Beacon Basingstoke Roofing

Roofers in Mytchett

Mytchett lies 19.2 road miles east of Basingstoke, where the Surrey suburbs thin out against heath and the Basingstoke Canal. Most of the village went up from the 1930s onward, and a great many of its houses have since been extended. We survey the original roof and the additions, photograph both, and quote in writing.

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

Roofs we see in Mytchett

  • Roofer fitting roof tiles on a brick house near Basingstoke

    1930s and post-war houses

    Because Mytchett has mostly been built since the 1930s, the housing is a layered mix of inter-war semis, post-war infill and later estates. The older roofs are usually clay or concrete tile over a pitched timber frame, with chimney stacks, brick gable ends and hip junctions that were bedded in mortar. After this many decades, the mortar and the lead at the stack are usually the first parts to need attention.

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

    Extended and altered homes

    Many houses here have been substantially altered, so a single property often carries three or four different roofs: the original pitch, a rear extension, a loft dormer and perhaps a porch. Each joins the old roof at a different angle, and the joins are where leaks start. A flat extension roof tied into a tiled slope needs its flashing checked as carefully as the covering itself.

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

    Roofs under pine and birch

    The village begins at the edge of a heath of gorse, heather, pine and silver birch, and the trees reach into many gardens. Needles, seed and leaf fall settle in valleys and gutters, and a shaded slope stays damp, so moss builds up on tiles and in the gutters beneath. These roofs need clearing and checking more often than a house in an open street.

19.2 road miles east of Basingstoke

Planning and building control in Mytchett

Surrey Heath Borough Council is the authority for Mytchett, and its planning and building control teams are who you speak to about any roof question. The village is mostly modern, but the Basingstoke Canal along its eastern edge is one of the borough's nine designated conservation areas, and the council sets out how that status works on its conservation pages. A house close to the towpath is worth checking against the designation before you commit to anything beyond like-for-like repair.

For most Mytchett homes the live question is building control rather than planning. A repair or re-cover that touches a small part of the roof is normally straightforward, while stripping and covering the whole of a larger house again may be notifiable, and the paperwork with building control is something we take on. Heath and woodland nearby also mean bats and nesting birds may use older roof spaces, which are protected, so timing can matter. Anyone adding a window to a Mytchett loft conversion should read our explainer on whether a skylight needs consent before booking a fitter, because the answer depends on the house and its surroundings.

What we find on Mytchett roofs

A village that has grown in stages, then been altered house by house, produces roofs with very different ages on a single property. The faults we are called to in Mytchett cluster around three things: the joins between old and new work, the effect of surrounding trees, and the original stacks and edges of the 1930s houses.

Chapter 1: Why does the ceiling leak where our Mytchett extension meets the old roof?

What we find

On a house that has been extended, the weakest point is rarely the middle of either roof. It is the line where the new work abuts the old, because two structures settle and move at slightly different rates. A flat roof built against a tiled wall relies on an upstand (the short vertical lip of membrane turned up the wall) and a flashing over it. If either has lifted, shrunk or been fixed with sealant alone, rain tracks behind it.

The stain tends to appear on the ceiling just inside the original wall, not under the new roof itself, which is why people look in the wrong place. Dormers and rear gables behave the same way, with the cheeks and the valley beside them taking the water. Many such extensions were finished quickly years ago, and the flashing was often the part that got the least attention.

What we fix

We open up the junction, lift the nearest tiles and follow the water back to its entry point before touching the covering. Usually the answer is a new lead flashing (a strip of milled lead dressed over the upstand and tucked into the brickwork) with soakers, little lead sheets slid between the tile courses along the edge. Sealant is never the repair; it fails within a season or two.

If the flat membrane has also gone, we re-cover it with a rubber membrane (EPDM, supplied as a single rolled sheet) and form a proper upstand while the roof is open, so the new flashing has something sound to sit on. Typical UK prices for EPDM on a flat roof sit at £80 to £120 per square metre, and the fixed quote is written once we have surveyed. See our lead roofing and leadwork and flat roofing pages for how each job runs.

Chapter 2: Why is moss covering the tiles and blocking the gutters on our house near the pines?

What we find

Houses on the heath edge sit among pine and silver birch, and both shed constantly. Pine needles are thin enough to slip into the gap between a gutter and the roof edge, then pack into the outlet and hold water. Birch drops fine seed and twigs that collect in valleys and behind chimney stacks. On a shaded slope the tiles stay damp, so moss gets a hold, and it in turn keeps the surface wet for longer.

