From slipped tiles to failed flashings, Newmarket Roofers carries out all types of roof repairs for homeowners in Waterbeach and the surrounding area.
A roof problem rarely stays small for long. What starts as a single slipped tile or a hairline crack in the pointing around a chimney stack can let water into the roof structure within weeks, causing damage that costs far more to put right than the original repair would have. Newmarket Roofers covers Waterbeach and the surrounding area, carrying out repairs to all types of pitched and flat roofing.
If water is getting into your home right now, call us rather than waiting to see whether it gets worse.
Most repair calls fall into one of these categories, though roofs rarely fail in just one place at a time:
A repair job typically costs anywhere from around £150 for a straightforward tile replacement up to £800 or more for ridge or flashing work on a larger roof. Complex chimney repairs can run higher depending on condition and access. Getting a proper inspection before work starts is the only way to know exactly what you are dealing with.
This is the section most homeowners wish someone had told them earlier. Between noticing a leak and having a roofer on site, there are practical steps that genuinely limit damage - and a few things that make it worse.
If water is coming through the ceiling, place a bucket or tray directly under the drip and lay down plastic sheeting or old towels around it. Then do one important thing: use a bradawl, screwdriver or even a sharp pencil to make a small hole at the lowest point of the water blister if you can see the ceiling paint bulging. This sounds counter-intuitive, but a controlled drip through a small hole is far less damaging than a ceiling section collapsing under the weight of trapped water. The ceiling board itself is much easier and cheaper to repair than replacing half a room's worth of plasterboard and dealing with secondary mould damage.
Move anything valuable, electrical or difficult to dry out of the affected area. Water follows timber joists and wall plates before it shows on the ceiling, so check adjacent rooms too - particularly wardrobe tops and the tops of fitted cupboards along shared walls.
Take photographs from inside the loft if you can get up there safely. Note where the water is entering relative to the roof structure. This information is genuinely useful to a roofer arriving to diagnose the problem, because the entry point on the inside is often offset from the damaged area on the outside.
If the roof was damaged in a storm, photograph the outside of the property if you can do so safely from ground level. Do not climb onto the roof yourself, and do not ask a family member to do so either. Wet or frost-covered roof coverings are extremely slippery, and tiles that appear solid may be loose. A fall from a domestic roof is almost always serious.
There is a short list of DIY interventions that consistently create larger and more expensive problems.
Roof sealant sprays and coatings. Aerosol products and brush-on roof coatings marketed for DIY use can temporarily mask a leak while trapping moisture in the roof structure beneath. Wet timber that cannot dry out will rot. A coating that appears to have stopped the leak may simply have delayed the visible symptoms while the underlying damage worsens. Any roofer arriving to do a proper repair after a coating has been applied will have more difficult diagnostic work to do and may need to strip more material to reach sound substrate.
Replacing ridge tiles with mortar alone. A loose ridge tile is sometimes knocked back into position and bedded with fresh mortar by homeowners. Without checking that the tile itself is undamaged, that the original mortar bed is sound and that the underlying structure is not compromised, this fix rarely lasts. Dry-ridge systems, which use mechanical fixings rather than mortar, are the current standard for this reason.
Patching felt from inside the loft. Roofing felt is the secondary line of defence, not the waterproofing layer. Patching it from inside with tape or brush-on product does nothing to address the tile, flashing or pointing issue causing the failure above. The fix will not last, and you will still need a roofer to address the actual cause.
Using a ladder to investigate without the right equipment. Leaning a domestic ladder against the guttering and climbing onto the roof covering to look around is genuinely dangerous, even for fit and confident homeowners. If you want to look at the roof before we arrive, binoculars from ground level or from a neighbouring window at the same height will tell you more than you expect, and safely.
Not every roof problem is a repair job. If a pitched roof is over 50-60 years old, has had multiple repair visits in the last few years, or if an inspection reveals that more than 20-25% of the tiles or slates are cracked, porous or displaced, a full re-roof is often more cost-effective over the following decade than repeated repairs. We will always tell you honestly which category your roof falls into after inspection - there is no benefit to us in recommending patchwork repairs that will not hold.
For flat roofs on extensions and bay tops, EPDM rubber membranes now offer a long service life when correctly installed and are worth considering as a replacement for older felt systems that have been patched several times over.
Will my home insurance cover roof repairs? Storm damage is usually covered, but wear-and-tear deterioration is generally excluded. Check your policy schedule before claiming, as making a claim that is declined can still affect your premium. We can provide a written description of the damage and its likely cause to support a valid claim.
How long does a typical repair take? A straightforward tile or flashing repair on a standard semi-detached house usually takes half a day or less. Ridge and chimney work can take a full day. Flat roof repairs vary depending on the extent of the damage and whether the deck beneath needs attention.
Do I need planning permission for a repair? Straightforward like-for-like repairs do not require planning permission. If your property is in a conservation area or is listed, any change to the external appearance of the roof - including the material used - may need consent. Check with the local planning authority before agreeing to any change of material if you are unsure of your property's status.
No obligation · We usually respond within 2 hours
Storm damage, active leak, damaged ridge - we aim to be on-site within 24 hours.
