Roofers in Newbury

Newbury's older houses, around the town centre, along the canal and in the older parts of Wash Common, often have natural slate or clay tile roofs and chimney stacks. On old slate roofs, the most common problem is nail sickness. The nails holding each slate corrode, and slates slip one by one, often after autumn winds. On old clay tile roofs, the tiles themselves usually outlast the battens and fixings that hold them. A few slipped slates or tiles are a quick repair, but lots of them suggest the roof needs stripping and relaying, often reusing the sound ones. Chimneys need checking too: worn mortar joints, cracked flaunching and failed lead flashing all let water in.

Later family homes more often have concrete interlocking tiles, where the usual jobs are rebedding the ridge, or fitting a dry ridge and dry verge system that uses mechanical fixings instead of mortar. Flat roofs on garages, porches and rear extensions are common across the town, and older felt roofs often start to leak after 15 to 20 years. If your garage or outbuilding was built before 2000, its roof sheets may contain asbestos cement, so don't drill, cut or break them, and ask the roofer to check first.

In newer homes, including those at Newbury Racecourse, roof faults in the first couple of years may still be covered by the developer's warranty, so report them to the developer before you pay a roofer.

If your home is listed or in one of the conservation areas in and around Newbury, check with West Berkshire Council before you change the roof covering, or add roof lights or dormers. Like-for-like repairs are usually fine.

Scaffolding is often the biggest single cost in a roofing quote, so ask whether it's included and how long it will be up. Ask the roofer to send photos of the problem from the roof, and check what guarantee comes with the work. Reviews on Trade Pilot come from real, invoiced jobs, so you can see which roofers have finished similar work for other homeowners.