Roofers in Slinfold

Geology shaped Slinfold before any builder did. The village sits on Weald Clay, and Horsham District Council's conservation area appraisal says the clay country gave the district a distinctive building material of its own: Horsham Stone, a calcareous, flaggy sandstone split into slabs for roofing and floors. The appraisal adds that the oldest buildings in the village are timber-framed, often gabled, and roofed in either Horsham Stone or handmade clay tile. That pairing, a heavy oak frame carrying a heavy covering, explains most of what goes wrong with these roofs and most of what we check first.

1.1 How a Horsham Stone roof is built

Horsham slabs are laid in diminishing courses. The broadest, thickest slabs go along the bottom edge, and the slabs then dwindle in size and thickness course by course as the roof climbs to its ridge. No two slabs are quite alike, which is why a roof of this kind has the look it does and why the replacement slabs for it are usually reclaimed rather than new. The weight is considerable, and the rafters, purlins and wall plates under it have been taking that load for centuries. A slab that has slipped needs rehanging on its fixing, and a crack in a wall plate or a sag in a ridge line is a reason to call a structural engineer before anyone starts a repair. Where a stone roof meets a chimney stack or a wall, the joint is sealed with lead, and a slab edge never sits flat, so each piece of lead is shaped to the irregular surface in front of it instead of being rolled out straight. Our Horsham stone roofing service sets out how we approach it.

1.2 Handmade clay tile and the gaps between

Handmade clay plain tiles are slightly cambered and slightly irregular, and that softness is the point of them. A machine-made tile pressed from a standard mould sits flatter and looks stiffer on an old frame. Where a few have cracked, we lift the neighbours, slide in reclaimed or handmade replacements and re-hang the course. Where lichen and moss hold moisture against the clay, the surface can flake in frosty weather, and a roof like that may need a slow, careful clean instead of replacement. A hard jet is a poor tool for old tile, because it can strip the surface and drive water up under the laps, so we use a gentler approach and stop when the colour comes back. If a verdict comes back as a patch, you hear that from us as plainly as a recommendation to re-roof.

The parish church of St Peter was rebuilt in 1861 to designs by Benjamin Ferrey, in Wealden sandstone and Horsham stone, with a stone spire. It has been listed Grade II since 28 November 1980. For as long as it serves as a parish church, the ecclesiastical exemption applies, so alterations go through the Church's faculty process in place of listed building consent, though external development still requires planning permission. Houses around it do not enjoy that exemption. If yours is listed, the council wants to know about anything that changes its character, so the first step is reading its listing, before any suggestion beyond a repair that restores what is there. On a listed house the survey photographs matter more than usual, because they record the roof as it stood before work began.

3.1 The conservation area and its windows direction

Horsham District Council adopted a new appraisal and management plan for Slinfold Conservation Area in September 2020, and the village also has an Article 4 direction that removes the right to improve or alter a dwellinghouse where the work faces a highway, a watercourse or open space and involves taking out an external window. It is about windows, not roofs, so a re-roof in the same materials does not fall under it. Even so, switching a clay tile to a concrete one, or a slate to a tile, can change a street's appearance, which is when a call to Horsham District Council's planning team earns its keep. Our skylight planning permission guide covers the roof window question.

3.2 A village in a dip, with the Arun to the north

Slinfold sits in a natural dip, with the River Arun running north of the village. In a hollow, water leaves the roof and has to go somewhere, so we pay attention to gutter falls, downpipe outlets and what the ground does with the discharge. West Sussex County Council licenses scaffold that blocks any part of a road or footway, and the application route is worth confirming with your roofer. Its guidance asks for at least 10 working days from the date of application to the date the scaffold goes up, with a one-month licence listed at £266. That notice sets the start date. A leak does not wait for it, so the roof is made safe at once with a temporary cover and the main work is timed to follow. Where a lane is narrow, we also agree before the first day where deliveries, the skip and the scaffold boards will sit, so neighbours are not surprised by a lorry at the gate.