Roofing guides
Longer reads on the roofing questions we are asked most, written for homes along the West Sussex coast. Browse by topic below.
Hiring a roofer: what happens from the first call to the final check9 min read
How much does it cost to install a new pitched roof in the UK?9 min read
How much does a new flat roof cost in the UK?9 min read
How much does a roof replacement cost in the UK?9 min read
How much does a roof repair cost in the UK?8 min read
How much does an emergency roof repair cost?8 min read
Choosing a roofer and local roofs
- How can you tell a dodgy roofer? The warning signs to look for
- What does roof work cost in the UK? A guide to typical prices
- Roof work and the rules: Building Regulations, planning and consent explained
- Do you need planning permission for roof work?
- Making a roof insurance claim: storms, wear and tear and what insurers ask for
- Buying a house: the roof checks to make before you exchange
- A seasonal roof maintenance checklist for homes on the Sussex coast
- Bognor Regis houses and their roofs: Regency terraces to post-war bungalows
- Living by the sea: how coastal weather affects your roof
- Chalet bungalow roofs: repairs, dormers and re-roofing on seaside bungalows
- Roof work in Bognor Regis conservation areas: The Steyne, Aldwick Road and more
Pitched roofing
- Repair or replace a tiled pitched roof? How to decide
- Do you need planning permission for a pitched roof?
- Clay vs concrete roof tiles: which suits your house?
- Types of roof tiles: plain, interlocking, pantile and more
- Keeping tiles on in high winds: BS 5534 fixing explained
- Roof underlay and ventilation: stopping condensation in a pitched roof
- Plain clay tile roofs on interwar homes: repair and re-roofing
- Converting a flat roof to a pitched roof
- Dormer roofs: re-covering, leaks and the planning rules
- Tile hanging: repairing and replacing vertical tiles
- Getting a tiled roof ready for winter
Flat roofing
- Flat roof repair or replacement: how to decide
- Flat roofs and Building Regulations: insulation, falls and approval
- EPDM vs GRP vs felt: choosing a flat roof covering
- EPDM rubber roofing: how it is fitted, how long it lasts and what it costs
- GRP fibreglass flat roofs explained
- Torch-on felt roofing: the modern built-up system
- Liquid roofing and flat roof coatings: when they work and when they don't
- Warm roof or cold roof: insulating a flat roof properly
- Flat roof falls and drainage: why water ponds and how it is fixed
- Flat roofs on extensions and dormers: the details that fail first
- Flat roofs in winter: storms, ponding and wet-weather repairs
Roof replacement
- When should a roof be replaced rather than repaired?
- Re-roofing and Building Regulations: the 25% and 50% tests explained
- Do you need planning permission to replace a roof?
- Which roofing material is best for a UK home?
- Signs you need a new roof
- Re-roofing a listed building or a house in a conservation area
- What happens during a roof replacement, day by day
- Insulating when you re-roof: what Part L asks for
- Re-roofing a bungalow: costs, materials and what to expect
- Re-roofing a terraced house: scaffold, access and the neighbours
- Can a roof be replaced in winter?
Roof repairs
- Is it cheaper to repair or replace a roof?
- Do roof repairs need Building Regulations approval?
- The most common roof problems and how they are repaired
- Nail sickness on slate and tile roofs: signs and repair
- Will your home insurance pay for a roof repair?
- Repairing a roof in a conservation area or on a listed building
- How roofers find a roof leak
- Roof valley repairs: lead, GRP and tiled valleys
- Do you need scaffolding for a roof repair?
- Photo evidence on roof repairs: what you should be shown
- Roof repairs in winter: what can and can't be done
Emergency roof repairs
- Storm-damaged roof: what to do first
- When is a roof problem an emergency?
- How to do a temporary roof repair safely
- Claiming on insurance for storm damage to your roof
- Roof leaking in heavy rain: causes and fixes
- What a roof make-safe involves: covers, tarpaulins and scaffold
- Water coming through the ceiling: what to do now
- Tiles or chimney pots blown off: dealing with storm damage safely
- Emergency repairs on listed and conservation-area roofs
- Before the storms: preparing a coastal roof for winter gales
- Frost, ice and snow damage on roofs
Slate roofing
- How much does a new slate roof cost in the UK?
- Is it cheaper to slate or tile a roof?
