Beacon Basingstoke Roofing

Roofers in Silchester

Silchester is 8.3 road miles north of Basingstoke, a village centred on its common, with the surviving walls of a Roman town in the parish. Its roofs run from thatch and old brick near The Pound to detached and semi-detached family houses under tile. A survey with pictures of your own roof comes first, and the price we give you afterwards is fixed.

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Brick estate houses with concrete tile roofs among pine trees

Roofs we see in Silchester

  • 1960s and 70s brick semi-detached houses with concrete interlocking tile roofs on a Basingstoke estate street

    Thatch, timber and old brick

    The village centre and The Pound are a conservation area, first designated in 1992. The appraisal says the materials range from early timber frames and thatch to 18th-century brickwork, and that the survival of thatch reinforces the rural character. Where a tiled or slated house stands beside a thatched neighbour, its chimneys and lead flashings take close inspection.

  • An Edwardian red-brick detached house with clay tile roof and tile-hung gables in north Hampshire

    Detached and semi-detached houses

    Housing in Silchester is predominantly detached and semi-detached, and that means roofs with plenty of edge: gables, hips, a ridge at each wing and often a garage roof on the side. More edge means more verges, ridge tiles and junctions to keep sound. Tiles on these roofs are usually fine, and the repair is usually at the hips, the verge or a worn flashing.

  • Roofer fitting roof tiles on a brick house near Basingstoke

    Plots on the common and woodland edge

    The present village is centred on Silchester Common, an area of open heathland and woodland, and many houses stand among trees. Shade keeps a roof damp, needles and leaves fill the valleys and gutters, and branches rub tiles in a gale. A roof under heavy tree cover needs its gutters cleared more often and its moss treated by hand, not blasted off with a jet wash.

8.3 road miles north of Basingstoke

Planning and building control in Silchester

Silchester answers to Basingstoke and Deane for planning applications and for building control alike. The Silchester Conservation Area takes in the village centre and The Pound, and the council publishes its appraisal on the conservation appraisals page. It is worth reading before you plan roof work on any older house here. Silchester House, a Tudor Gothic house from about 1840, is listed, and the roofs of listed buildings are treated more strictly again.

Inside the protected centre, repairing like for like is rarely a problem, while a change of tile, slate or thatch might require consent, which the conservation officer can confirm beforehand. Outside it, on the detached and semi-detached roads, building control is usually the issue: taking a whole roof back to the rafters can be notifiable, and we handle that side. If you are planning a roof window, our conservation rooflights guide covers the extra care that a protected setting calls for.

What we find on Silchester roofs

Trees, age and a protected centre shape every roof in this village. The village is a place where a thatched cottage can sit beside a tiled house and a detached family home, all under the same tree canopy. The faults follow from that mix.

Chapter 1: Is the chimney on our house next to a thatched cottage in Silchester safe to leave?

What we find

A chimney on or beside a thatched roof carries more responsibility than most, because a spark or a failing flue lining matters more near straw. The stack is also the part of the house most open to wind and rain. Brick that is 200 or 300 years old can crumble, mortar joints open and the flaunching, which is the mortar shoulder bedding the pots at the top of the stack, cracks, letting water run down inside the brickwork.

From the garden you may see a lean in the stack, a pot with a crack across it, or white salt stains on the brick below the top. In the loft, look for damp patches on the chimney breast and a dark stain on the timbers beside it. Flashings at the base are the other usual leak point, and soakers (little lead tabs woven into the courses) often fail first.

What we fix

We inspect the stack from the roof, photograph each face and report what we find, before anyone talks about rebuilding. Often the answer is repointing in lime mortar, a new flaunching, replaced pots and renewed lead flashings. Lime lets the old brick breathe and give before the brick does, where cement would lock moisture in and flake the faces off. A rebuild is only needed when the brick itself has gone or the stack leans out of true.

UK cost guides put repointing a stack at £450 to £1,200 and chimney repairs generally at £500 to £2,000, and we fix our own price once we have seen the building. For the flue and any thatch-related questions, we suggest you take advice from the thatcher and a chimney sweep, and we work around them. Our chimney repairs page sets out the work.

Chapter 2: Why do the valleys and gutters on our wooded Silchester plot keep blocking?

What we find

A house among trees collects debris all year. Leaves land in autumn, needles from any conifers drop through the winter, and catkins, seeds and twigs follow in spring. A valley is the trough where two roof slopes meet, and it carries more water than any other part of the roof. When it fills with litter, rainwater backs up under the tiles on either side. Gutters clog in the same way, and the weight of wet leaves drags the brackets out of line.

Moss follows the shade. It grows on the north slope first, packs the gaps between tiles and holds water against them. You may notice water spilling over the front of the gutter, a green streak down the wall, or a wet patch on a ceiling below a valley. Overhanging branches that rub the tiles in a gale can crack them as well.

What we fix

We clear the valleys and gutters by hand, check the valley lining for splits and make sure every outlet runs free. Moss is lifted by hand and the roof treated with biocide, in preference to pressure washing, which can strip the surface from tiles and drive water under the laps. Loose brackets are refitted, and if the gutter is undersized for a big roof, we suggest a larger profile.

