Roof Maintenance
The cheapest roof work you will ever pay for
Almost every expensive roof job we are called to started as a cheap one that nobody looked at. A cracked ridge bed, a lifted flashing, a valley silted up with moss — none of it is urgent, all of it is invisible from the pavement, and any of it will eventually let water into the timbers.
What a maintenance visit involves
We get up on the roof and go over it properly. Ridge and hip bedding, verge condition, the state of the flashings around chimneys and abutments, slates that have slipped or cracked, valleys and gutters cleared, and a look into the loft where we can, because the underside of a roof tells you things the top does not. You get told what we found, with photographs, whether or not there is anything to sell you.
Moss is not just cosmetic
The damp Sussex climate grows moss enthusiastically, and it holds water against the covering long after the rain has stopped. On slate it works into the laps. In gutters and valleys it packs down into a dam. We clear it by hand and by brush — not with a pressure washer, which drives water up under the courses and strips the surface off concrete tiles.
After the storm
The most useful visit of the year is often the one after a named storm, and it is also the one people skip because nothing obviously fell off. Wind damage is usually partial: a ridge lifted and dropped back, a slate rotated in place, a flashing pulled out of its chase. It looks fine from the ground and it is not, and finding it before the next front arrives is the whole point.
Landlords, holiday lets and second homes
This coast has a great many properties that are empty for long stretches, and a leak in an empty house does far more damage than a leak in an occupied one, simply because nobody sees it. If you are not there, a scheduled check is worth considerably more than it costs.
What the job includes
- Full visual inspection with photographs of anything found
- Ridge, hip and verge condition checked and reported
- Flashings, chimneys and abutments inspected
- Moss removed by hand and brush, never by pressure washer
- Valleys, gutters and outlets cleared and tested
- Minor repairs carried out on the visit where practical
- Post-storm checks and reports
- Scheduled visits for holiday lets, rentals and second homes
Talk it through first
Half the time we can tell you on the phone whether it sounds like a morning’s work or something bigger.
Roof Maintenance
Questions we get asked about this
How often should a roof be checked on the coast?
Annually for anything genuinely exposed, and every two to three years for a sheltered, inland property. Our coastal exposure check will give you a sensible interval for your particular position in about a minute.
Do you pressure wash roofs?
No, and we would advise against letting anyone else. It forces water up under the slate laps, strips the protective surface off concrete tiles and can dislodge bedding. Moss comes off perfectly well by hand and by brush without damaging the covering.
Is a maintenance visit worth it if nothing is wrong?
That is exactly when it is worth it. The point is to find the cracked bed and the lifted flashing while they are still a half-hour job. If we get up there and everything is sound, we will tell you that and you will have a photographic record of a roof in good order.
Can you check a property while I am not there?
Yes, and we do a great deal of it for second homes and holiday lets. You get the report and the photographs by email.
Free quotes & advice
Get a free quote for roof maintenance
We will come out, look at it properly and put it in writing — what is wrong, what we propose, and what we are using. No charge either way.