- Re-slating and Building Regulations: weight, insulation and approval
- Welsh, Spanish or Brazilian slate: how natural slates compare
- Natural slate vs fibre cement and composite slates
- Re-slating a roof: strip, sort, reuse and re-cover
- Slate roof repairs: slipped slates, tingles and broken slates
- Signs your slate roof is failing
- Slate roofs in conservation areas: reinstating slate on seafront terraces
- Victorian and Edwardian slate roofs: what fails and how it is repaired
- Nails or hooks: how slates are fixed
- Slate roofs in storms and winter weather
Ridge tile repairs
- How much does it cost to repair ridge tiles?
- Repoint or go dry-fix? Choosing a ridge repair
- Ridge tiles and BS 5534: why mortar alone is no longer relied on
- Dry ridge systems explained: BS 8612 and mechanical fixing
- Dry verge: replacing mortar verges on gable ends
- Hip tiles: rebedding, hip irons and dry hip systems
- How do you fix ridge tiles? The job step by step
- Signs your ridge tiles are failing
- Ridge and verge in coastal wind: what holds them on
- Ridge ventilation: vented ridge systems and condensation
- Ridge and verge on period and listed roofs: lime, mortar and matching
- Can ridge tiles be rebedded in winter?
Chimney repairs
- What is the average cost to repair a chimney in the UK?
- Chimney repointing: when it is needed and what it involves
- Rebuilding a chimney stack: when repair is no longer enough
- Chimney removal: taking down a stack and the regulations that apply
- Does house insurance cover chimney repairs?
- Chimneys in conservation areas and on listed buildings
- Chimney flashing: lead, soakers and why stacks leak
- Chimney flaunching: repair and replacement
- Damp chimney breast: causes and cures from the roof side
- Leaning chimney stack: causes, risks and repair
- Chimney pots, caps and cowls: capping, venting and replacing
- Chimneys in winter storms: the checks to make before the gales
Lead roofing
- How much does lead roofing cost?
- Lead flashing: where it goes, how it fails and how it is renewed
- Lead sheet codes explained: code 3 to code 8
- Lead alternatives: lead-free flashings and substitutes compared
- Leadwork on listed buildings and churches
- Lead valleys: repair, replacement and alternatives
- Lead bay window roofs and porch canopies
- Lead flat roofs: rolls, drips and bays on period homes
- Lead-clad dormers: cheeks, tops and aprons
- Lead theft from roofs: prevention and what to do next
- Patination oil and white staining on new lead
- Leadwork in winter and wet weather
Gutters, soffits and fascias
- How much does it cost to get guttering done?
- How much should soffits and fascias cost?
- Is it worth replacing soffits and fascias?
- uPVC, cast iron or aluminium gutters: which to choose
- Gutter cleaning: how often, how it is done and what it costs
- Replacing soffits, fascias and gutters on a four-bed house
- Cast iron gutters on period and listed homes
- Leaking gutter joints and sagging runs: repairs explained
- Rotten fascia boards: repair, cap or replace?
- Downpipes, hoppers and where roof water goes
- Gutter guards and leaf mesh: do they work?
- Gutters in autumn and winter: leaves, overflow and ice
Skylights and roof windows
- How much does it cost to install a Velux roof window?
- Roof lanterns: installation, replacement and Building Regulations
- Flat roof skylights: fixed, opening and walk-on rooflights
- Do you need planning permission to put a skylight in your roof?
- Roof windows and Building Regulations: Part L, escape and structure
- What is a cheaper alternative to Velux?
- Is it cheaper to put in a window or a skylight?
- Replacing an old Velux window: like-for-like swaps and upgrades
- Leaking roof window: flashings, seals and condensation
- Roof windows for loft conversions: size, position and escape
- Roof windows in conservation areas and on listed buildings
- Sun tunnels and tubular rooflights
Roof inspections
- How much does it cost for someone to check your roof?
- What a roof survey checks, top to bottom
- The surveyor flagged the roof: what happens next
- Roof inspections for insurance claims
- Inspecting a period or listed roof
- Drone roof inspections: what they show and what they miss
- How often should a roof be inspected?
- Roof condition reports for buying, selling and insurance
- What you can check from the loft yourself
- Post-storm roof inspections: what a roofer looks for
- Flat roof surveys: moisture, seams and outlets
- Why autumn is the time for a roof check
Roof cleaning
- How much should you pay to have your roof cleaned?
