Beacon Basingstoke Roofing

Roofers in Ash Vale

Ash Vale sits 20.7 road miles east of Basingstoke, described as a small semi-military community of the post-war era, with the Basingstoke Canal, a heath edge and two railway lines crossing at its centre. We survey roofs here with photographs, then give you a fixed written quote.

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A row of Victorian terraced houses with Welsh slate roofs and brick chimneys in Reading

Roof types around Ash Vale

  • Brick estate houses with concrete tile roofs among pine trees

    Post-war estate houses

    Ash Vale is described as a small semi-military community of the post-war era, and much of its housing dates from the decades after the war. Roofs of that period commonly carry concrete interlocking tiles over felt underlay, with the ridge line set in a mortar bed. Several decades on, the ridge mortar and the felt along the eaves are the first parts to give up, well ahead of the tiles.

  • Brick chimney stack with clay pots

    Canal-side and heath-edge roofs

    The Basingstoke Canal passes through the village and an aqueduct carries it over the River Blackwater. On the east side the heath has very acidic, sandy soil, with heather, fern and gorse nearby. Roofs close to the water and the heath collect plant litter in valleys and gutters, and shaded slopes hold moss and lichen long after rain.

  • A Hampshire village cottage of flint and brick with a steep clay plain tile roof

    Garages, porches and extensions

    The lower roofs sit behind the estate houses: single garages, porches and rear extensions, many covered in bitumen felt. Post-war garages in the village may also have corrugated asbestos cement sheets. These roofs age in different ways, so each gets its own repair or re-cover, priced from the survey photos of your roof.

20.7 road miles east of Basingstoke

Ash Vale planning and building control

Guildford Borough Council is the planning and building control authority for Ash Vale. The village also carries a piece of local heritage that matters to roofers: the Surrey section of the Basingstoke Canal Conservation Area, designated by Surrey County Council in 1985, begins at Ash Vale, where the canal enters Surrey from Hampshire. Because the canal crosses council boundaries, check which council holds the appraisal for your address, and read the canal conservation area appraisal if your house stands near the towpath.

Inside a conservation area, like-for-like repair is normally straightforward, but a change of tile, slate or appearance may need consent, so speak to the planning team before anything is ordered. For the estate houses, building control is more often the issue than planning: stripping a whole slope or roof to the rafters can call for a building control application, which we take care of for you. A roof window beside the canal needs its own check, and our skylight planning permission answer shows what to ask the council.

Faults on Ash Vale roofs

Roofs in Ash Vale fall into three groups: the post-war estate houses, the roofs beside the canal and the heath, and the garages and extensions behind them. The estates have reached the stage where a concrete tile roof starts to show its age at the ridge and the eaves. Closer to the heath and the water, damp and plant litter set the pace.

Chapter 1: What has loosened the ridge tiles on our post-war semi in Ash Vale?

What we find

Houses built after the war were typically roofed in concrete interlocking tiles. The ridge (the capping along the top) and the verge (the edge at a gable end) were bedded in sand and cement. After generations of winter frost, summer sun and rain that mortar shrinks back from the tile, the bond weakens, and a ridge tile starts to rock in its bed. A strong gust can then lift it clear.

Look for crumbs of mortar on a path or in the gutter, or for one ridge tile sitting proud of the line of the others. In the loft, a chink of daylight beside the ridge timber, or a damp mark on the wood beneath it, tells you rain is getting in. Neighbouring houses built around the same time tend to be failing in much the same way, and an earlier patch repair can leave a mix of old and new mortar.

What we fix

Our first step is to take up a handful of ridge tiles and judge whether the tiles are in good order and the mortar alone has perished, as it usually has. Under BS 5534, mortar by itself is no longer enough to hold the ridge, hips and verges; each tile needs a mechanical fixing. On these houses we therefore recommend a dry-fix system, with screws or clips holding the tiles to a continuous batten on top of a breathable roll. BS 8612 covers dry-fix products.

Verges can be done during the same visit with clip-on dry verge units that keep wind from getting beneath the tile ends. Our ridge tile repairs page sets out the choices, and you see photographs of the old ridge before you decide. A typical UK range for dry-fixing a semi-detached ridge is £900 to £1,600, and scaffold can add £300 to £900. Your fixed quote follows the survey.

Chapter 2: Where is the brown ceiling stain by the outside wall of our Ash Vale bedroom coming from?

What we find

Underlay is a membrane stretched across the rafters under the battens, which catches whatever water the tiles let through. In post-war houses it was bitumen felt. At the eaves it laps down into the gutter, where it sits exposed to sun and wind, and by now much of it is brittle and has curled back. Rain driven beneath the lowest course of tiles then lands on the wall plate rather than running into the gutter.

The giveaway indoors is a tide mark on the ceiling close to the outside wall, which darkens after driving rain. Fascia, the board running along the eaves that holds the gutter, may be rotting too, as damp has been reaching it for a long time. On a roof like this the tiles are usually still worth keeping.

What we fix

If only the eaves strip of felt is spent, we lift the bottom tile courses, fit an eaves carrier tray (a rigid strip that channels water off the underlay and into the gutter), cut out any rotten fascia and relay the tiles. That leaves the remaining roof to carry on for years, at far less cost than a new one. Should the felt have perished higher up, something we check from inside the loft, patching is pointless and a full re-roof is the honest answer.

