Beacon Basingstoke Roofing

Roofers in Frimley

Frimley sits 17.5 road miles east of Basingstoke, near the A331 link to junction 4 of the M3, and its roofs run from brick houses on the old coaching road to the later suburban streets around the hospital. A survey with pictures of your own roof comes first, and the price that follows is fixed and set down in writing.

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Brick chimney stack with clay pots

Roofs we see in Frimley

  • 1930s semi-detached houses with hipped clay tile roofs and bay windows on a suburban road

    Houses on the old coaching road

    For about four hundred years Frimley was a coach stop on the road from London to Portsmouth and Southampton, and the older streets still carry buildings from that era and the centuries after it. Expect brick walls under plain clay tile or slate, tall chimney stacks and valleys that have been patched more than once. Mixed repairs, with newer tiles sitting beside weathered ones, are the usual clue to what has gone wrong.

  • House roof stripped to battens during a roof replacement

    Terraces and semis near the church and station

    Around St Peter's Church, rebuilt in 1826, and the railway station on the Ascot to Aldershot line, older houses sit closer together than on the later estates. Older roofs of this kind can have slate or clay tile, party walls rising through the roof, and lead gutters between neighbouring houses. Each of those details is a place where water finds a way in once the metal or the pointing tires.

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

    Suburban roofs towards Frimley Park

    Suburban streets built later in the 20th century are typically roofed in concrete interlocking tiles with ridges bedded in mortar. Garages, kitchen extensions and rear conservatories add flat roofs in felt or old plastic sheet. These roofs rarely fail all at once. The ridge, the verge and the flat roof edges give way first, and each can be mended without touching the sound tiles beside it.

17.5 road miles east of Basingstoke

Planning and building control in Frimley

Surrey Heath Borough Council handles both planning and building control for Frimley. Before work on an older house, look at the council's conservation area pages and check whether your street is inside one, because that affects what you can change on the outside of the building. Houses from the coaching era are the ones most likely to be listed or to sit in a protected area, and the council's conservation officer is the person to ask.

Like-for-like repair, such as matching clay tile for clay tile, is normally the easy case. Changing the material or the look of the roof may need consent. On the suburban streets the question is usually building control: a strip and re-cover that goes past the Planning Portal thresholds is notifiable, and the paperwork with building control is ours to sort out. If you are weighing up a roof window, our guide to planning permission for roof windows sets out what applies.

What we find on Frimley roofs

Frimley's housing spans several periods, and the faults follow the age of the roof rather than the postcode. The oldest houses need careful hands at the chimney, the valleys and the tile courses. The suburban estates need attention at the ridge and the verge, and almost every extension has a flat roof with its own timetable.

Chapter 1: Why does water come in beside the chimney on our older brick house in Frimley?

What we find

On houses that date from the coaching years and the Victorian period, the chimney is often the highest and most exposed part of the roof. The joint between brick stack and roof is sealed with lead flashing (the folded strip of metal that turns up the brick) and soakers (little lead sheets worked in between the tiles along the stack). After a century or more of heat, frost and wind, the lead cracks, the mortar that holds its upper edge lets go, and rain runs behind it.

Inside, the stain usually appears on the chimney breast itself or on the ceiling next to it, and it gets worse after wind-driven rain. The pot and the stack mortar above are worth a look too, because water that enters at the top of a stack can travel a long way down inside the brick before it shows.

What we fix

We start by checking the stack from a ladder and from the loft, photographing the flashings, the pointing and the flaunching (the mortar cap that holds the pots). If the brick is sound, repair is the answer: new lead flashings and soakers cut to the existing tile courses, repointing where the joints have opened, and a fresh flaunching. Lime mortar is the right choice on soft old brick, because a hard cement mix traps moisture and makes the faces spall.

Typical UK prices reported for chimney leadwork average about £570, with a range of £350 to £920, and scaffold adds to that when the stack cannot be reached safely. The number you pay is set once the survey is done. More on our chimney repairs page for how we approach stacks that need more than flashing.

Chapter 2: Do the ridge tiles on a suburban Frimley semi need replacing or just re-fixing?

What we find

On the streets built out from the old centre, the typical roof is a pair of concrete interlocking tile slopes with a ridge (the row of capping tiles along the top) bedded in sand and cement mortar. The verge, which is the sloping edge at each gable end, was finished the same way. Mortar shrinks, cracks and powders as it ages, and once it has lost its grip a ridge tile can rock under the wind.

You may spot mortar crumbs in the gutter, a ridge line that no longer runs straight, or a tile that has shifted a finger's width. Inside the loft, light along the ridge board or a dark mark on the timber below it points the same way. The tiles themselves are often fine, so the question is whether the fixing can be replaced without disturbing the rest.

What we fix

We take off a few ridge tiles to see what lies beneath. If the tiles are sound, they can go back with a different fixing. Under BS 5534, ridge, hip and verge components should be mechanically fixed instead of relying on mortar alone, so we usually recommend a dry-fix system: a continuous batten, a breathable roll and clips or screws that hold each tile. BS 8612 sets the performance standard for those systems, and a dry verge cap does the same job at the gable.

