Beacon Basingstoke Roofing

Roofers in Kings Worthy

Kings Worthy lies 16.4 road miles south-west of Basingstoke, just off the A33, and it has two roof stories: a historic core around London Road and Church Road with clay tile, thatch and flint, and a wide spread of low-density cul-de-sac housing around it. Photographs of your own roof come first, and a fixed written price after them.

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

Roofs we see in Kings Worthy

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

    Clay tile and thatch in the village core

    The village design statement records clay tile roofs on St Mary's Church and the Cart and Horses Inn, and long-straw thatch on cottages such as Briar Cottage and Old Thatch, with some slate here and there. Walls are rubble flint with brick dressings, or knapped flint, or red brick. Roofs like these suit patch repair with matched tiles, because the overall look is part of why the street is protected.

  • Roofer fitting roof tiles on a brick house near Basingstoke

    Cul-de-sac housing, estate by estate

    Beyond the core, Kings Worthy is largely low-density suburban housing laid out in cul-de-sacs, where the style of each close follows its original developer and the year it went up. That means each close tends to share one tile, one ridge detail and one set of weak points. When one house shows a fault, its neighbours usually have the same one at a similar stage.

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

    Chimneys of flint and brick

    On the older flint and brick houses, the chimney stacks stand tall above the roof and take the full force of the weather. The mortar joints, the lead flashing at the base and the cement fillet on the cheaper repairs all weather at different rates. A stack is a common point of entry for water into an otherwise sound clay-tile or slate roof, so it is where we look hardest.

16.4 road miles south-west of Basingstoke

Planning and building control in Kings Worthy

Winchester City Council is the planning authority for Kings Worthy and also the local authority building control team. The historic core, around London Road and Church Road at the southern edge of the village, is a designated conservation area, and the Kings Worthy and Abbots Worthy Village Design Statement, published on the council's website, promotes thatch, clay tile, natural slate, flint and local brick as the materials of the village.

For a roof in that core, like-for-like repair is normally the easy route. Swapping a clay tile for concrete, or changing a thatch to another covering, can need consent, and the conservation officer at Winchester is who to ring before ordering. What to ask is covered in our conservation area roofing guide. In the cul-de-sacs outside the core, planning is seldom an issue, but a big strip can be notifiable, which we take care of. For a roof window, see our skylight planning guide.

What we find on Kings Worthy roofs

The village's roofs fall into two camps that need different skills. In the old core the work is traditional: clay tile, thatch, flint, lime and lead, where the aim is to keep as much of the original as will serve. In the closes beyond it, the work is estate maintenance on tiles of a later date.

Chapter 1: Why are clay tiles slipping on our cottage near London Road in Kings Worthy?

What we find

Plain clay tiles are small and hang in overlapping courses from timber battens, each held by a nib on its top edge and, in most courses, by a nail or a wooden peg. On a roof that has been there for generations, the nails have corroded and the pegs have rotted. Roofers call the result nail sickness. The tile is still sound but nothing holds it, so one slips and its neighbours follow.

The signs are a tile sitting lower than its row, a line of small gaps, or fragments on the ground. Frost can also flake the faces of softer old tiles, and moss on the north slope holds the damp against them. In the loft you may see a pinpoint of light through a missing tile or a stain on the underside of the boarding. The tile gauge on old roofs often varies, which makes replacement tiles harder to match.

What we fix

We take off just the failed section, keep every tile that is still good, and replace the rest with reclaimed or handmade plain tiles chosen to match in colour and curve. The battens beneath are checked, and any that have gone soft are renewed. The tiles are then fixed with nails that will not corrode, so the same fault does not return in a decade.

Because the street scene counts here, we recommend repair over replacement for this kind of roof, and we keep photographs of the before and after for your records and for the council. Typical UK prices for a re-roof in natural slate run from £120 to £180 per square metre, which is a useful comparison if the whole roof has to be considered; your fixed quote follows the survey. Our pitched roofing page sets out the options.

Chapter 2: What should we know before repairing the roof next to a thatched cottage in Kings Worthy?

What we find

Long-straw thatch, as on the cottages the village design statement names, is a roof of its own kind: a deep layer of straw on a timber frame, pinned down by spars and combed to shed water. A neighbouring tiled or slated roof has to be repaired with that in mind. Thatch burns fast and sparks from hot work carry, and a chimney that serves a thatched house needs particular care because the flue is close to the straw.

On the tiled side, the question is usually the party wall, where a lead flashing joins the two roofs and gradually fails. You may see a stain on the gable wall, a damp patch in the loft near the join, or loose pieces of lead lifting in the wind. Both roofs rely on the same joint, so a leak there can wet the thatch as well as the tiles.

What we fix

We do not thatch, and we say so early. Our work is on the tiled, slated and lead parts of the roof, and we plan it so that no hot work happens near the straw. Flashings at the joint are formed in code-weight lead, dressed down over the tile and tucked into a chase in the wall, which is a slot cut into the brickwork and pointed afterwards.