Where branches touch the roof, we suggest you have the tree cut back, since that does more for the roof than any cleaning can. Moss removal by hand with biocide is reported at about £748, £863 and £978 for a small, average and large roof, and our quote is fixed after the survey. We explain the process on our roof cleaning page, and the guttering page covers repairs to the run.

Chapter 3: Why do the hips and verges on our detached Silchester house keep slipping?

What we find

A detached house has more exposed edge than a terrace. Every hip (the sloping ridge where two roof planes meet at an outer corner) and every gable verge takes wind from several sides. On many older tiled houses, the hip and ridge tiles were set on a sand and cement bed, and the verge tiles were pointed the same way. Over time the mortar shrinks and cracks, and a strong gust can lift a tile out of its bed. Birds sometimes pick at loose mortar too.

You can often see the problem from the lane: a ridge tile that sits slightly off line, a patch of mortar crumbs in the gutter, or a gap along the verge where the tile ends no longer meet the wall. In the loft, daylight along the top of the roof or a stain on the timber under the ridge shows that water has been reaching it.

What we fix

A sample of tiles comes up first, so we can tell whether the tiles themselves are good and the mortar alone has gone, as it usually has. Sound tiles go back, but BS 5534 expects the ridge, hip and verge pieces to be fixed mechanically, with mortar never trusted alone. So we normally recommend a dry-fix system, where each tile is fixed with screws or clips onto a batten laid over a breathable membrane, and nothing depends on a mortar bed. BS 8612 covers the performance of dry-fix systems.

On a semi, guides report £900 to £1,600 for a dry ridge plus £300 to £900 for scaffold, and the quote we give is fixed once we have seen the roof. A detached house with several hips will cost more than that, and we price each run separately from the photographs. Under ridge, verge and dry-fix systems you will find the fixing methods compared.

Chapter 4: Can the old tiles on an 18th-century brick house in Silchester be repaired, not replaced?

What we find

The appraisal describes brickwork from the 18th century in the village centre, and the roofs on those houses are older than most of the tiles on them. Plain clay tiles were hung from battens on pegs or iron nails, and the faults follow from that. Nails rust through and tiles slip out. Pegs rot. Softer tiles absorb water and shed their faces in frost. Where a hip or valley has been leaded, the lead cracks along its folds after years of heat and cold.

Signs to watch for are tiles lying in the garden, a roofline that has started to sag, moss thick on one slope, and daylight showing at the eaves from the loft. For a house in the conservation area, or one that is listed like Silchester House, the council treats the roof as part of the character, so the choice of repair matters.

What we fix

Repair is normally right for roofs like these. We strip only the failed section, keep every tile that is still sound and patch the gaps using salvaged or hand-made plain tiles of the same colour and curve. New battens go in under the stripped area, and the tiles are fixed properly instead of being hung back on corroded nails. Failed lead is replaced with new lead cut to the existing tile gauge.

If more than a patch is needed, we photograph the whole roof and talk through the options with you before you approach the conservation officer, because a change of material may need consent. That photo record also shows the council what is there today. Where the roof really has reached the end of its life, we say so honestly. Our slate roofing page covers the alternative of natural slate.

Silchester roofing questions

Silchester has thatched cottages. Can you work on a thatched roof?

The thatching itself needs a thatcher, and we would send you to one rather than guess. What we can do is the roof detail around it: brick chimney stacks, lead flashings, adjoining tiled extensions, rainwater goods and the loft timbers. Many Silchester houses mix materials, so a thatched cottage may have a tiled rear addition. We photograph each part, and thatch or not, you get a clear view of what needs doing.

Do you work on houses next to thatched roofs in Silchester?

Yes, on the tiled, slated and leaded parts of the house, which is where we are of use. We repair and reflash chimneys, replace tiles and clear gutters on houses beside thatch, taking extra care around the thatched neighbour. The thatch itself is specialist work for a thatcher, and we are happy to coordinate with whoever you use.

Do roofs near Silchester Common need cleaning more often than others?

Often they do. The common is heathland and woodland, and houses close to it sit under trees that shade the roof and shed needles and leaves into the gutters. We clear moss by hand and treat the tiles with biocide, then clean the gutters and valleys on the same visit. A short check each autumn after the leaves have dropped keeps blockages from building up.

Can I fit a roof window in a house in the Silchester conservation area?

Often yes, though in a conservation area the type and position matter more. Read our conservation rooflights guide, then put your plans to Basingstoke and Deane's planning officers before you order one. A slim-framed rooflight set flush with the tiles is normally the style that sits best, and a listed house is treated more strictly again.

Which nearby villages do you cover alongside Silchester?

We cover Basingstoke and every town within 30 road miles. Close to Silchester, we also cover Tadley and Aldermaston. Wherever you are, the process is the same: a photo survey, then a fixed quote in writing, then a 10-year written guarantee on our workmanship. Old roofs can also hold bats and nesting birds, which are protected, so we check before work starts.

Nearby areas

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Tell us what’s happening and we’ll call you back to arrange a visit. You’ll get photos of your roof and a fixed written quote.

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  • 10-year workmanship guarantee

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