Beacon Basingstoke Roofing

Roofers in Whitchurch

Whitchurch is 11.9 road miles west of Basingstoke, in the valley of the River Test, with the chalk downs rising behind it. Steep old tile, Victorian slate and three Grade II* landmarks make it a town to look at closely. We survey each roof with photographs, then give you a fixed price in writing.

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Brick estate houses with concrete tile roofs among pine trees

Roofs we see in Whitchurch

  • Brick chimney stack with clay pots

    Steep tile on once-thatched buildings

    Whitchurch's conservation area appraisal notes steep roof pitches on formerly thatched buildings that are now tiled, and the angle gives them away: thatch needs a steep slope to shed water, and the tiles that replaced it inherited that slope. These roofs are tall, awkward to reach and often framed with older timbers, so they need careful access and a check on what the structure can carry.

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

    Victorian slate in the town centre

    The same appraisal records slate being used generally on the town's 19th-century buildings. Good natural slate is hard and lasts, but it is fixed with nails, and iron nails rust through long before the slate itself fails. A slate that slips is rarely a bad slate. It is a good slate that has lost its fixing, and replacing the fixings is cheaper than replacing the roof.

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

    Listed and large historic buildings

    The Church of All Hallows, the Town Hall and the Silk Mill are all listed at Grade II*. The Silk Mill was built in 1813 to 1815 as a water-powered sawmill and converted to a silk mill in 1817 to 1819, and its big roof shows how the town once worked. Large historic buildings like these can have long, high roofs, with gutters hidden behind parapets or tucked into valleys, and water damage can build up unseen. Large old roofs like these call for scaffold, lead detailing and a close working relationship with the conservation officer.

11.9 road miles west of Basingstoke

Planning and building control in Whitchurch

Whitchurch answers to Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, which is both the planning authority and the route for any building regulations application on a roof. The council has adopted a conservation area appraisal and management plan for the town, which lists the materials and roof forms it regards as part of the place: slate, tile and the occasional surviving thatch. The chalk downs to the north and west are part of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and the River Test and its banks through the town are a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Inside the conservation area, repair in matching materials rarely causes difficulty. Replacing slate with concrete tile, or altering how the roof looks from the street, is a different matter, and you should put that question to the council's conservation team before booking anyone. A listed building, and the church, the Town Hall and the Silk Mill are all Grade II*, is held to stricter rules. Away from those, a complete re-roof may need a building regulations application, which we take care of. For roof windows, read our conservation rooflights guide, then speak to the planning team.

What we find on Whitchurch roofs

Many roofs in the town are old, and those on listed buildings or inside the conservation area sit under heritage controls. The faults follow the age of the building: tiles on steep frames that were designed for thatch, slate on rusting nails, damp roofs in a wet river valley, and old chimney stacks with worn lead.

Chapter 1: Why do tiles keep slipping on our steep roof in the old part of Whitchurch?

What we find

Where a building was once thatched and has since been re-covered in tile, the pitch stayed steep but a good deal else changed. Plain tiles are heavier than thatch, so the rafters, which were framed to carry straw, may be doing more work than they were designed for. Old tiles were often hung on nails or on wooden pegs, and the tile battens, the timber strips the tiles hang from, were fixed to rafters that have since moved a little.

The first sign is usually a tile sitting low in its course, or a gap through which you can see the felt. In the loft, look for daylight, dark stains on the rafters or battens that have sagged between the supports. On a steep slope, one slipped tile can drag its neighbours down, so the fault spreads in a line.

What we fix

If the failure is local, we strip back the affected area, replace any rotten battens and relay the tiles on new stainless or galvanised fixings. We use matching reclaimed tiles to fill gaps and keep the original ones that are still sound. Where we think the structure may be struggling, we say so and look at the timbers from the loft before anything else is ordered.

Swapping a light covering for a much heavier one is not a casual choice: if the new material weighs 15% more than the old, building control approval is needed and the roof structure may need strengthening, so we check the weight before we recommend any change. Our pitched roofing page explains how a re-cover is done. Your fixed quote follows the survey.

Chapter 2: Our Victorian slate roof in Whitchurch has slipped slates. Does the whole roof need replacing?

What we find

A slate roof fails in a recognisable way. Each slate is held by two nails through holes near its top edge, and the nails are the weak point. When iron nails corrode, the rust expands, cracks the slate around the hole and eventually lets go. The slate then slides down a few centimetres and hangs on the one below, held only by friction, until the next gust of wind drops it. Soft, flaking slates and ones with a hollow ring when tapped are signs of a different problem, the stone itself giving up.

From the street you will often see a line of displaced slates, and the lowest courses of the roof go first because they carry the weight of the whole slope. Inside, a faint damp mark on a ceiling below that slope is typical.

