Roofers in Steyning

Horsham stone, and why it needs a proper look

Some of the older buildings here carry Horsham stone slabs — heavy sandstone slates laid in diminishing courses and traditionally hung on oak pegs. They are handsome and they are extremely heavy, so the first question on any slab roof is not the covering but the timbers underneath it. Where a slab roof is repairable it should be repaired in kind and salvaged slabs reused. It is specialist work and it should be priced as such.

Timber framing, flint and peg tile

Alongside the stone there is timber framing, flint walling, clay peg tile and tile hanging, much of it listed and most of the centre a conservation area. The rule is the same as anywhere with fabric this old: matched materials, traditional detailing, and consent where consent is needed. We will put the specification in writing in the form a conservation officer will want to see.

The wind gap

The Adur cuts clean through the Downs here, and the gap does what gaps always do — it funnels. Properties sitting in or just north of it get noticeably more wind than their distance from the sea would suggest, while those tucked under the scarp on the lee side are genuinely sheltered. It is the clearest example on our patch of why we look at the property rather than the map.