Roofers in Fontwell

Fontwell is young by Sussex standards. The county history describes it as a hamlet in the north-west corner of Walberton parish, on the border with Eastergate, and records the name in 1630. A spring gave the place its name, but there seems to have been no settlement at the Eastergate end until the 19th century, and by the 1840s there were about six dwellings. That makes the old buildings few, and it makes them worth reading carefully. Park Cottage on London Road is flint and brick; Goodacres, an early-19th-century house, is stuccoed. Small houses of that sort share a set of roof problems that newer houses do not have, and they are rarely the right place to cut corners. An old roof here has usually been mended by several different hands, so before anything is priced we trace what is original and what is a later patch.

1.1 Where flint and brick meet the roof

A flint wall is rough, uneven and thick. A roof that butts against one needs a flashing (a strip of lead sealing the joint) cut into the wall rather than stuck to its face, which means raking out a mortar joint, dressing the lead in and repointing over it. Surface-stuck sealant tape often fails once the wall moves or the weather turns. Brick chimneys on small cottages are frequently the tallest, most exposed part of the house, and the flaunching (the mortar cap round the pots that throws water off) cracks first. We look at the pots, the flaunching and the lead together, because a leak at one usually involves another. Hairline gaps between a flint wall and the brick quoins beside it are worth a note too, since water finds those before it finds the roof.

1.2 Stucco, render and the roof edge

Stucco is a smooth coating over brick. Where it meets the eaves or the verge (the finished edge of the slope at a gable), a hairline crack lets water in behind the coating, and the damp shows inside as a stain well below the roof. A repair that seals only the stain misses the cause. Our lead roofing and leadwork page shows the flashings we dress at walls, abutments and stacks. On a small cottage the loft is shallow and the rafter ends sit close to the gutter, so a slow leak at the eaves can rot timber for years before anything drips indoors. We check the rafter feet and the wall plate whenever we are at the edge of an older roof. If it needs more than a repair, we tell you so in plain words, show you the pictures and give you one written price.

Fontwell racecourse, which straddles the boundary with Aldingbourne, opened in 1924, and the same decade began the building that turned a hamlet into a place with streets. Before the houses came the land was working ground. John Goodacre had set up a market-gardening business at Fontwell by 1899, and by 1950 virtually the whole area between Fontwell Avenue, Wandleys Lane and Barnham Road was orchards and glasshouses. The Goodacres nursery site was later largely built over, and a bypass was constructed in 1988. Roofs here belong to several eras at once, and two houses next door to each other can have little in common above the ceiling. That is why we survey each roof as its own case and never quote from the street.

3.1 Roofs on former nursery ground

Ground that held glasshouses and orchards is now housing, and the houses that replaced them are newer than the interwar ones along the main road. A newer roof has its own ageing points: underlay that has dried and split, lightweight fittings at the ridge and eaves, and valleys (the gutters formed inside where two slopes join) that collect leaves and silt. A look at the valleys and gutters each autumn heads off a good many leaks, and a survey tells you whether yours needs more. Moss and lichen on the north slope are a prompt to look, not proof of failure, and we say which one you have.

3.2 Flat-roofed extensions added later

Many houses on estates like these have been extended since they were built, and the extension often has a flat roof. A flat roof is only as good as its fall. BS 6229:2025 sets a minimum finished fall of 1:80, and roofers aim for something steeper so the surface still drains once the deck settles. Ponding water, blisters at the seams and a covering that has gone hard and shiny are the signs we look for. A small repair is sensible while the deck is dry and sound; once the boards underneath have gone soft, a new deck and covering is the honest answer.

3.3 Conservatory and garden room roofs

Homes also grow conservatories and glazed garden rooms. A polycarbonate conservatory roof has a typical life of around 10 to 15 years, according to HomeBuilding and the Eco Experts, so one on an older extension may already be tired. Planning Portal guidance on changing a conservatory roof says the Building Regulations apply, covering structure, energy efficiency and ventilation, which makes a solid replacement regulated work that we explain and notify. Our conservatory roof replacement page sets out the choices between glass, polycarbonate and a solid tiled roof.