Beacon Basingstoke Roofing

Roofers in Winslade

Winslade lies 4.1 road miles south-east of Basingstoke, just off the A339, among woodland and plantations. Its roofs include listed houses, estate buildings and a slate-roofed church, so repair here usually means matching what is already there. A photographed survey comes first, and the price that follows is fixed and written down.

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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 Winslade

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

    Listed houses and estate buildings

    Winslade has 42 listed buildings, including Hackwood House at Grade II*, a symmetrical mansion whose original structure dates from 1680. Older buildings of that kind are usually roofed in natural materials such as plain clay tile or slate, laid by hand and best repaired by hand. Anything listed needs a roofer who records what is there, keeps what is sound and matches whatever has to be replaced.

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

    Early nineteenth-century slate

    The church of St Mary dates from 1816, with a yellow brick tower and slate roofing, and was Grade II listed in 1957. It shows what slate looks like on a roof of that date. A slate roof laid in the early 1800s has usually been patched several times, and its weak points are the fixings, the lead at the valleys and abutments, and the timber underneath, rather than the slate.

  • Roofer fitting roof tiles on a brick house near Basingstoke

    Roofs under woodland and plantation

    The landscape around Winslade is dominated by woodland and plantations, so many roofs sit under or beside tall trees. That means shade, falling leaf and twig, and roofs that stay damp. The parish stands on clay over chalk with the ground rising to 557 ft above ordnance datum in the south-east, so houses on the higher ground can take more wind than those in sheltered lanes.

4.1 road miles south-east of Basingstoke

Planning and building control in Winslade

Both planning and building control for Winslade sit with Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council. With 42 listed buildings in the village, the first question for any roof job on an older property is whether it is one of them. Hackwood House is listed at Grade II* and St Mary's church at Grade II, and the National Heritage List for England shows whether a particular building is listed and what the listing covers.

Like-for-like repair of a listed roof is usually fine: matching tile or slate, matching lead, matching fixings. Concrete tile in place of clay, or anything else that alters the look of the roof, may need listed building consent, and the council's conservation officer is the person to ask before an order goes in. On an unlisted house, building control only matters once a job is large: a repair or re-cover that stays small against the house as a whole, and covers under half of the roof, normally needs no application, and we handle the paperwork beyond that. Thinking of a roof window? Our conservation rooflights guide covers sensitive buildings, and the skylight planning permission guide covers the wider rules.

What we find on Winslade roofs

Roofs in Winslade split between old and listed buildings, where the aim is to keep as much original fabric as possible, and plainer houses and outbuildings that suffer mainly from trees, weather and the ground beneath. Whatever the age of your roof, the survey comes first, and the photographs come with it.

Chapter 1: Do we need consent to repair the clay tile roof of our listed house in Winslade?

What we find

Old plain clay tiles are hand-made, slightly cambered and softer than modern ones, and after two or three centuries they fail in particular ways. The face flakes where frost has got into the clay, the nibs that hook the tile over the batten break, and the tiles slip. Under the covering, many old houses were torched: lime mortar was pushed into the underside of the tile laps from inside the loft to stop wind-blown rain and snow. When that mortar falls you get grit on the loft floor and a draught through the roof.

The signs outside are a patchy surface where tiles have been replaced in different colours, a slope that sags where battens have rotted, and a wavy ridge. Inside, daylight through the roof or a dark stain on an old rafter is worth acting on, because old timber that is wetted for long enough will rot, however tough it was when it was felled.

What we fix

Because Winslade has so many listed buildings, our first step is to photograph the whole roof and mark what is original. Sound tiles stay. Failed ones are replaced with reclaimed or hand-made tiles matched for colour and camber, and any rotten battens are renewed as the work goes. Torching is made good in lime where it has fallen, not replaced with foam or felt that would trap damp against old timber.

Repair that matches what is there is normally acceptable on a listed house, but swapping materials or altering the look may need listed building consent, so we give you the photographic survey to take to the conservation officer at Basingstoke and Deane before work starts. On roofs like this, repair comes first almost every time. Our pitched roofing page explains how a larger re-lay would run if it ever came to that.

Chapter 2: Why does the valley on our slate roof overflow in heavy rain?

What we find

Slate roofs of the early nineteenth century, the period of St Mary's, meet at valleys (the channels where two slopes join) and run into walls and parapets, and every one of those junctions is lined with lead. Lead expands in the sun and contracts at night. Over two centuries a sheet that was laid too long or fixed too rigidly creeps downhill, thins and splits along its folds, while the slates beside it stay perfectly good.

Under woodland the lead has another enemy. Leaves, twigs and seed fall into the valley, rot down and hold a layer of wet debris against the metal, which corrodes it from above while rainwater backs up over the edges. The signs are water overflowing at the foot of the valley in a downpour, a stain on the ceiling below, and green growth along the line of the gully.

