Beacon Basingstoke Roofing

Roofers in Whitehill and Bordon

Whitehill and Bordon is 20.5 road miles south-east of Basingstoke, a twin town that grew from two military camps and is now being regenerated. Its roofs range from camp-era brick to newer estates within the old Woolmer Forest. We survey each one with photographs, then send a quote whose price is fixed.

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White uPVC fascia, soffit and guttering under a tiled roof

Roofs we see in Whitehill and Bordon

  • Slipped and cracked clay roof tiles

    Camp-era brick and early terraces

    Bordon Camp was first laid out in 1899 by the Highland Light Infantry, under the Royal Engineers, and Whitehill grew up between it and Longmoor Military Camp. Buildings and houses from that period are simple, solid and often built in runs, with plain pitched roofs, brick chimney stacks and gable ends. Their coverings may have been replaced more than once, so the underlay and the fixings are worth checking.

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

    Post-war housing and garage blocks

    The Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers trained soldiers in Bordon until 2016, and the town carries the housing, garages and outbuildings that went with a large garrison. That means repeated rows of identical roofs, and flat-roofed garage blocks with bitumen felt or, on older ones, corrugated sheets that need testing for asbestos before anyone touches them.

  • Brick estate houses with concrete tile roofs among pine trees

    Homes from the regeneration

    The 2009 eco-town proposal for Whitehill and Bordon first earmarked 5,000 new homes, and the masterplan was finalised in 2012. Houses built since then have concrete tiles, dry-fix ridges, roof windows and neat flashings, but newer roofs are not fault-free. Poorly sealed abutments, tight lead work and gutters sized for light rain appear on estates built at speed.

20.5 road miles south-east of Basingstoke

Planning and building control in Whitehill and Bordon

East Hampshire District Council is the planning authority for both halves of the town, and its building control team covers roof work too. The town sits within Woolmer Forest, a former royal forest, so many streets back onto woodland, and the Longmoor Army Ranges lie to the south. If you are not sure whether your road has any designation attached to it, put your address to the council's planning team before you plan changes to the look of a roof. Matching repairs rarely raise questions, but it is cheaper to ask first than to undo work.

Building regulations are the more common issue. Re-covering a small part of a roof is normally exempt, but a larger job can be notifiable, and a new covering much heavier than the old one needs approval and may call for strengthening. We handle the paperwork, using the council's team or a registered building control approver. If you want a roof window, our skylight planning explainer sets out what to check first. Trees near the roof may shelter nesting birds or bats, both protected.

What we find on Whitehill and Bordon roofs

Two ages of roof sit side by side here: the solid housing and garages that came with the camps, and the newer estates that have gone up since the regeneration plans. Add a forest edge and an open site, and the same few problems repeat.

Chapter 1: Why do the ridge and verge tiles on our Bordon terrace keep coming loose?

What we find

On a terrace or a run of semis, the ridge is the row of capping pieces running along the apex, and the verge is the edge of the roof where it finishes at a gable. Both were traditionally bedded in mortar, and on houses from the middle of the last century that mortar has had decades of frost, sun and rain. It shrinks, cracks and lets go of the tile. On an open site, wind then does the rest.

From the pavement you may spot a ridge tile out of line, bright patches where mortar has fallen away, or crumbs of sand and cement in the gutter. In the loft, daylight along the ridge board, or a damp patch on the timber, means water has been getting in. Because these roofs were built in a run, a terrace often fails in step along its length.

What we fix

We lift a few to learn if the tiles themselves are good and just the bedding has gone, which is what we normally find. A modern repair follows BS 5534, the British Standard that expects every ridge, hip and verge piece to be held by screws, clips or straps, with mortar no longer trusted alone. We therefore recommend a dry-fix system, where the ridge tiles are screwed or clipped to a batten and sealed with a breathable roll, and dry verge units clip over the ends of the tiles. BS 8612 sets the performance requirements for these systems.

Cost guides for a semi quote a dry ridge at £900 to £1,600, with scaffold from £300 to £900 on top. Where several neighbours share a run of roofs, a shared scaffold can bring the cost down. Your fixed quote follows the survey. The ridge, verge and dry-fix service page goes further.

Chapter 2: Is the corrugated sheet roof on our Whitehill garage asbestos, and can it be removed?

What we find

Garage blocks and outbuildings built for the garrison and its families were roofed with whatever was cheap and quick, and on some that meant sheets of asbestos cement. Grey corrugated sheets on a building of that age should be treated as asbestos until they have been sampled and tested, because nobody can be sure by eye. The sheets turn mossy, grow brittle and crack at the bolt holes, and a cracked sheet is the point where fibres can come loose.

The danger comes from disturbing the material, so do not drill it, scrub it, jet wash it or walk on it. Other garages in the same block may have flat roofs of bitumen felt, which tell their own story: blisters, splits along the front edge, and ponded water in dips in the deck.

