Newmarket Roofers carries out all types of roof repairs for homeowners in Chippenham and the surrounding villages, from slipped tiles and cracked ridge sections to failed flashings and flat roof faults.
Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
Most roof problems do not announce themselves with an obvious indoor flood. They start smaller, and the earlier you spot them, the cheaper and simpler the repair tends to be. Understanding what to look for from the ground, and what is happening behind each symptom, puts you in a much stronger position when you call a roofer.
A common starting point is a slipped or missing tile. Concrete and clay plain tiles are held in place by nibs that hook over the batten, sometimes with a nail through the lower edge. Nibs crack with age, nails corrode, and battens soften. When one tile slips, it leaves the tile above it unsupported, which accelerates further movement. What looks like a single tile problem is often the beginning of a wider section losing grip.
You do not need to get onto the roof to spot early trouble. Walk around the property and look for:
Any one of these on its own warrants a closer look. A combination of two or more usually means the repair is already overdue.
Rain, wind and frost do the bulk of the damage over time. Water gets into a hairline crack in ridge mortar, freezes overnight and expands, and the crack widens. Repeat that process over several winters and the ridge section starts to rock or detach. This is one of the most common repair jobs on older properties: repointing or rebedding the ridge using a flexible mortar mix that can cope with movement.
Flashings fail for a different reason. Lead is the standard material around chimneys, dormers, valleys and roof-to-wall junctions. Lead moves with temperature changes, and if it was not dressed correctly at installation, or if it has simply reached the end of a long service life, it lifts away from the masonry. Water then tracks behind it and into the wall or ceiling below. The fix is usually to cut a new chase into the mortar joint, refix the lead and seal the chase with a sand-and-lime mix, though on some jobs a fresh section of lead is needed.
Felt deterioration is a slower process but just as important. The underlay beneath the tiles is the secondary line of defence. On older roofs this is often a bitumen-based felt that becomes brittle over decades. Once it tears, any water that gets past a tile goes straight into the loft. A tile repair without checking the felt underneath it can still result in a damp loft a year later.
Flat roof failures usually come down to one of three things: the surface membrane has cracked or blistered, a joint has opened up around a upstand or outlet, or the falls are insufficient and water is ponding. Ponding in itself does not always cause an immediate leak, but it accelerates the breakdown of the membrane and can overload the structure if the water is deep enough.
For a tiled roof, a straightforward slipped-tile repair involves lifting the surrounding tiles, checking the batten and felt, refixing or replacing the tile, and reseating the course above it. If batten is soft or the felt is torn, those sections need to come out and be replaced before the tiles go back. Skipping that step means the repair will not last.
Ridge and hip repointing means raking out the old mortar to a sound base, priming the ridge tiles if needed, and bedding them back down with a mix designed for roof use. Some roofers use a thin sand-and-cement mix that cracks within a couple of winters. A properly mixed, slightly flexible mortar lasts considerably longer.
For flat roofs, the right repair depends on the system. Older built-up felt roofs are typically repaired with a torch-on cap sheet over the affected area. EPDM rubber roofs are repaired with compatible adhesive and patch tape. It is important to use materials that are compatible with the existing system rather than simply applying a bitumen sealant over the top of everything, which tends to fail within a season.
Small tile repairs for one to five tiles typically cost in the region of £150 to £300, depending on access and tile type. Ridge repointing for a semi-detached property usually runs between £300 and £600. Flashing repairs around a standard chimney stack are commonly priced at £200 to £500. Flat roof patch repairs on a small section start from around £150 but can run to £500 or more if the membrane needs replacing over a larger area. These are typical UK figures and the actual cost depends on the specific job, roof height, access difficulty and materials needed. Get a written quote before any work starts so you know exactly what is covered.
An active leak into a habitable room needs attention quickly. Leaving a bucket under the drip and waiting is understandable, but water travels along joists and rafters before it appears at the ceiling, which means the wet patch you see is rarely directly below the entry point. The longer water is moving through the structure, the more timber it contacts and the greater the risk of rot.
For an active leak, it is worth calling a roofer as soon as possible to explain what is happening and get the situation made safe quickly. If you need someone in Chippenham urgently, call us directly and we will advise on the fastest way to get the situation under control.
Whoever you use, these questions will help you make a sound decision:
A roofer who cannot answer these straightforwardly is worth being cautious about. A good repair starts with an honest conversation about what is actually wrong.
If you have noticed any of the warning signs above, or if you are unsure whether what you are seeing warrants a repair, call Newmarket Roofers to arrange a roof survey in Chippenham. We will take a proper look, tell you what we find and give you a clear written quote before any work begins.
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Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
