Roofers in Fareham

Brick-making had been carried on in Fareham for at least two and a half centuries by 1908, and the Victoria County History says "Fareham Reds" were well known throughout the south of England. That trade is still visible along the High Street, where the same history notes many good 18th-century brick fronts. Fareham Borough Council designated the High Street conservation area in 1969, recognised it as being of outstanding architectural and historic interest in 1977, and extended it into the Wallington valley in 1980. Before planning roof work on a house in that part of town, ask the council whether the property sits inside the boundary, because the answer changes how closely the work is looked at.

1.1 What sits behind a brick front

A brick front describes the wall and says nothing certain about the roof. Behind it you may find clay tile, slate, a parapet or a later replacement covering, and we find out by climbing up and looking. What brick-fronted houses often share is chimney stacks and a line where roof meets wall. The flashing there is a strip of lead, or another metal, tucked into the brickwork and lapped over the roof covering. It is a common point of failure, because two materials meet at a thin edge and move at different rates. Our lead roofing and leadwork page explains the weights of sheet and how a flashing is dressed. If a flashing has failed, the first question is whether the covering around it is still sound. If it is, the repair is the flashing and nothing larger.

1.2 Burgage plots and the rear wings they gather

A burgage plot is a long, narrow strip of land running back from the street frontage, and the conservation area keeps that medieval layout. Houses on such plots often grow backwards: a rear wing, a lean-to, a flat-roofed kitchen. Each addition brings a valley (the V where two slopes meet and shed their water), an abutment against a neighbour or an older wall, and frequently a gutter shared between two roofs. Water from one slope runs onto another, so a stain on a back bedroom ceiling can start at a junction two roofs away. We trace the water before we quote, and the survey photographs show what we found and where.

1.3 Chimneys on the party wall

Where fronts stand shoulder to shoulder, one stack on the party wall may serve two houses. A leaning stack, cracked flaunching (the sloped mortar collar round the base of the pots) or open pointing in the brickwork deserves attention before the rain finds it. Our chimney repairs page sets out the options. Removing a chimney breast inside a house needs Building Regulations approval, and if the breast stands on a party wall a party wall notice is part of the process too.

Two of Fareham's best-known buildings are listed Grade II*: the parish church, St Peter and St Paul, and Cams Hall. The Victoria County History describes the church as red brick, with a red-brick tower built in 1742. Both were first listed on 18 October 1955. A listing is more than a label. It decides who has to agree to a change, and a house standing near either building is a reason to check the list entry map and the conservation boundary before assuming that a change of tile colour is simple. The route is worth knowing before anyone puts a ladder up.

3.1 Who agrees to what

Fareham's parish church, being Anglican and in current use, falls under the ecclesiastical exemption: works to the building go through the church's own faculty system, although the planning system still has a say where development changes the exterior. For a listed house elsewhere in the town, listed building consent is required where the work would alter the character of the house, while ordinary like-for-like maintenance does not normally need it. Before we quote anything beyond a plain repair we study the list entry, and the written quote says which route applies. Weighing up roof windows on an older house? Our guide to skylight planning permission is the place to begin.

3.2 Article 4 and the High Street

Fareham Borough Council publishes Article 4 direction pages only for the Portchester (Castle Street) and Titchfield conservation areas. Nothing is recorded for the High Street area. Directions can be made at a later date, so speak to the council's planning team before you alter a roof frontage inside the boundary, and keep their reply with your papers.

3.3 Scaffold on a Hampshire street

Fareham lies in Hampshire. Scaffolding that obstructs the pavement or road is licensed by Hampshire County Council under the Highways Act, and the scaffold firm makes the application, not the householder. Hampshire's rule is a minimum notice of ten clear working days, starting when the application goes in, with a fee of £211.90 for the first fortnight. Extensions are not on offer. On a narrow frontage with parked cars that lead time matters, so we raise it at the survey instead of on the morning the scaffold is due.