Beacon Basingstoke Roofing

Roofers in Dummer

Dummer is a small Hampshire village 6 road miles south-west of Basingstoke, close to Junction 7 of the M3, and its older buildings mix thatch, clay tile, red brick, timber frame and flint, as the council's appraisal records. We climb up, photograph your roof, and give you a written price that stays put, with repair first wherever repair works.

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Clay tiled pitched roof gable on a red-brick house

Roofs we see in Dummer

  • White uPVC fascia, soffit and guttering under a tiled roof

    Clay tile on brick and timber frame

    The council's conservation appraisal lists mellow red brick, timber frame and orange or red roof tiles among Dummer's vernacular materials, and says they follow no single pattern. In practice that can mean clay-tiled roofs of different ages on neighbouring houses, with hand-made tiles that vary in colour and camber. Repair here depends on matching what is already on the roof, so we look closely at each tile before deciding what can stay.

  • Modern 2000s brick houses with grey concrete tile roofs on a new estate near Basingstoke

    Thatched cottages and their chimneys

    Thatched roofs are on the appraisal's list of local materials, and they are part of why the village looks as it does. We do not thatch, and we will say so. What we do is the brick chimney stack that rises through the thatch, the lead around it, and any tiled extension or outbuilding beside it. The stack is often the weakest point on the whole roof, because rain and fire risk both gather there.

  • Clay tiled pitched roof gable on a red-brick house

    Flint walls and exposed ridges

    Dummer lies in gently undulating chalk downland, with its western end on a small hill capped by clay with flints. All Saints' Church is described in the appraisal as a plain flint building, and flint is one of the vernacular materials the appraisal lists for the village. Roofs on the higher ground take the wind first, so ridges and gable edges are where we usually find the damage.

6 road miles south-west of Basingstoke

Planning and building control in Dummer

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council covers Dummer for planning and for building control alike. The council designated the Dummer Conservation Area in 1981 and wrote an appraisal that records the materials it regards as the village's character. You can read it on the council's conservation area appraisal, and it is worth a look before work on an older house.

The appraisal points to red brick, timber frame, flint, orange or red roof tiles and thatch, so a like-for-like repair in the same tile or the same straw is the route the council is most likely to welcome. Swapping clay for concrete, or changing the shape of a roof, may need consent, so speak to the conservation officer before anything is ordered. The same goes for any listed building. Newer houses outside the old core are mainly a building control matter: a large re-roof can be notifiable, which is paperwork we handle. If a roof window is part of your plan, the rules for roof windows, which tighten inside a conservation area, are set out in our skylight planning article.

What we find on Dummer roofs

A village of this size can show a surprising spread of roofs. With only 643 people living in 127 dwellings at the 2001 Census, each house tends to have its own history of repairs. The questions below follow Dummer's own building types: clay-tiled cottages, thatched houses with brick chimneys, exposed ridges on high ground and flint-built outbuildings. For each we explain the cause and how we would deal with it.

Chapter 1: Why are hand-made clay tiles flaking and slipping on our Dummer cottage?

What we find

Old clay tiles are fired to a softer, more porous finish than modern ones. They soak up water, and when a hard frost follows, the water in the face expands and flakes off a layer, which roofers call spalling. Tiles on the shaded slope go first, because they stay wet longest. Underneath, the tile is held by a nib (a small lug that hooks over the batten) and often by a single peg or nail. If either has rotted or rusted, the tile creeps down the slope.

The signs from the garden are tiles with rough, crumbly faces, orange grit in the gutter, and a lower row that has dropped a few centimetres below its neighbours. Inside, a bright pinprick of daylight in the loft shows where a tile has cracked right through, and the underlay beneath may be old enough to have gone brittle.

What we fix

On a roof like this, repair usually beats replacement. We strip back only the damaged area, set aside every tile that is still sound, and make up the numbers with reclaimed or hand-made tiles chosen to match the colour and the slight curve of the originals. New battens go in where the old ones have rotted, and the tiles are fixed with stainless clips or nails, not hung on whatever is left.

Where tile faces are flaking across a whole slope, we show you the photographs and explain what a re-cover would involve before you decide. A typical UK range for a whole new roof on a concrete-tiled three-bedroom semi is £6,500 to £10,500, though a clay or older cottage roof is priced from its own survey, not from that table. Our guide to flaking clay tiles explains the fault in more depth.

Chapter 2: Who deals with the chimney and flashing on a thatched house in Dummer?

What we find

A thatched house has two roofs in one: the straw, which a thatcher looks after, and the brick chimney that passes through it. The chimney is where a thatched roof most often goes wrong. Water runs down the stack, finds a gap in the flashing (the strip of lead that seals the stack into the roof) and soaks the straw and timber around it. Mortar between the bricks weathers away, and in time brick faces crack from frost.

In the bedrooms, the signs include a damp patch on the chimney breast, a musty smell near the stack, or flaking paint on the plaster either side. Outside, look for gaps in the pointing, a cracked cement collar around the pots, and lead that has lifted from the brickwork. Because thatch is fire-sensitive, a stack in poor order is worth dealing with sooner than most.