- Is getting your roof cleaned worth it?
- How can you remove moss from a roof in the UK?
- Pressure washing roofs: why it can do more harm than good
- Soft washing and biocide treatment explained
- Cleaning roofs on historic and listed buildings
- Cleaning slate, clay and concrete roofs: one method does not fit all
- Roof coatings after cleaning: do they work?
- Lichen on roof tiles: harmless patina or a problem?
- Moss, gutters and downpipes: why cleaning the roof means clearing the gutters
- Black streaks and green algae on roof tiles
- The best time of year to clean a roof
Conservatory roofs
- What is the average cost to replace a conservatory roof?
- What is the cheapest way to replace a conservatory roof?
- Do you need Building Regulations approval for a solid conservatory roof?
- Solid and tiled conservatory roofs: the conversion explained
- Glass, polycarbonate or tiled: comparing conservatory roof options
- Leaking conservatory roof: repair or replace?
- Lightweight tiled roof systems for conservatories
- Insulating a conservatory roof: panels, liners and full conversions
- A conservatory too hot in summer and cold in winter: what the roof can fix
- What is the difference between a conservatory and an orangery roof?
- How a conservatory roof replacement is carried out
- Replacing a conservatory roof in winter
Garage roofs
- What is the average cost of replacing a garage roof?
- What is the cheapest way to replace a garage roof?
- Garage roof repair or replacement?
- Felt, EPDM, GRP or sheeting: choosing a garage roof
- Asbestos garage roofs: removal, rules and what to expect
- Is my garage roof asbestos? How to tell
- Overcladding an asbestos garage roof: when it is an option
- Corrugated garage roof sheets: fibre cement, steel and bitumen
- Insulating a garage roof
- Garage conversions: what the roof needs
- Pitched garage roofs: re-tiling and re-felting
- Leaking garage roof in winter: quick fixes and real repairs
Spray foam removal
- How much does it cost to get spray foam insulation removed?
- Why are people removing spray foam insulation?
- Spray foam and mortgages: what lenders have said
- What RICS says about spray foam insulation
- Open-cell vs closed-cell spray foam
- How spray foam is removed from a roof
- Selling a house with spray foam insulation
- Does spray foam damage roof timbers?
- Spray foam surveys: what an inspection looks at
- Spray foam sold as a fix for a leaking roof
- Insulating the loft after spray foam removal
- Spray foam, condensation and roof ventilation
Commercial roofing
- Commercial roof replacement costs: what drives the price
- Repair or replace a commercial roof?
- Commercial re-roofing, Building Regulations and insulation
- Commercial flat roofs: built-up felt, liquid and single-ply compared
- Single-ply roofing: PVC, TPO and EPDM membranes
- Cut-edge corrosion on metal roofs: treatment and repair
- Over-roofing an industrial unit: when to overclad instead of strip
- Commercial cladding repair and over-cladding
- Fragile roofs and rooflights: safe access on commercial buildings
- Asbestos cement roofs on industrial units
- Planned maintenance for commercial roofs
- Planning commercial roof work around winter and trading hours
Horsham stone roofing
- What is Horsham stone roofing?
- Why Horsham stone roofs cost more, and what drives the price
- Repair, re-lay or replace a Horsham stone roof?
- Re-roofing a stone roof in a conservation area: do you need permission?
- Horsham stone roofs on listed buildings: consent and the conservation officer
- Reclaimed or newly quarried Horsham stone?
- Horsham stone vs sandstone, slate and reconstituted stone
- Why must lime mortar be used on old roofs?
- Roof structure under stone: weight, timbers and pitch
- Diminishing courses: how stone roofs are laid
- Stone roofs in the South Downs National Park: planning and who decides
- Stone roofs in frost and winter storms
Each guide explains a job from the roof up: what fails, what the repair involves and what moves the cost. Where rules apply, such as Building Regulations or planning, we say what to check with your council or building control body rather than guess.
For short answers to one-line questions, see the answers section. To talk about your own roof, read about our roofing services or call 01243 252373.
Get a quote
Tell us about your roof
Describe what's happening and we'll call you back.
Loading the enquiry form. You can also call 01243 252373.