If the chimney is the problem, repointing is carried out in lime mortar to suit the brick or flint, and flashings and soakers are renewed. Chimney repointing is typically priced between £450 and £1,200, and leadwork on a chimney from £350 to £920, with the fixed quote following the survey. See our chimney repairs page for what the work covers.

Chapter 3: Our house has a flint wall and a brick chimney stack. Why is the chimney letting water in?

What we find

Flint and brick walls were built with lime mortar, which is soft and breathes. Over time, repairs have often been made with hard cement mortar, which does not. The trouble is that moisture in the wall can no longer escape through the joints, so it travels through the softer material, the brick or flint face, which then flakes and crumbles. The chimney stack, standing high and exposed, is where this shows first.

At the chimney's base, the flashing is the other weak spot. A strip of lead should be tucked into a joint in the brickwork and dressed down over the tiles. If it was cemented instead, or has lifted, rain runs down the stack and into the loft. You might see white salt deposits on the brick, a stack leaning slightly, or damp showing on the wall around the flue.

What we fix

The repair goes in the right order. We take off failing flashings, rake out the hard cement, and repoint in lime that suits the brick or knapped flint, so the wall can breathe again. New lead flashings and soakers follow, cut to the tile gauge and fixed into the joints. If the top of the stack is damaged, we rebuild a few courses and fit a new flaunching, the mortar cap that sheds water away from the pot.

A cowl or a capped pot can keep rain out of a flue that is not in use, provided the flue is ventilated. For a four-sided flashing, typical UK figures are about £525 without scaffold and about £1,000 with it; your fixed quote follows the survey. Our lead roofing page explains the grades of lead we use.

Chapter 4: Which problems should we expect on a roof in one of the Kings Worthy cul-de-sacs?

What we find

The village design statement notes that the closes outside the old core reflect their original developer and date. Roofs of that kind are commonly concrete or clay interlocking tile on softwood battens, over bitumen felt on the older closes. The common problems depend on age. On older closes, mortar at the ridge and verge crumbles, the felt turns brittle at the eaves, and the fascias rot where a gutter has leaked. On newer ones, it tends to be a flashing or a dislodged tile.

Moss is another regular guest, particularly on north slopes and houses under trees, and it blocks gutters and lifts tiles. Because each close shares the same builder and the same faults, a problem on one house is a good predictor for its neighbours. If a neighbour has had a leak, it is worth a survey of your own roof before the winter.

What we fix

We begin with the survey photographs from ground, loft and roof, and list the faults in order of urgency. Ridge and verge work goes to dry-fix, so tiles are held by clips and screws, as BS 5534 expects, and not by mortar alone. Failing eaves felt is replaced with a breathable underlay and a carrier tray, and rotten fascia boards are renewed. Moss comes off by hand with a biocide, with the gutters cleared in the same visit.

If the survey shows that the whole covering has reached the end, we quote a re-roof. Re-roofing a three-bedroom semi in concrete tile is typically £6,500 to £10,500 across the UK, and the fixed quote follows the survey. For moss treatment in detail, see roof cleaning.

Kings Worthy roofing questions

Can a flint and brick chimney in Kings Worthy be repaired or does it need rebuilding?

Mostly it can be repaired. Repointing the joints, renewing the cement flaunching that holds the pots, and replacing the lead tray at the roofline deal with most leaks. If the stack leans, or the flint and brick are loose beyond repointing, rebuilding the top courses is the safe answer. We photograph the stack from the roof, so you see the cracks yourself before deciding.

Can you match the clay tiles on a roof inside the Kings Worthy conservation area?

We aim to. Reclaimed or handmade plain tiles can be chosen to match the existing colour and camber, and sound originals are kept and reused. Because the conservation area covers the historic core around London Road and Church Road, a change of material may need Winchester City Council's consent, so ask the conservation officer first. We can supply survey photographs for that conversation.

Is it safe to have work done on the tiled roof beside a thatched cottage?

It can be, with planning. Thatch ignites easily, so we keep hot work away from the straw and use cold-applied methods where we can. We do not work on the thatch itself, only on the tiles, lead and brickwork next to it. Tell us at the survey if your neighbour's roof is thatched, and we will agree how the job is run.

Our parish church dates from 1185. Do roofs that old still use the same materials?

The church on London Road is a reminder that clay tile has covered Kings Worthy buildings for centuries, and the village design statement lists it among the roofs in that material. Domestic roofs in the village are younger, but the materials have lasted. We repair them like for like where we can, and we do not recommend swapping clay for concrete in the old core.

Do you cover bats and nesting birds when working on an older roof near Kings Worthy?

We do. Older clay-tiled and thatched roofs can shelter bats and nesting birds, and both are protected, so timing or a survey may be needed before work starts. We look for signs at the roof survey and tell you if the job should wait for the right season or a specialist visit. Ask Winchester City Council if you are unsure about a particular property.

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