ask Arun about your address before any change of covering is ordered. The council records no Article 4 direction for Westergate. In both cases a planning application is seldom needed to lay the same covering back, whereas a listed building needs consent for changes.

Does level ground around Westergate change how tiles are fixed?

The fixing is worked out for the plot. According to Marley, the wind load begins with the basic wind speed for the site, then is corrected for terrain, topography and building size, and the tile maker's schedule fixes how many fixings go in. Ridges and hips are secured mechanically on top of any bedding. Pitches under 30 degrees get extra attention, since the slope the wind meets first can see strong suction.

How long will a felt, EPDM or GRP roof last on a Westergate extension?

Published ranges are typical, not promises. Less gives felt 10 to 20 years and GRP 25 to 40 years, and GreenSpec gives EPDM 20 to 30 years. MyBuilder puts flat roofs generally at 15 to 30 years. Falls, workmanship and maintenance move the result in either direction, which is why we check the fall and the outlets at survey before recommending a covering.

Roofers near Westergate

Tell us about your roof

Describe what is happening and we will call you back to arrange a visit.

  • Photographs of what we find
  • A written quote with one total price
  • Or call 01903 299063

10-year workmanship guarantee, in writing.

Call Get a quote