You can usually spot the problem from the drive: green banding on the lower courses, grit in the gutters, and water spilling over the front rather than running down the pipe. Left alone, the overflow soaks the fascia (the board that carries the gutter) and the wall below, and a gutter loaded with wet debris can pull away from its brackets.

What we fix

We clear the roof by hand and treat it with a biocide, rather than pressure washing, because a jet can strip the surface from older tiles and drive water under the laps. Gutters and downpipes get a clear-out and a flush of water on the same day, so we know the outlets run freely. Any sagging length is re-hung to a correct fall, and rotten fascia is replaced.

Gutter guards can help on the worst-affected sides, though they still need an occasional look. Reported UK prices for clearing moss by hand with biocide come out between £748 and £978 by roof size, and a fixed quote only comes after we have been up and looked. Our roof cleaning and guttering and fascias pages go into more detail.

Chapter 3: Why is the chimney stack on our 1930s Mytchett house letting water in?

What we find

Inter-war houses usually have a brick stack rising through the ridge or the slope, finished with a mortar flaunching (the sloped mortar cap that holds the pots) and flashed with lead or, on older repairs, a cement fillet. Ninety years of weather is hard on all of it. The mortar joints erode, the flaunching cracks, and a cement fillet shrinks away from the brick, leaving a slot for water.

In the loft, look at the stack for a brown, damp patch on the chimney breast, or at the ceiling below it. Outside, crumbling joints, a leaning pot or white salts bleeding through the brick all show water moving where it should not. A stack that is no longer used for a fire is often neglected for decades, and that makes it worse, because the flue is left uncapped and ventilated badly.

What we fix

We start with a close look from a safe position, with photographs of the brick, the joints, the flaunching and the flashings. Repointing the worst joints and renewing the flaunching handles many stacks. Where the flashing has failed, we replace it with lead and new soakers rather than mortar, so the joint can move without cracking.

A redundant flue should be capped with a vented cowl so air still moves through it. Typical UK prices for chimney leadwork average about £570 and run from £350 to £920, with the fixed quote written after the survey. Our chimney repairs page sets out the other options, including rebuilding a stack that is too far gone to repair.

Chapter 4: How do we find out whether our Mytchett roof needs repair or a full replacement?

What we find

On a house that has been extended and altered over decades, the roof is rarely one age. A concrete tile slope from the 1960s may sit beside a rear pitch re-covered more recently, so judging the whole house by one slipped tile or one stain is a mistake in either direction. Plenty of owners are told they need a new roof when the main slopes have years of life in them, and others patch repeatedly when the underlay beneath has perished.

The telling signs are not always visible from the ground. Tiles that crumble at the edges, battens (the timber laths the tiles hang on) that are soft or split, underlay that has gone brittle, and daylight at the ridge are the signs that separate a repair from a re-cover. A few loose tiles after a gale, on a sound roof, are simply a repair.

What we fix

Our survey looks at the covering, the battens, the underlay from the loft and every junction, with photographs of your own roof so you can see what we see. If one slope has failed and the rest is sound, we say so and quote for that slope. If the roof as a whole is at the end of its life, we explain why and set out the options, including whether the existing tiles can be reused.

A full re-roof is a larger decision. Typical UK ranges reported for re-roofing a three-bedroom semi in concrete tile run from £6,500 to £10,500, and the fixed quote is only written after the survey. Work on that scale can be notifiable, which we handle. Read about roof replacement and our roof inspections to see what is involved.

Mytchett roofing questions

Is a flat-roofed extension at the back of our Mytchett house worth repairing or should it be replaced?

It depends on the deck beneath the covering. If the boards are dry and firm, a new membrane such as single-ply or GRP can last for years. If the deck is soft or has sagged, the roof needs stripping back. We open a small section, photograph the deck, and show you which job it is before you decide.

Can you check a roof that has been extended several times?

Yes, and this is a common request in Mytchett. We look at every roof on the house as a separate structure, because an extension from the 1980s and a loft dormer from last decade rarely share a covering, an underlay or a flashing. You get one photo report that treats each section on its own terms, and whatever we do is covered by a written ten-year guarantee on our workmanship.

Does living near the Basingstoke Canal affect what roof work I can do?

It can. The canal is one of Surrey Heath's nine conservation areas, so a house on or near its edge may fall under extra controls on changes to materials and appearance. Like-for-like repair is generally fine, but check with Surrey Heath's planning team before ordering anything different. We can give you the survey photographs to take with you.

Are bats or birds a problem when the roof is on a heath-edge house?

They can be. Roofs beside heath and woodland sometimes house bats or nesting birds, both protected, and the work may need timing around them or a survey first. Droppings in the loft or a nest under the eaves would make us pause and tell you before a single tile moves, so you can get the right advice.

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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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