Roofers in Clapham

Arun District Council's conservation area guidance records that Clapham Conservation Area was designated in May 1993, and describes Clapham Street as built of local materials, principally brick and flint, including the Norfolk Estate cottages of the 1840s. The Victoria County History adds that the village has mid-19th-century flint and brick cottages built by the Duke of Norfolk, which is the same group. These are small, low houses, and the roofs over them are short runs with little spare slope. That changes the way we price and plan: there is less to strip, but every junction is a larger share of the whole roof, so the quality of each detail decides whether the repair lasts. A brick-and-flint cottage also tends to have a chimney stack on the ridge line or gable, a lean-to at the back and a porch over the door, and each of those roofs has its own flashings and its own gutter. We walk all of them, because a leak in the back bedroom is as likely to start at the lean-to abutment as on the main slope.

1.1 Small roofs, big details

On a short roof the verge and the eaves are never far from the centre. A verge is the gable-end border where the tiles stop, and on a cottage it is often the place where wind-driven rain gets in first. We check that the tiles there are bedded and clipped or screwed down, that the undercloak (the strip beneath the last tile that closes the gap to the wall) has not rotted, and that the gutter is not overflowing onto the wall. A repair on a cottage roof is frequently a morning's work, and when that is the verdict it goes in the quote as a repair, with no nudge towards a re-roof. Inside the conservation area we match the existing tile or slate rather than substituting something that merely looks close.

1.2 Brick stacks, flint gables and lead

Where a brick chimney stack or a flint gable meets the roof, lead flashing keeps the water out, and the mortar joints beside it keep the lead in place. When either fails, a damp patch shows on the wall inside, usually near the stack. A chimney that has lost its pointing can be repointed and the flashing renewed from the roof, without taking down the whole stack, provided the brickwork is sound. If the survey shows loose bricks, a leaning stack or a flue that no longer serves a fire, you get a photograph of each and a clear recommendation, which may be to take the stack down to roof level and cap it. Our chimney repairs page sets out the difference between repointing a stack and rebuilding it. Near the boundary of the conservation area, ask Arun District Council or the Park Authority to confirm where the line falls.

Clapham lies on the south slope of the South Downs, on chalk overlaid in the south by later deposits that once held the brickworks of the Clapham Brick Co. A village on a slope has no shelter from whatever comes up it, and Marley's guidance warns that a pitch under 30 degrees leaves the windward slope open to heavy suction. That is general guidance, not a Clapham measurement, but it explains why the fixings on shallow roofs get checked and why a slipped tile after a blow deserves a prompt look, since a gap left through a wet winter lets water into the timbers below. Photographs sent by phone are enough for a first opinion. BS 5534 was revised in 2014, and a ridge or hip laid today gets screws or clips on top of its mortar bed; the verge is held down in the same way. On the pitched roofing page you can see what a relay involves.

3.1 Two councils, one village

Clapham is inside the South Downs National Park, in a part where the Authority handles planning applications directly. Building control stays with Arun District Council. Its own building control page names replacing roof coverings among the work needing approval, while the Planning Portal sets limits (less than 25 per cent of the building envelope and less than 50 per cent of the roof) below which no application is normally needed. We explain both and check with the council for your job. Arun's team also sets its own rules for booking inspections, so ask about them when you apply and build the timing into the programme.

3.2 Roof windows, access and the scaffold

Anyone planning a roof window inside the conservation area should read our skylight planning permission guide first, because the Park and the conservation area both shape the answer. Narrow village lanes also affect where a scaffold stands. If poles or boards reach the highway, a highway licence is needed: West Sussex County Council issues it and asks for at least 10 working days' notice and publishes a £266 fee for one month. Ask any firm whether VAT and scaffolding are in its price, and keep the written quote. The Park Authority is responsible for the conservation area here, which is why it is worth asking it early about any change to how a roof looks from Clapham Street, such as a new covering, a rooflight or a rebuilt stack. A short email with a photograph usually settles whether a job counts as a repair or a change.