What we fix

If the slate is sound and only the nails have failed, individual slates can be repaired using copper nails or hidden metal clips that hold them back in place. Missing or broken slates are replaced with salvaged or new ones matched for colour and thickness. If the slate is delaminating across the roof, the honest answer is a re-slate, and we explain why with photographs.

Guides to UK costs put replacing a single slate at £100 to £250 in labour with £5 to £25 for each new slate, and a tower or scaffold from £300 to £800 on top, and a natural slate re-roof at £120 to £180 per square metre. Read more on our slate roofing page.

Chapter 3: Why has moss taken over the tiles on our house by the River Test?

What we find

Whitchurch lies in a river valley, and the damp air that collects there lingers over roofs. Houses close to the water, under trees or in the lee of a hill dry out slowly after rain. Moss and algae need exactly that: a surface that stays wet. Once established, a moss cushion works like a sponge, soaking up rainwater and holding it against the tile or slate, and in winter that water freezes and flakes the surface.

Moss also grows into the lap between tiles and lifts them slightly, and it washes down into the gutters, where it blocks the outlets. A gutter full of moss overflows down the wall. Look for green staining on the brickwork under the eaves, or a gutter that spills from the middle of a run rather than at the end.

What we fix

We clear moss by hand with scrapers and soft brushes, then treat the surface with a biocide that stops regrowth for a good while. We avoid pressure washing on old tiles and slate, because the jet strips the face and drives water under the laps. The gutters are cleared and tested at the same visit, and any that sag or leak at the joints are corrected.

Typical UK figures for hand removal with biocide are £748, £863 and £978 for small, average and large roofs, against £553, £638 and £723 for pressure washing, which is why some people choose it. The roof cleaning and moss removal service page has the detail.

Chapter 4: The lead around the chimney on our old Whitchurch house is split. Can it be fixed without disturbing the roof?

What we find

An older stack in Whitchurch is often built of soft brick pointed in lime, and it stands through the roof surrounded by lead. The flashing is the strip that seals the joint between stack and slope, and the soakers are the small lead pieces that lap into the tile or slate up each side. Lead moves with the weather, and the oldest flashings were often pinned with iron that rusts. The strip lifts, splits or pulls out of the mortar joint it was wedged into.

You may find a stain on the chimney breast inside the bedroom, flaking plaster or a smell of damp in the loft below the stack. Because the stack is the highest and most exposed part of the house, it takes the worst of every storm, and a small gap lets in a lot of water.

What we fix

We cut out the failed flashings and fit new lead, dressed over the tile or slate and tucked into raked-out joints. Where the pointing has gone, we repoint in lime, because a hard cement mortar traps moisture in soft brick and makes it flake. If a stack is on a listed building or inside the conservation area, we match the existing materials and keep a photograph record to show the council.

Flashing a chimney on all four sides is typically about £525 without scaffold and nearer £1,000 with it. Full details are on our chimney repairs and repointing page.

Whitchurch roofing questions

The Silk Mill and other Whitchurch buildings are listed. What does that mean for a house nearby?

The Silk Mill, the Town Hall and All Hallows church are Grade II* listed, but your own house is only affected if it is listed itself or inside the conservation area. Listing is checked building by building, so ask the council's conservation officer rather than assume. If you are covered, like-for-like repairs are usually fine, while changes of material may need consent. Our survey photographs show what is original.

Do I need consent to re-roof a house in the Whitchurch conservation area?

Like-for-like work, in the same material and pattern, is usually fine. A change from slate to tile, or anything that alters the appearance of the roof, may need consent, so speak to Basingstoke and Deane's conservation officer before ordering materials. We photograph the roof and give you the survey report to take along, which makes the conversation easier.

Can you work on a large old roof such as a hall or a mill?

Yes. Larger historic roofs need scaffold, careful lead detailing and a plan for keeping the building weathertight while the work is done. We survey the roof from top to bottom with photographs, break the repairs into stages and price them in a fixed written quote. Our commercial roofing page covers business premises, and the listed-building rules still apply.

Does the North Wessex Downs designation affect a roof repair?

For ordinary repairs it generally has little effect, and the conservation area and any listing matter more. The designation is more relevant to larger changes in how a building looks. If you are unsure, ask the planning team at Basingstoke and Deane before you start. We build the work around the council's answer, and the 10-year workmanship guarantee is in writing.

We think bats use our old Whitchurch roof. Can the work still go ahead?

Possibly. The law protects roosting bats and nesting birds, which can mean a survey or a change of dates before work starts. Old roofs near a river with trees and meadows around them suit both. Tell us what you have seen, such as droppings or birds at the eaves, and we plan the work around the advice you receive from a licensed ecologist.

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