What we fix

Careful removal of asbestos cement roof sheets, without breaking them, falls under HSE rules as non-licensed work, yet it always needs a risk assessment, controls and trained workers. Should the sheets have to be smashed into pieces, the work turns notifiable, so we plan the removal to keep them whole and send them to a site that accepts them. On a small garage, fitting a new roof over the sheets is sometimes an option, and we tell you which route suits yours after the survey.

Removing an asbestos roof is reported at £1,200 to £2,000 for a single garage and £2,500 to £4,500 for a double, and a new EPDM roof for a single garage at £1,200 to £2,500 (figures from separate guides)., whichever route you take. The garage roof replacement service compares the options.

Chapter 3: Our house backs onto Woolmer Forest and the gutters are always full. What can we do?

What we find

Woolmer Forest gives the town a lovely edge, but a roof beside woodland collects a lot of debris. Needles, twigs, seeds and leaf litter drop onto the slope and wash into the valleys and gutters, and shade keeps the surface damp so moss thrives on the tiles. When a downpipe blocks, water backs up and goes over the gutter edge, soaking the fascia and the wall under it.

The visible signs are a green roof, plants growing in the gutter, a streak down the wall below the eaves and a fascia that is soft or flaking. In the loft, a damp wall plate where the gutter has been spilling into the eaves is common, and that is the timber the whole roof sits on, so it is worth seeing early.

What we fix

We clear the gutters and downpipes, test that the outlets run freely, and re-fix any section that has dropped out of its fall. A fascia that has rotted is cut out and replaced, and the underlay at the eaves checked. Mesh covers on the outlets cut down the debris that reaches the downpipes, but they still need clearing now and then.

The roof surface is cleared of moss by hand and treated with biocide, which guides to UK costs put at £748, £863 and £978 for small, average and large roofs. If moss has lifted tiles or let water under them, we repair those at the same visit. The guttering, soffits and fascias page has more.

Chapter 4: There is a leak around the roof window in our newer Bordon home. Who should look at it?

What we find

Newer homes in the town were built fast, and the usual weak points are the joints where one part of the roof meets another. A roof window sits in a frame flashed into the tile slope, and if the flashing kit was fitted slightly out of line, water can get past the lead or aluminium apron at the base. An abutment, where a roof meets a wall, can leak the same way if the flashing was not turned into the brickwork deeply enough.

Condensation often gets the blame, but a leak that appears only during or after rain, close to the window frame or a wall junction, is rain getting in. Staining at the corner of the window lining, a damp patch on the ceiling next to it or drips on a windy day all point that way. Newer roofs can also have thin gutters that overflow in heavy rain.

What we fix

First, check whether the home is still covered by a builder's or warranty provider's cover, because repairs done by someone else can affect a claim. If it is not, we inspect the window, flashing and abutment from outside and in the loft, and photograph the fault. Most leaks are cured by refitting the flashing or replacing a failed seal, without touching the window itself. Where the frame has been fitted out of square, we lift and refit it.

Fitting a roof window is reported at £680 to £1,300 on one trade site, and about £1,623 to £1,906 including VAT on a manufacturer's page. Visit our roof windows and skylights page.

Whitehill and Bordon roofing questions

Do the older camp-era houses in Whitehill and Bordon have different roofs from the new estates?

Often they do. Older houses tend to have plain tile or slate roofs and brick chimneys, which fail through old mortar, rusted nails and worn lead. Newer homes more often have concrete tiles on breathable membranes with dry-fix ridges, where the problems are fixings and sealant. A survey picks out which faults apply to your roof.

Can you quote for a roof on a former military building or an industrial unit?

Yes. Large flat or low-pitched roofs on commercial and former service buildings are common here, and we survey them with photographs, check the sheets or membrane and quote in writing. Fragile sheets, such as old asbestos cement, need particular care. Our commercial roofing page explains the systems we work with.

Is a ten-year-old roof in the new estates likely to need work?

Not usually a replacement. At that age we normally look for small faults: flashings, sealed joints, gutter capacity and any tile that has shifted. A roof inspection from us shows what the roof is doing, with photographs, and we repair only what needs repair. If your home is under a builder's or warranty cover, check with them before any work starts.

Can anything be done about a roof leaking in Whitehill that cannot wait?

Call 01256 213956 or message us on WhatsApp. Leaks get priority when we plan the day, and we make the roof safe before anything else. We do not promise a particular arrival time, because that would not be honest, but we move quickly. The emergency and general roof repairs page explains the process.

Could bats or birds in the trees near our roof delay the work?

Possibly. Roosting bats and nesting birds have legal protection, and woodland edges attract both. If you have seen either around the eaves, tell us before the survey. Work may need to be timed to the breeding season or checked by a specialist first, and we plan the schedule around that rather than risk disturbing them.

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