Roofing service
Roof repairs
Most roofs that leak or shed a slate need a repair, not a new roof. We find the actual cause, show you photographs of it, and fix that, whether it is a single slipped slate on a tingle or a slope suffering nail sickness.
Free photographed survey
Every slope, chimney and gutter photographed.
Report yours to keep
Whether you hire us or not.
Agreed in writing
Scope fixed before any work starts.
One point of contact
Your survey and every follow-up handled by one person, 8am–6pm.
What’s included
What does roof repairs cover?
- Slipped, cracked and missing slates
- Broken and displaced concrete and clay tiles
- Nail sickness diagnosis
- Copper and lead tingle repairs
- Felt and membrane patching at the eaves
- Storm-lifted tiles re-fixed
Signs to look for
How do you know you need it?
A slate on the lawn or in the gutter
Usually the nail has rusted through, not the slate. One slate is a repair; several from one slope can mean nail sickness.
Daylight or damp in the loft
Look up on a bright day. Light through the slope or staining on the rafters points to where water is getting in.
A staircase pattern of gaps
Missing slates in a stepped line follow the coursing. It tells us how the roof was fixed and how far the problem runs.
What most roofers won’t tell you
What is nail sickness, and why does it decide repair vs re-roof?
Nail sickness is when the iron nails holding a slate roof rust through. It is the most common reason Victorian and Edwardian slate roofs shed slates, and the slate itself is often perfectly sound.
Natural Welsh slate can last well over a century. The original iron nails often last 80 to 100 years. When they go, slates slip one after another. A few can be refixed on tingles. When the nails have failed across a whole slope, refixing slate by slate becomes a never-ending repair, and stripping and re-nailing (often reusing the good slates) is the honest answer.
We check by lifting slates and looking at the nails, then photograph it so you can see the evidence yourself.
Our approach
How do we do it?
- 01
Survey and photograph
We go up, photograph every defect and the condition of the surrounding roof.
- 02
Repair vs re-roof, honestly
If a repair will last, we repair. If the fixings have failed across the slope, we tell you why with photos.
- 03
Match the material
Reclaimed slates and tiles matched for size, colour and thickness so the repair disappears.
- 04
Photos of the finished work
You see what was done, even on the slopes you can’t see from the garden.
Local pages
Roof repairs near you
Every town has different roofs. Pick yours for local housing stock, conservation areas and what typically goes wrong there.
- Roof repairs in St Albans
- Roof repairs in Harpenden
- Roof repairs in Wheathampstead
- Roof repairs in London Colney
- Roof repairs in Radlett
- Roof repairs in Bushey
- Roof repairs in Rickmansworth
- Roof repairs in Chorleywood
- Roof repairs in Northwood
- Roof repairs in Ruislip
- Roof repairs in Hemel Hempstead
- Roof repairs in Berkhamsted
- Roof repairs in Chesham
- Roof repairs in Amersham
- Roof repairs in Little Chalfont
- Roof repairs in Chalfont St Giles
- Roof repairs in Chalfont St Peter
- Roof repairs in Beaconsfield
- Roof repairs in Wendover
- Roof repairs in Bourne End
- Roof repairs in Tring
- Roof repairs in Gerrards Cross
- Roof repairs in Great Missenden
- Roof repairs in Marlow
- Roof repairs in Pinner
- Roof repairs in Stanmore
- Roof repairs in Ickenham
- Roof repairs in Harefield
Questions
Common questions
Can you replace just one slate?
Yes. A single slipped or broken slate is refixed or replaced using a copper or lead tingle, with a reclaimed slate matched to the rest of the roof.
How do I know if it’s a repair or a new roof?
We lift slates and look at the fixings, the battens and the felt. If the nails are sound and the damage is local, it is a repair. You get photographs either way.
Do you do small repairs?
Yes. Small repairs are how most people first meet us, and they are often the most useful jobs we do.
Related
Slate and tile repairs
Matching reclaimed material, nail sickness sorted properly.
Roof leak repairs
Leak detection and tracing to find the real source, then a lasting fix.
Ridge, hip and verge work
Mortar bedding, re-bedding, repointing, bonnet hips and haunching.
Roof surveys and inspections
Free, photographed, drone where appropriate. The report is yours.
Free · Photographed · No pressure
Find out what your roof actually needs.
Book a free roof survey. We photograph every slope, chimney and gutter, explain it in plain English, and the report is yours to keep whether you hire us or not.