Roofers in West Dean

West Dean village lies on the right bank of the River Lavant at about 200 feet, in the south-east corner of a parish that climbs away onto the downs. The county history of Sussex describes the older cottages as 17th-century houses of flint and brick, and adds that most of the later buildings also have flint walls. For a roofer that tells you what the roof is sitting on before you ever reach the slope. Flint walls are thick, uneven and unforgiving, so every junction between roof and wall has to be cut and dressed to suit that particular wall, never to a standard kit. It also means the loft is rarely square, and the first job on any visit is to find out where the roof timbers really bear.

1.1 Brick chimney-shafts on the old cottages

The same account notes brick chimney-shafts on those 17th-century cottages. A shaft is the stretch of chimney standing proud of the roof, and it takes the worst of the weather. On a house this age the repair list tends to start there. We look at the pointing, at the flaunching (the sloping mortar collar that holds the pot and sheds water) and at the lead that joins the stack to the slope. A cracked collar lets water into the shaft, and lead that has lifted lets it behind the tiles. Our chimney repairs page explains each part, and a repoint is sometimes all a sound shaft needs. Where bricks have begun to flake, we show you the damage in the photographs so you can see why only a rebuild will hold. A shaft that leans or sheds brick dust is a safety matter, and we make it safe before anything else.

1.2 Where a thatched roof meets its neighbours

One thatched cottage in the village is half early 17th-century timber framing and half later flint and brick. That mix turns up wherever a house has grown over centuries, and it puts two or three roof types within a short walk of each other. Thatching belongs to a specialist thatcher. Our part is the neighbouring work: the tiled or slated section, the lead where a roof butts a flint wall, and the gutters that carry water clear of the thatch at the eaves. Where two slopes share a valley (the channel where they meet), we photograph the junction so every trade can see exactly what is there before anyone starts. A neat, dry join on day one saves an argument about whose leak it is on day four hundred.

West Dean sits inside the South Downs National Park, which alters the list of people you need to ring. Planning decisions in the Park belong to its Authority, yet Chichester District Council's officers are the ones who take in and process West Dean applications for it. Building control stays with Chichester District Council. The village also has its own conservation area, shown on the Authority's Chichester maps. Covering a roof again in matching material seldom needs planning permission, yet a listing or the conservation area can add conditions, so ring Chichester District Council's planners before you fix a start date.

3.1 Roof windows in the Park

Owners of cottage roofs often want light in the loft. Inside a National Park and a conservation area the planning position is tighter than on an ordinary suburban street, and a dormer is the larger step. Read our guide to skylight planning permission before anything is drawn up, then put your questions to the planners about your own house. Any new roof window must also meet Approved Document L (2021, Table 4.2), and the limit is Window Energy Rating Band B or 1.4 W/m²K. From 24 March 2027 the 2026 edition applies, with matching values.

3.2 Re-roofing, weight and the scaffold

The Planning Portal puts the building control line at 25 per cent of the whole building envelope and 50 per cent of the roof, and below both a re-cover is not normally notifiable. A covering roughly 15 per cent heavier or more brings building control in too. On a rubble or flint cottage the old roof timbers may not take extra weight, so we check the structure before suggesting a different tile. Putting scaffold up on a narrow lane calls for a highway licence granted by West Sussex County Council, with at least 10 working days' notice. Allow for that wait when you plan the work, and ask us about a temporary cover for the gap. Because the Park does not run building control, any notification goes to Chichester District Council or to a registered building control approver, and we explain which applies to your job. Old village roofs can shelter bats or nesting birds, which are protected, so tell us if you have seen either before we start, and we will plan around them. Ask for the date of any earlier re-roof as well, because it tells us what to expect under the covering.