What we fix

Small splits can be mended by lead welding or a patch, but a valley with widespread cracking needs relining. We lift the slates on each side, lay new lead in lengths short enough to allow for movement, and relay the slates over it, reusing the sound ones and replacing the cracked ones with a match. We clear the valley on the same visit, and where trees are close we suggest a regular autumn clear-out, because even good lead fails early when it sits under wet leaf.

The honest limit is the rest of the roof. If the battens beneath the valley have rotted from years of seepage, they are renewed at the same time, since new lead on old rotten timber would not last. You see the condition of the timber in our photographs before you agree to anything. Our lead roofing and slate roofing pages describe the work in more depth.

Chapter 3: Is the dip in our ridge caused by the clay soil under our Winslade house?

What we find

The Victoria County History records clay soil over chalk in the parish. Clay shrinks in dry summers and swells when it is wet again, and where a tree stands close to a wall the roots dry the ground further. Houses on shallow footings can move a little with it. The movement rarely shows as a dramatic crack. More often you see a ridge line that dips in the middle, a hairline step in the verge at the gable, or tiles along the top course that have opened up on one side.

The roof is usually the messenger, not the cause. A ridge that has dipped may be a sagging purlin or a rotten rafter foot, but it can equally be a wall plate that has moved with the wall below it. Which of those it is decides whether you need a roofer, a structural engineer, or both. Noting when a crack first opened, and whether it closes up in winter, is useful.

What we fix

We look at the roof from outside and from the loft, and photograph the ridge, the verge, the wall plate and any cracked masonry. If the roof timbers have moved, we say so. If the movement looks to be coming from the walls or footings, we recommend a structural engineer before any roofing work, because re-covering a roof that sits on a moving wall only hides the fault. We do not guess at foundations.

Where the fault is in the roof, the repair is local: bolting a new timber alongside a damaged rafter, renewing a rotten wall plate, relaying the ridge and the top courses on a straight line. Every one of those is a smaller job than a re-roof, and it is priced in a fixed written quote after the survey. For a small crack that has been stable for a long time, monitoring it and looking again the following year is sometimes the right call.

Chapter 4: How do you repair a tall chimney stack on an older house in Winslade?

What we find

Larger older houses have tall brick stacks, often with several flues in one block, standing on the highest part of the roof and open to every gust. With the ground rising to 557 ft above ordnance datum in the south-east of the parish, the higher houses take wind and driven rain full on. A stack in that position loses its pointing first. Old lime mortar weathers back, the brick faces start to spall (flake off), and the pots and the flaunching on top crack.

Inside, you see damp on the chimney breast, a white salt bloom on the plaster, or a stain on the ceiling beside the stack. Outside, look for pointing that has gone to sand, a lean in the stack, cracked flaunching and lead that has lifted. A stack that leans is a safety matter, and the survey will say so plainly.

What we fix

Repointing is done in a mortar matched to the brick, which on an old house usually means lime, so the softer brick is not trapped behind a harder mortar that makes it spall. Failed bricks are cut out and replaced, pots are rebedded, the flaunching is renewed, and the lead flashings and soakers are renewed to suit the roof covering. A stack that has leaned is taken down and rebuilt to its original height and pattern.

Typical UK prices reported for chimney repointing are £450 to £1,200, with about £750 as a common figure, while chimney leadwork is a separate item. Ranges like these are a guide only; your fixed quote follows the survey. On a listed house the same like-for-like principle applies as for the roof. See chimney repairs for the full range of work.

Winslade roofing questions

How can I tell whether my Winslade house is listed, and does the listing cover the roof?

Search the Historic England list online or ask the borough council's conservation team. Winslade has 42 listed buildings, and a listing covers the whole building, roof included. Like-for-like repair is generally treated differently from changes to materials or appearance, so ask the council before work that alters how the roof looks. We can supply photographs and a written description of the work for that conversation.

Can you work on the roof of a listed house in Winslade?

Yes, with consent where it is needed. Winslade has 42 listed buildings, and a like-for-like repair is normally fine, while a different material or look may need listed building consent from Basingstoke and Deane. We record the roof in photographs and give you the survey to take to the council's conservation officer, and we do not start until you have the answer.

Do the woods around Winslade mean our roof needs more frequent attention?

Usually, yes. Shade keeps roofs damp, and leaf and twig fall into gutters and valleys, so we suggest a look at the roof and gutters each autumn. Old roofs next to woodland suit roosting bats and nesting birds, both of which are protected, so we may have to plan the timing of work or arrange a survey. You hear about it at our visit if we see signs.

Can you match old slates when repairing a Winslade roof?

Where a match exists, yes. Natural slate varies in colour, thickness and texture by origin, and we take sample slates up to the roof, or use reclaimed ones, so a repair does not show as a patch. If the original is too weathered to match closely, we show you the options in the photographs before ordering.

Can we fit a rooflight in an older Winslade house?

Sometimes, though listing and the character of the roof decide it. Start with our conservation rooflights guide, then ask Basingstoke and Deane's planning team before you buy anything. A slim-framed rooflight set flush with the tiles is usually the style that sits best on a historic roof.

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