Beacon Basingstoke Roofing

Roofers in Crookham Village

Crookham Village is 12.8 road miles east of Basingstoke, a Hart District village of timber-framed cottages, clay-tiled roofs and a canal towpath, with a conservation area at its heart. We survey your own roof with photographs, say honestly whether a repair is enough, and put a written price on paper before we start.

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A Georgian brick town house with a slate roof and parapet in a Hampshire market town

Roofs we see in Crookham Village

  • Slipped and cracked clay roof tiles

    Clay tile in the conservation area

    Hart's conservation area document records housing in Crookham Village from the 16th to the 20th centuries, with roofs covered in clay tiles. Those roofs rarely match from house to house. Older roofs may carry hand-made plain tiles and later ones machine-made tiles, so the colour and camber vary. A repair has to respect that mixture rather than flatten it.

  • A thatched cottage in a Test Valley village with a brick chimney

    Timber-framed cottages

    The centre of Crookham Village grew up around scattered old cottages, many of them timber-framed. Their roofs are often low, uneven and carried on old rafters that have moved over the centuries. Eaves sit close to the ground, valleys are tight, and a chimney may rise from the middle of the ridge, so careful hand work matters more than speed.

  • Brick estate houses with concrete tile roofs among pine trees

    Later infill and outbuildings

    Between the old cottages sit twentieth-century houses, extensions and garages. Their roofs are more ordinary: concrete or clay tile on pitched slopes, with flat-roofed porches, bays and lean-tos in felt or single-ply. These do not carry the same heritage rules, but they have their own typical faults, and we deal with them in the same way, from the survey photographs.

12.8 road miles east of Basingstoke

Planning and building control in Crookham Village

Crookham Village falls within Hart District Council for planning and building control. The village has its own conservation area, and Hart's appraisal counts 12 listed buildings and structures inside it. The council publishes the Crookham Village conservation area document, which describes the clay-tiled roofs and the mix of building periods. Read it before planning roof work on any older house.

A listed house needs consent for anything beyond like-for-like repair, and in the conservation area swapping materials or altering how a roof looks could also need approval. So before you swap clay tile for something cheaper, or alter the shape of a roof, speak to the council's conservation officer. Elsewhere in the village, the building control question comes up on bigger jobs: a full re-cover can be notifiable, and we manage that. For anyone who wants to add a roof window, our guide to whether a skylight needs planning permission sets out what applies.

What we find on Crookham Village roofs

Crookham Village was once known for brick making and for potteries turning out coarse red ware, and clay tile is still the roof covering across its conservation area. The Basingstoke Canal runs through it, and the village feels green and sheltered, with trees close to many houses. Those features shape the faults we are called to.

Chapter 1: The roof of our timber-framed Crookham Village cottage sags between the rafters. Is it unsafe?

What we find

A dip in the roof line is common on cottages that have stood for centuries. Timber-framed houses were built from green oak and have settled as it dried and twisted. The roof is carried on rafters that may be hand-cut, unevenly spaced and joined with pegs, and the weight of clay tiles has been pressing down for generations. Often the sag is old, stable and harmless. Sometimes it is not.

What matters is whether it is moving. New cracks in the plaster below, a tile course that has opened up, a rafter that has split, or daylight where a purlin, the horizontal beam carrying the rafters, meets the gable wall are all reasons to look harder. Rot in the wall plate, the timber the rafters rest on, is another cause, especially where a gutter has overflowed for years.

What we fix

We start in the loft, photographing the rafters, purlins and wall plate, and probing timber for soundness. A stable, old sag is left alone. We do not force a historic roof straight just for appearance, because that disturbs tiles and invites leaks. If the timbers are sound but tired, we can add sister rafters, new timbers bolted alongside the old, to share the load.

If timber has rotted, we cut out the bad section and splice in new oak or treated softwood, depending on what the building and its listing allow. Any structural change on a listed cottage needs the conservation officer in the conversation first, and the survey photographs help with that. Where the tiles themselves are in good order, we relay them to the original gauge. Our pitched roofing page covers repair and re-cover.

Chapter 2: Why do the gutters and fascias on our Crookham Village house keep overflowing, with moss on the roof edge?

What we find

The village is green and tree-lined, and the Basingstoke Canal brings a damper air along its length. Shade and dampness are what moss likes. Houses with overhanging oaks or hedges collect leaves, twigs and moss in the gutters, and once an outlet blocks, water spills over the front edge and runs down the fascia. Timber fascias and soffits on older homes then soak, rot and flake paint.

You can usually see the signs from the road: green staining on the wall beneath the gutter, a sagging length of gutter, or a line of dark tide marks along the fascia. Inside, a damp patch in the corner of an upstairs room below the eaves often follows. Moss on the first few courses of tiles above the gutter holds water against them in the same way.