Reported UK figures put a dry-fix ridge on a semi at £900 to £1,600, plus scaffold from £300 to £900. Once we have surveyed, the quote is fixed. Our ridge tile repairs service explains the options if you want more detail before we visit.

Chapter 3: How long will the flat roof on our Frimley kitchen extension last, and should we re-cover it?

What we find

Many houses in Frimley have been extended at the back, and the new kitchen, utility room or garage almost always has a flat or low-pitched roof. Bitumen felt on a timber deck was the common choice for years. It blisters in the sun, splits along the laps and cracks at the upstand, which is the short vertical edge where the roof meets the house wall. Water that gets in sits on the deck and the boards start to soften.

The signs are ponding after rain, a bubble you can press with a thumb, and a brown ring on the ceiling inside. Check the timber fascia along the front edge as well. If it has gone dark and soft, the leak has probably been running for some time and the deck beneath needs inspecting before anything new is laid over it.

What we fix

If the deck is dry and sound, a worn roof can be re-covered. If the boards have gone soft we replace them first, and fit new insulation where Building Regulations ask for it, because replacing a flat roof covering generally brings in the energy rules. We then lay EPDM (a single sheet of synthetic rubber) or GRP (a fibreglass laminate brushed on in liquid form that sets solid), with trims along the edges and new flashing up the wall.

Typical UK ranges reported per square metre are £60 to £100 for felt, £80 to £120 for EPDM and £100 to £160 for GRP. Your fixed quote follows the survey, and we tell you plainly if a patch on a roof that still has years left is the more sensible choice. Our flat roofing page covers the materials side by side.

Chapter 4: Why are the gutters overflowing and the fascia boards rotting on our Frimley house?

What we find

Many Frimley streets have mature trees nearby, and leaves, seeds and moss from the roof end up in the gutters. Once a run is blocked, water spills over the front edge instead of draining to the downpipe. It runs down the face of the fascia board, the long board under the lowest tiles that the gutter is screwed to, and into the soffit beneath, which is the panel closing the gap between fascia and wall.

Timber fascias and soffits that are painted often enough can last a long time, but the bottom edge of the board is where rot begins. You may see peeling paint, a soft patch when pressed with a screwdriver, or green staining below a joint in the gutter. A sagging gutter that holds water is usually a sign that the brackets have rusted or the board behind them no longer holds a screw.

What we fix

We clear the gutters first and check that the falls are right, then probe the fascia and soffit along their whole length. Short sections of rot can be cut out and replaced, but where the board is soft over many metres, a full replacement in new boards is better value than patching. Many owners choose uPVC for low upkeep, and we fit new gutters, brackets and downpipes in the same visit, so the whole eaves line works as one system.

Cost guides put new uPVC fascias, soffits and gutters for a whole semi at £1,800 to £3,500, and scaffold hire is a separate figure that varies with the house. Survey first, then a fixed price. Our guttering, soffits and fascias page shows what each job includes.

Frimley roofing questions

Our Frimley house has a bay window with its own small roof. Why does that part leak first?

Bay roofs are small, low and often covered in lead, felt or a thin flat system. They meet the main wall at a flashing, and that junction is the usual weak point, since failed pointing lets water in behind it. We check the flashing, the covering and the roof edge, then repair the joint or re-cover the bay if the covering itself has gone.

Can the roof of a house near the A325 Farnborough Road be repaired without scaffold?

Sometimes. A few lost tiles or one run of ridge can often be reached from a ladder or a roof ladder, and a small chimney repair may suit a tower. A full ridge, a verge, or work on a high gable usually needs scaffold, for safety and for the quality of the finish. We say at survey whether it is needed and show it as a separate line on your quote, so you know what it adds.

We live near the old sanatorium site. Does that change what you can do to our roof?

Not by itself. The Brompton Hospital Sanatorium closed in 1985, and what matters for your roof is the age and type of your house, not the history of the land. What can change the work is a conservation area or listing, so check your address with Surrey Heath Borough Council before changing materials. For ordinary repair and re-covering in matching tiles, we proceed on the survey and quote as usual.

Do you work on the commercial units and shops in Frimley as well as houses?

Yes. We cover residential and commercial roofing, and that includes flat roofs on shops, offices and small industrial units. The approach is the same as for a house: a survey with photographs, a written fixed quote, and repair where repair works. Large flat roofs raise different questions, such as drainage, access and falls, which is why we measure and photograph the whole roof before pricing it. See our commercial roofing page.

The roof leaks only in strong wind. Can you find the cause?

Often, yes. Leaks that appear only in a gale usually mean wind-driven rain is being pushed past a weak point, such as a lifted ridge tile, a gap under a verge, a slipped tile or a failed chimney flashing. We check the exposed side of the roof closely and look at the underlay from the loft. If we need to make a leaking roof safe first, we do that, then price the permanent fix.

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