Roofers in Horndean

Horndean's conservation area was first designated on 12 April 1977, and its boundary was re-drawn and re-designated on 13 March 2007. East Hampshire District Council's character appraisal says the roofing materials inside it are plain clay tiles and natural slate, with tile hanging at first-floor level on some buildings. That is a useful and specific description, and it belongs to the conservation area only; beyond the boundary a street may look different. The appraisal also records the Red Lion public house, listed Grade II, as the only listed building in the area. Most of the buildings along the old road are therefore unlisted, which keeps many repairs simple. Unlisted does not mean unprotected, though, because the conservation area still shapes what is acceptable when a covering changes.

1.1 Plain clay tiles: refix, re-hang or replace

Plain tiles are small clay tiles with a gentle curve, hooked over battens (thin timber strips fixed across the rafters) and laid in overlapping courses. With so many tiles on a slope, a leak is usually traced to one that has cracked, one that has slipped or a batten that has rotted. A minimum life of 60 years is the figure Marley gives for clay tile; treat it as typical, never as a promise. A sound roof can often be mended tile by tile, while one that has lost many fixings or many battens needs stripping and relaying, which our pitched roofing page describes slope by slope. Where a hung-tile wall rises beside a roof, a strip of lead is turned in behind the wall tiles and folded over the roof covering. If it has lifted, water enters behind the wall face and the first sign may be a stain well inside the house, far from the real fault. Tile hanging also needs its own care at the ends and corners of the wall, where tiles are cut to fit, and where a loose one lets wind-driven rain behind the rest.

1.2 Slate: refix before you replace

A slipped slate is often a sign that its fixing has gone, so the slates around it need checking too. If the slates themselves are sound, they can be refixed, or lifted and relaid on new fixings, and only the cracked ones are changed. Checkatrade's slate roofing guide, in a table updated September 2026, gives £160 to £210 per m² as a typical UK range, and the written quote follows our survey with one total price. Our slate roofing page covers the choices between Welsh, Spanish and reclaimed slate, and what each means for the look of a street.

The Church of the Holy Trinity in Horndean was listed at Grade II on 12 March 1986. Like the Red Lion, the only listed building in the conservation area, it is a listed landmark of the village. Alterations that touch a listed building's character need listed building consent from the council, though a church in use by an exempt denomination follows its own faculty or denominational route instead, and a pub roof is a matter for its owner and the council. For a house or cottage nearby, the lesson is simpler. Check whether your building has a list entry before any job, and ask the council about the conservation area before you change a covering. That costs a phone call, whereas a covering put on without checking can mean taking it off again.

3.1 Flat roofs on extensions and garages

An older property will often have gained a flat-topped extension, porch or garage over the years, and each is a different problem from the pitched roof beside it. These are the roofs that gather standing water, take the knocks from ladders and branches and show their age first. A flat roof is laid to fall towards a gutter or outlet. BS 6229:2025, which replaced the 2018 edition in December 2025, sets a minimum finished fall of 1:80, and roofers design steeper, around 1:40, so the finished roof still drains. Ponding water, a lifting edge trim and blistered felt are the usual signs of a tired covering, and a flat roof repaired again and again is often better replaced, laid to a proper fall on a sound deck. Our flat roofing page compares felt, EPDM (a rubber sheet) and GRP (glass-reinforced plastic).

3.2 Scaffold on a busy through road

Where a house fronts a busy road, scaffold may have to stand on the highway. Hampshire County Council grants the licence once the scaffold firm has applied. The council needs ten clear working days before anything goes up, charges £211.90 for the first fortnight and £72 for every fortnight after, and gives no extensions, so we sequence the work around that. Once the roof is finished the rubbish goes with us, and the pavement outside is left clear for people walking past. Neighbours are told early, which avoids awkward surprises on the day, and the scaffold is checked before we climb it. A tidy site also matters on a road where people pass close to the work, so materials are stored out of the way and the ladder stays footed.