Beacon Basingstoke Roofing

Roofers in Purley on Thames

Purley on Thames lies 20.7 road miles north of Basingstoke, between the river and the North Wessex Downs, and its roofs range from detached family houses to old plot bungalows by the water. We climb up, photograph your roof, explain the cause of any fault, and hand you a fixed quote on paper.

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A Hampshire village cottage of flint and brick with a steep clay plain tile roof

Roofs we see in Purley on Thames

  • 1960s and 70s brick semi-detached houses with concrete interlocking tile roofs on a Basingstoke estate street

    Detached houses near the river

    Most homes in the village are detached, and most of the properties beside the river date from the 1970s onward. Houses of that age commonly have tiled roofs, often concrete, and the earliest are now old enough that hip and ridge beds, felt underlay and the lead trim at roof windows deserve a proper look. A detached house also has every side exposed to weather.

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

    Old plot bungalows and chalets

    The Purley River Estate was sold off in small plots in the 1930s and began with self-built timber dwellings. Over the decades the estate moved on to more conventional houses, but where an early or later timber building survives, it may carry a low-pitched roof or felt covering on boarding that has seen decades of damp river air. A roof of that kind needs a careful inspection of the timber, because patching felt over soft boards only hides the trouble.

  • Roofer fitting roof tiles on a brick house near Basingstoke

    Listed landmarks and their neighbours

    Purley Park, designed by James Wyatt in 1800, and St Mary's Church, rebuilt in 1870 by G E Street, are both Grade II* listed. Houses near such buildings sit in a setting the council takes seriously, and a roof on a listed property calls for like-for-like repair and consent for anything more. We record the roof in full photographs first, so that any proposal can be described accurately to the planning team.

20.7 road miles north of Basingstoke

Planning and building control in Purley on Thames

Purley on Thames is looked after by West Berkshire Council, which deals with planning and building control for the parish. The North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty borders the parish to the south and west, and the Thames forms the northern boundary, so the council pays close attention to how buildings look in the landscape. Look at the planning pages on the West Berkshire Council website to see whether your address is affected by any local designation.

Purley Park and St Mary's Church are both listed at Grade II*, and anything listed needs consent for changes to materials or appearance, so put the question to the conservation officer at the council before ordering a different tile, slate or lead. For ordinary homes, like-for-like repair rarely raises a planning question, but a large re-cover can fall under building control, and we take care of that side. If you are thinking of a roof window, begin with our guide to skylight planning permission, and ask the council about any restriction on your plot.

What we find on Purley on Thames roofs

This village sits low, close to the river, with the Thames to the north and higher ground rising to the south. Its housing is a mix of the 1970s-onward detached homes by the water and older, more improvised buildings from the river estate. Weather arrives from several directions, and the ground can be saturated for long periods.

Chapter 1: Why are the hip tiles slipping on our detached Purley house?

What we find

A detached house with a hipped roof has four sloping edges where two planes meet, each finished with a row of hip tiles. On a roof from the 1970s or later, those hip tiles were bedded in mortar, with a metal hip iron at the foot to stop the lowest tile sliding. The mortar is rigid, the roof moves, and wind and frost work at the joint until the bond lets go. Hip tiles then creep downhill or rock in their beds.

The first sign is usually a tile out of line at the bottom of a hip, a run of cracked mortar visible from the lawn, or fragments on the garden path. A four-sided roof has a lot of hip length, so the problem rarely stops at one tile. Up in the loft, a sliver of daylight may show along the hip rafter, or a tide mark where water has run down it after driving rain.

What we fix

We lift a few tiles at each hip to check the condition of the beds, the hip rafters and the underlay beneath. Sound tiles are kept. We then rebuild each hip using a dry system, fixing the tiles mechanically to a batten and sealing the gap with a ventilated, breathable strip, since BS 5534 requires mechanical fixing for ridge, hip and verge parts. The hip iron at the foot is renewed or replaced with a proper end cap.

Because a detached roof has a long total run of ridge and hips, scaffold is often part of the price. For a semi-detached house, national cost guides give £900 to £1,600 for dry-fixing the ridge with scaffold on top, and a detached house with four hips will cost more. The exact sum is set after the survey. See our ridge tile repairs page for the options.

Chapter 2: The felt roof on our old timber bungalow in Purley keeps leaking. Should we keep patching it?

What we find

Where a bungalow began as a self-built timber house, the roof is often a low-pitched or flat covering of bitumen felt laid over boarding. Felt is a perfectly decent material when it is fitted well, but it blisters in summer heat, splits at laps in winter, and lets water through a hairline gap. Once water reaches the boarding beneath, the boards swell and soften, and the felt above loses its support.

You can tell a deck is going if the roof feels spongy underfoot, if the ceiling beneath has a brown stain, or if the felt shows ridges that follow the board joints. Repeated patching tends to make it worse: each patch adds a hard edge that traps water behind it, and the real fault, a failing deck, stays hidden. After enough patches the roof is a quilt that nobody can inspect.

What we fix

We cut a small inspection hole, look at the boards and the joists from above and below, and show you what is there. If the boards are sound and only the felt has failed, a fresh membrane may be all that is needed. If the deck has gone soft, we strip back and fit new boarding, then add a vapour layer, insulation if you want it, and a fresh covering in EPDM or GRP.