A complete strip and re-cover involves fresh breathable underlay, fresh battens, and your existing tiles either cleaned and relaid or replaced by new ones. For a three-bed semi in concrete tile, a typical UK range for a re-roof is between £6,500 and £10,500. Work at that scale is notifiable, so building control is something we handle. Our roof replacement page explains the process, and the fixed quote you receive follows the survey.

Chapter 3: Why do the gutters on our Ash Vale house keep filling with debris from the heath?

What we find

The heath on the east side of Ash Vale has very acidic, sandy, loamy soil, and Ricochet Hill in the Ash Ranges is mostly covered in heather, fern and gorse. Homes on that side of the village back onto open ground, so plant litter blows across the roofs and settles where slopes meet, in the valleys, and in the gutters along the eaves. Seed and leaves from nearby trees add to the pile.

Debris that lodges holds water, and moss takes root in it. A blocked valley pushes water sideways beneath the tiles either side, and a clogged gutter spills down the wall or backs up under the lowest course. Beside the canal, where shade keeps everything damp, this happens sooner. Look for staining below gutter joints, plants growing from the gutter itself, or a damp patch on the wall underneath.

What we fix

We clear gutters and valleys by hand, check that outlets and downpipes run freely, and inspect each joint for leaks. A split valley liner is repaired or replaced, and we suggest gutter guards only where they will genuinely help and not simply hide a fault. We then check the roof surface for lifted tiles or crumbling mortar.

Moss on the tiles is removed by hand and treated with a biocide to kill the spores left behind, because a pressure washer can strip the tile surface. Reported UK prices for hand moss removal typically fall between £748 and £978 by roof size. Our moss blocking gutters guide covers the drainage side in more detail.

Chapter 4: Could the corrugated sheets on our Ash Vale garage be asbestos, and what happens next?

What we find

Outbuildings beside the post-war houses were covered with whatever was cheap and quick to fit. A flat-roofed garage or back extension usually got bitumen felt on a timber deck, while some garages and sheds got corrugated sheets of asbestos cement. They deteriorate differently. Felt tends to split and blister, its joints lift, and water collects in dips where the deck has sagged. Asbestos cement gathers moss and lichen, turns brittle, and cracks around its fixing bolts.

No one can say for certain by eye that a sheet is asbestos cement, but grey corrugated sheeting of that vintage should be assumed suspect until a test says otherwise. Never drill into it, jet wash it or walk on it. On a felt garage, watch for bubbling, a split along the leading edge, and boards behind the front fascia that feel soft when pressed from below.

What we fix

Corrugated asbestos cement can be lowered carefully in one piece and HSE guidance treats this as non-licensed work provided there is a risk assessment, suitable controls and trained operatives. If breaking the sheets is unavoidable the work becomes notifiable, which is why we plan to take them off intact. For a small garage, laying a new roof over the top can be the wiser option, and after the survey we say which suits yours.

With felt garages and extensions, we take the roof back to the deck, renew soft boards, and finish with EPDM, a synthetic rubber membrane supplied as one sheet. A typical UK range for an EPDM roof on one garage is £1,200 to £2,500, and the fixed quote you receive follows the survey. Our is my garage roof asbestos guide helps you decide what to do next.

Questions about roofing in Ash Vale

Why does the ridge on a post-war concrete-tiled house keep cracking?

Ridge tiles are normally bedded in mortar, and that mortar cracks as the roof moves and weathers. Once it opens, water gets under the ridge and into the loft. We check whether the tiles themselves are sound. If so, we rebed them or fit a dry-fix ridge system, which holds them with mechanical fixings instead of relying on mortar alone.

Does the canal conservation area affect roof repairs on my Ash Vale house?

It can, depending on where the house stands. The Surrey section of the Basingstoke Canal Conservation Area begins at Ash Vale, and in a conservation area like-for-like repair is usually fine while a change of material or appearance may need consent. Check with the council's planners before you order materials, and we will photograph the existing roof so you have a record.

Can you work on a roof beside the Ash Vale towpath and aqueduct?

Yes. Access is the main question, because the towpath can be narrow and the ground soft, so we plan where ladders, scaffold and deliveries will go before we quote. We keep the path clear for walkers and boaters where the work touches it. You will see the plan in the written quote, with any scaffold costs shown separately.

Why is there so much moss on my roof when the house is near the heath?

Acidic, sandy ground and open heath bring damp air and plant litter, and any roof that stays wet will grow moss, shaded slopes worst of all. We take it off by hand and treat the roof with a biocide, since pressure washing can strip tile surfaces, and the gutters get cleared on the same visit. Trimming back overhanging branches helps stop it returning.

Do you replace felt flat roofs on Ash Vale garages and extensions?

Yes. We strip the old felt, inspect the deck for any soft boards, then lay the new covering, usually EPDM or GRP (glass-reinforced plastic, which is applied wet and sets hard). The survey photographs show you the problem before you commit to anything. Our flat roofing page sets out the options and how the work runs.

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