What we fix

We work on the brick and lead, and leave the straw to a thatcher. After a survey from the ladder and the loft, we repoint the stack in lime mortar, which is softer than cement and lets old bricks breathe. We renew the pot collar, fit lead flashings cut to the roof shape and, where it suits the house, a lead tray at the base of the stack so water is guided out on top of the straw and not into it.

If the thatch itself needs attention, we say so plainly and suggest you call a thatcher before the lead goes back, so that the two trades finish in the right order. Typical UK prices reported for chimney repointing run from £450 to £1,200, and the price we write down follows the survey, not a table. Our chimney repairs page sets out each step.

Chapter 3: Why do ridge and verge tiles keep working loose on our high-ground Dummer house?

What we find

The western end of the village stands on a small hill, and a roof there takes the weather from every direction. The ridge (the line of capping tiles along the very top) and the verge (the edge of the roof at a gable end) are the parts the wind reaches first. On older houses both were bedded in sand and cement mortar, and mortar shrinks and cracks as it ages, so each cap tile slowly loses its grip.

The signs are small. A line of fine cracks along the mortar, grit on the path beneath a gable, or a cap tile that rocks when it is touched. A strong gust finishes the job. Because a loose ridge tile can drop several metres, it is a hazard to anyone walking below as well as a way in for rain, and a bare verge lets wind lift the edge tiles beside it.

What we fix

We check whether the cap tiles are sound and only the bedding has failed, which is the usual finding. Current guidance in BS 5534 expects ridge, hip and verge parts to be mechanically fixed, so mortar is no longer relied on by itself. We lay the ridge on a continuous batten with a breathable roll under it and screw or clip each cap down. BS 8612 sets the performance requirements for such dry-fix kits. Dry verge units clip over the tile ends and keep the edge of the roof from lifting.

On a clay roof we pick cap tiles in a matching colour so the new work does not stand out. On a semi, dry-ridge work is typically reported at £900 to £1,600 plus £300 to £900 for scaffold, and our price is set after we have seen your roof. The ridge tile repairs service sets out the fixing options.

Chapter 4: What should we do about the roof on a flint-walled outbuilding or barn conversion?

What we find

Flint is a hard, durable stone, but it is laid in lime mortar and the walls move with the seasons. Older outbuildings and garden buildings can sit on shallow foundations and carry roofs that have been patched many times. Where a lean-to roof meets a flint wall, lead flashing is chased into the mortar joints, and those joints weather faster than the stone itself. Water then tracks down the wall face and softens the plaster inside.

The older outbuildings are often roofed in corrugated sheets, and some of those from earlier decades are asbestos cement. They look grey, ridged and mossy, and nobody can confirm the material by eye. Leave them alone, do not walk on them and do not jet wash them until a test says what they are. Brittle sheets crack under a person's weight, and breaking them releases fibres.

What we fix

For the flint junction, we rake out the failed mortar, re-point in lime and fit new lead into the joint with proper lead wedges, not sealant. If the roof covering is sound, that alone solves the leak. Where the sheets are asbestos cement, careful removal without breaking them is non-licensed work under HSE guidance, with a risk assessment, controls and trained workers. If they would have to be broken up, the job becomes notifiable, so we plan to keep them whole.

Overlaying with a new roof is sometimes a sensible alternative for a small building, and we tell you which after the survey. For a flat or low-pitched replacement, typical UK prices per square metre are £70 to £100 for EPDM and £80 to £120 for GRP, and we quote from the survey of your own roof. Our garage roof replacement page compares the materials.

Dummer roofing questions

Do thatched roofs in Dummer need different care from the tiled ones?

Yes. Thatch is not a covering a tiler or slater can patch, and it ages by weathering from the surface rather than by single failed parts. It needs a thatcher for the coat itself. What we can look at is everything around it: the brick chimney stacks, the flashings where stack meets thatch, the rafters and the loft. We photograph those so any water entry is traced to its cause.

Do you thatch roofs in Dummer?

No, thatching is a separate craft and we leave it to a thatcher. We do the brick chimney, the lead flashings, any tiled extension and the gutters on a thatched house. We will tell you honestly if the straw needs attention first, because the order of work matters around a stack.

Does the Dummer Conservation Area limit what roof I can fit?

It can. Basingstoke and Deane designated the area in 1981, and its appraisal names red brick, timber frame, flint, clay tile and thatch as the local character. Like-for-like repair is normally fine, while a change of material may need consent. Speak to the conservation officer first, and we will provide survey photographs of what is on the roof now.

Can you match old clay tiles on a Dummer house?

Usually we can get close. We keep every sound tile, then source reclaimed or hand-made tiles that match in colour and curve, and mix new ones through the older roof so no patch stands out. We show you sample tiles against your own before they go on, and the work is covered by our 10-year workmanship guarantee.

Is a flint wall a problem when a new roof is fitted beside it?

Not if it is detailed properly. The lead flashing has to go into the mortar joint, not be stuck to the face of the flint, and the joint is raked out and repointed in lime so it moves with the wall. We check the wall's condition on the survey. Old walls may also hold bats, which are protected, so timing can matter.

Nearby areas

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