As a typical UK range, EPDM costs £80 to £120 a square metre and GRP £100 to £160; we agree the fixed sum once we have surveyed. If the work covers a large share of the roof, the Building Regulations insulation rules may apply, and we handle that for you. Honest advice sometimes means saying that an old patch has years left in it, and where that is true we say so. Read more on our flat roofing page.

Chapter 3: Water spills from our gutters in Purley whenever the ground is wet. Is the roof at fault?

What we find

Purley has a history of severe flooding, most recently in 2014, after which the Environment Agency completed a clay bund and pumping platform. Even without a flood, ground close to the river can stay saturated for weeks. Many houses send downpipe water to soakaways (pits in the ground that let rainwater drain away), and a soakaway in waterlogged soil cannot take any more. The water backs up the downpipe and overflows the gutter at the first joint it finds.

The symptoms look like a roof fault: a gutter spilling over its front edge, a damp stain on the wall beneath it, or splashback marks low on the brickwork. In fact, the roof may be perfectly watertight. A blocked gutter outlet or a crushed length of downpipe can produce the same effect, which is why the cause has to be found rather than guessed. Standing water at a wall foot also keeps the base of the wall wet.

What we fix

We start at the top and work down. The gutters are cleared and tested with water, the outlets and joints are checked, and we look at the fall of each run. Then we follow each downpipe to the ground and see where the water goes. If the gutters are leaking, sagging or blocked, that is our repair. If the soakaway or underground drain is full, we tell you straight, because that is a drainage job and not a roofing one, and we would rather you called the right person.

Where it helps, we can fit larger-capacity gutter and extra downpipes so that heavy rain has more routes away, and connect them to a water butt that takes the first load. A new uPVC roofline for a semi is usually priced between £1,800 and £3,500 nationally; your own figure comes after the survey. Details of the gutter and fascia work are on our guttering, soffits and fascias hub.

Chapter 4: Why do tiles lift and rattle on our exposed Purley house in a westerly wind?

What we find

Parts of the village lie open to the weather, with the river meadows on one side and rising ground behind, and a detached house stands with every elevation exposed. Wind passing over a roof creates suction on the leeward slope and at the edges, and it can lift any tile that is not held down. Tiles on older roofs were often nailed only every second or third course, relying on weight and interlock for the rest.

Sounds from the loft on a windy night are the first clue, a faint tapping or rattle as tiles lift and drop. From outside, look for tiles that have shifted out of line, a verge where mortar has fallen away, and bits of underlay showing at the eaves. Wind-driven rain gets under lifted tiles and runs down the felt, and if the felt is torn it reaches the timbers. Nesting birds and bats also use gaps at the eaves, and both are protected.

What we fix

We start by testing how many tiles are loose, then re-fix them with stainless nails or clips, and add clips to the verge and eaves courses, where wind loads are highest. Torn underlay is repaired or replaced, battens are checked, and the verge is rebuilt dry so it no longer depends on a mortar line. If birds or bats are using a gap, the work is timed or surveyed first, and we will say so before starting.

On a full re-roof, we fix every tile and fit a breathable membrane that can take the wind. Stripping and recovering a three-bedroom semi in concrete tile is typically £6,500 to £10,500 in UK guides, and a detached house costs more, and the fixed quote follows our survey. Work of that size is notifiable under the Building Regulations, which we handle. See our roof replacement page.

Common questions in Purley on Thames

Why does our loft feel damp when the house stands close to the Thames?

Dampness in a loft is not always a leak. Moist air from a low, wet site can condense on cold felt and timber, especially where insulation blocks the eaves or a bathroom fan vents into the roof space. During the survey we look for staining that follows a tile or flashing, which points to a leak, and for general beading and mould, which points to ventilation.

We live near Purley Park. Does a listed neighbour change what we can do to our roof?

A listed neighbour does not make your house listed, but the setting still matters to the council, and the planning team may take a keener interest in visible changes. Ask West Berkshire Council whether your address has any designation. If your own house is listed, a like-for-like repair is generally acceptable, though altered materials may need consent from the conservation officer first, and we photograph everything for that conversation.

Our street was flooded in the past. Should we have the loft and roof checked afterwards?

Floodwater does not reach the roof, but the aftermath can. Heavy use of dehumidifiers, drying work and damp walls may affect ventilation, and neglected gutters let rain onto already wet walls. A survey checks the covering, the underlay, the gutters and the loft timbers, and the photographs give you a clear record. Our roof inspections page explains what is included.

Can you fit a solid roof to our riverside conservatory?

Yes, though it needs a Building Regulations application, because the frame and base must carry the extra weight. Typical UK ranges reported for a solid tiled conservatory roof run from £6,100 to £15,000, and the fixed quote follows the survey. In an area of designated landscape, ask the planning team about appearance as well. See our conservatory roof replacement page.

The lead around our chimney has split. Is that an emergency?

Not always, but it should be dealt with soon, because water follows the brickwork into the ceiling. If it is coming in now, ring us: emergencies are put first and the leak is made safe before the repair, though no time is promised. Replacing chimney lead is typically priced at £350 to £920 in UK guides. How flashings are formed and dressed is covered under lead roofing and leadwork.

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