Roofers in Grayshott

The East Hampshire appraisal of the Grayshott Conservation Area explains where the village came from. The railway reached nearby Haslemere in 1859, which gave the impetus for the present village, and Grayshott then developed progressively through the 1890s. The area attracted eminent people, among them Lord Tennyson, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and George Bernard Shaw. For a roofer the more telling detail is what the same document says about the buildings of that period: steeply pitched roofs, prominent chimneys and decorative tile hanging on the upper floors. Those three features together decide how a Grayshott roof is inspected, reached and repaired. It also helps that a village which developed through the 1890s tends to share a vocabulary of details, so what we learn on one roof usually applies to its neighbours, and the survey can pick out the odd one that has been altered.

1.1 Why a steep pitch changes the job

A steep roof sheds water fast, which is its great virtue, and it also makes every ladder, scaffold and tile that much harder to handle. Working on a slope this sharp means proper edge protection before anyone sets foot on it, and it affects how many tiles can be carried up at once. Clay tiles on a steep pitch hang from their nibs rather than lying flat, so a tile that has slipped is nearly always a sign that a nail or a batten has failed behind it. We find the cause before we replace the tile, which is why a quick patch from the ground rarely holds. The repair that lasts is the one that deals with the failed nail or the rotted batten, and that means opening up the course, not just dropping a replacement tile into the gap. Our pitched roofing page explains how a whole slope is stripped and relaid.

1.2 Prominent chimneys and the lead around them

Tall stacks are exposed to weather on all four faces, and the points where they pass through a roof are the weak spot of the whole building. Flashings around the base, the cap at the top and the mortar that bonds the courses all take a battering. A stack that leans, loses pointing or sheds fragments of brick needs looking at without delay. Our chimney repairs page sets out what we do, from repointing to rebuilding the top few courses, and it explains how the lead is dressed so that water runs over the joint, not into it. Where the pots have loosened or the mortar crown around them has cracked, rain finds its way down the flue and into the stack, and the damp can appear on a chimney breast two floors down. A plain survey of the stack from a roof ladder catches most of it early.

The Grayshott Conservation Area was first designated on 9 April 1991, and it centres on the crossroads, the shops in Crossways Road and the church. The Church of St Luke is Grade II listed, first listed on 15 August 1985, and the council's appraisal calls it the only listed building in the conservation area. That detail is useful. It means almost every house, shop and outbuilding inside the boundary is unlisted, and a roof repair on most of them is judged by how it sits in the street, not by listed building law. The setting is high ground among wooded valleys and sandy heathland near the Surrey border. Roofs among trees collect leaves in their valleys and gutters and hold moss on the shaded slopes, so a Grayshott survey includes a look at the drainage, because a gutter that overflows soaks the very tile hanging the village is known for.

3.1 What the appraisal says about Article 4

East Hampshire has no Article 4 direction recorded for Grayshott. The appraisal's only comment is that active consideration should be given to making one. A recommendation is not a direction, so today the ordinary permitted development position applies, with the conservation area as an overlay. Rules can change after a council acts on a recommendation, so put your address to East Hampshire District Council's planners before you alter a roof's shape, covering or windows. Our skylight planning permission guide covers roof windows, which is where most owners meet these rules.

3.2 Matching a covering to its street

The appraisal's palette is orange brick, decorative clay tile hanging and natural clay roof tiles. When a re-roof is planned, matching the tile in colour, size and texture counts for more than almost any other choice, because a replacement in the wrong tile stands out for years against its neighbours. We bring sample tiles and pictures to the survey where we can. The Planning Portal sets the building control test at affecting less than 25 per cent of the total building envelope and less than 50 per cent of the roof, and East Hampshire District Council's team will confirm how it applies. If the work is notifiable, we explain the steps and handle the notification, and we leave the site clear, with the waste taken away.