What we fix

We clear the gutters and downpipes, check the falls with a level (gutters need a slight slope to the outlet), and refit any sagging brackets. Rotten fascia boards are cut out and replaced in timber or low-maintenance uPVC, depending on the house and whether it is protected. Moss on the roof edge is brushed off by hand and the tiles treated with a biocide, a chemical that slows regrowth.

A full uPVC roofline on a three-bed semi is typically reported at £1,800 to £3,500 in the UK, with scaffold extra, and the price we give you is written down once the survey is done. For a listed or conservation area house, we usually advise timber boards to suit the building. See our guttering, soffits and fascias page for how it is done.

Chapter 3: What should I check on the roof of a listed or older house in Crookham Village before I buy?

What we find

The conservation area contains 12 listed buildings and structures, and many other older houses beyond them. Buying one is a pleasure and a responsibility. A lender's survey may flag the roof with a vague note such as "tiles in poor condition", but that does not tell you whether you face a few hundred pounds of repair or a full re-roof. Old roofs can look rough and still have decades in them, or look fine and be failing beneath.

The tell-tale signs include sagging, many slipped or cracked tiles, moss in dense mats, damp staining on the ceiling under the roof, daylight visible through the roof boards, and lead around the chimney that is cracked or lifted. Inside the loft you can see whether the roof timbers are dry, whether there is any old thatch or boarding beneath the tiles, and whether insulation has been laid against the rafters.

What we fix

We offer a survey with photographs of the actual roof, including the loft, the chimney and the flat roof if there is one. The report tells you in plain words what is sound, what needs attention soon and what can wait. Repair is quoted wherever repair works, and a re-roof is quoted only if the roof demands it. You can use the pictures in negotiation with the seller or to plan the first year of ownership.

For a listed building, we record the existing materials so you know what like-for-like repair means. Our page on roof inspections describes what a survey covers, and typical UK prices for a drone survey start at about £200 for a house. Whatever is found, the price you are given afterwards is fixed.

Chapter 4: Is the felt roof on our extension near the canal in Crookham Village past saving?

What we find

Modern extensions and garages in the village often have flat or low-pitched roofs, commonly covered in bitumen felt or, more recently, a single-ply membrane. Over time, felt dries and cracks, particularly along joints and where it turns up a wall. Water ponds in dips, then freezes, and the pounding expands every crack. Overhanging trees drop leaves that rot in the hollows and hold moisture against the covering.

You can tell the roof is struggling when a ceiling inside has a spreading brown stain, the felt shows blisters or has pulled away from the wall, or the surface is covered in moss and standing water. A soft patch underfoot suggests the deck, the timber boards under the covering, has absorbed water. Trying to coat over damage like this usually hides the problem for only a short while.

What we fix

We test the deck for soundness. If it is dry and only a seam or an edge has failed, we cut out and patch the felt and renew the flashing. When the covering is worn throughout, we strip it, replace damaged boards and lay a new warm-roof build-up, then cover with EPDM rubber, GRP fibreglass or new felt, depending on the shape of the roof and how much foot traffic it sees.

Typical UK prices per square metre run from £60 to £100 for felt, with the two single-sheet systems costing more, and the fixed quote is written once we have surveyed. Replacing the covering, rather than overlaying, can bring the insulation rules into play, which we handle. Read our flat roofing page for the comparison.

Crookham Village roofing questions

Can the frame of a timber-framed cottage carry a heavier roof covering?

Older frames were sized for light clay tile or thatch, so swapping to a heavier tile or stone slate is not a simple choice. A new covering 15% or more heavier than the old one needs building control approval and may need strengthening. We look at the rafters and wall plates from the loft, photograph what we find, and tell you whether clay like for like is the sounder route for your cottage.

Do I need permission to repair the roof of a listed cottage in Crookham Village?

Like-for-like repair is normally fine, but changes to materials or appearance on a listed building may need consent from Hart District Council. Always check with the council's conservation officer first. We can record the existing roof in detail so the conversation is based on facts, and then repair with matching clay tile.

My roof is clay tile and part of the conservation area. Can you use reclaimed tiles?

Yes, and in a conservation area it is often the best choice. Reclaimed clay carries the weathering and colour of old roofs, so repairs blend in. We source tiles of matching size and camber and spread them through the repair so it looks natural. Where reclaimed stock is not available, we show you samples before anything is ordered.

Is moss on my roof beside the canal a problem or just untidy?

A thin film is mainly cosmetic. A thick mat is different, because it holds water against the tiles, lifts their edges and sheds clumps into the gutters. We remove it by hand and treat the surface, then clear the gutters. If branches are keeping the roof shaded, we mention it, since cutting back a limb can keep the moss away for longer than treatment.

Can you work on a roof near the old Chequers wharf, now The Exchequer pub?

We can, and the location causes no difficulty. The canal wharf once handled timber and coal, but today the issues are the same as elsewhere in the village: old clay tiles, mature trees and tight access. We would assess scaffold and access at the survey so the written price reflects what the job really needs.

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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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