Beacon Basingstoke Roofing

Roofers in Yateley

Head 17.7 road miles north-east out of Basingstoke and you reach Yateley, spread over the gentle slope of the Blackwater Valley. Its roofs run from steep clay tile on old brick around Yateley Green to the 1960s and 1970s estates that surround it. We photograph each one, explain the faults plainly and give you a fixed written price.

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

Roofs we see in Yateley

  • Clay tiled pitched roof gable on a red-brick house

    Steep clay tile on old brick

    Around Yateley Green, Hart District Council's appraisal describes older properties in red or blue brick under steeply pitched clay tile roofs. Plain clay tiles are small and double-lapped, hung on battens (the timber strips the tiles hook over). Steep pitches shed water quickly, so leaks usually start at the details: a hip, a valley, a chimney or a tile that has slipped out of its course.

  • Slipped and cracked clay roof tiles

    Shallow slate on London stock brick

    Nineteenth-century buildings in the Green tend to be London stock brick under shallow-pitched slate. A low slope sheds rain more slowly than a steep one, and wind can push water up under the slates, so the overlap between courses matters. Slipped or cracked slates, rusted nails and failed lead valleys are what we look for first on roofs of this type.

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

    1960s and 1970s estate houses

    The old core of Yateley is almost surrounded by post-war housing, largely built in the 1960s and 1970s. Those roofs are now past the half-century mark. Concrete interlocking tiles generally outlast the details around them: the ridge mortar, the verge bedding, the felt at the eaves and the flat roofs over garages and extensions that came with the same houses.

17.7 road miles north-east of Basingstoke

Planning and building control in Yateley

Yateley sits under Hart District Council for planning and building control, not Basingstoke and Deane. The town has three conservation areas: Yateley Green, Cricket Hill and Darby Green. The council's Yateley Green appraisal records ten listed buildings in the Green, all Grade II apart from Yateley Hall, which is Grade II*, and it describes the clay tile and slate that give the area its look. Cricket Hill and Darby Green are historic hamlets that late 20th-century development has largely absorbed.

Inside any of the three areas, like-for-like repair is normally the easy path. Changing clay tile to concrete or slate to something else may need consent, so speak to Hart's conservation officer before ordering materials, and apply the same caution to any listed house. Our page on roof work in a conservation area sets out how we plan those jobs. On the 1960s and 1970s estates, building control tends to matter more than planning, since a large re-cover may be notifiable, and we handle that for you. For a roof window, start with our skylight planning answer.

Faults on Yateley roofs, and the repairs

Yateley roofs divide by age. The historic core holds clay tile and slate laid on brick, on houses that have had many repairs. Around it is a belt of estate housing from the 1960s and 1970s, with its own faults at the ridge, the eaves and the flat roofs. The valley and the nearby common add a damp, leafy setting that tests every roof.

Chapter 1: Why is our shallow slate roof on a Yateley Green house letting water in?

What we find

A shallow-pitched slate roof relies on overlap. Each slate covers the joint between the two below it, and the head lap, the distance one course reaches down over the next-but-one, is what stops water running back up the slope in a gale. On a low pitch that lap needs to be generous. If the slates have slipped even a little, the overlap shrinks and wind-driven rain finds its way through.

Nineteenth-century roofs of this type are also due a close look at the details. Lead valleys between two slopes can split along the folds, and the nails in the slates rust. In the loft, look for stained rafters beside the valley or a damp patch near the eaves. Outside, slipped slates make a ragged line, and broken ones leave bare timber showing.

What we fix

We start in the loft, tracing the leak back to its source with photographs, then check how far the slates have slipped and whether the battens are still sound. Most of the time the right repair is to refix the sound slates with new copper or stainless nails, replace the cracked ones with matching stock and renew a failed lead valley, without touching the rest of the roof.

If the battens have rotted across the slope, or the slates are flaking in layers, a re-slate is the honest answer. Typical UK ranges for natural slate re-roofing sit between £120 and £180 a square metre, with man-made slate at £90 to £130; your fixed quote follows the survey. Inside the conservation area we keep to slate and check consent. See our slate roofing page for the options.

Chapter 2: The clay tiles on our old Yateley house are flaking and slipping. Can we repair rather than re-roof?

What we find

Plain clay tiles on a steep pitch are among the longest-lasting roof coverings, but they age in particular ways. Water soaks into the tile body, freezes, and flakes the face off in thin layers, a fault called delamination. Tiles hung on iron nails fail when the nails corrode and the tiles slip out of their course, which roofers call nail sickness. Wooden pegs rot instead.

Look for tiles that are dark with moisture, pieces of tile in the gutters and a pattern of gaps along one course. On the old brick houses around the Green, hips and valleys take the worst of it, because water concentrates there. A steep roof is also harder to walk on, so loose tiles often go unnoticed until a gust brings one down.

What we fix

Repair is nearly always the sensible first answer for these roofs. We strip only the area that has failed, keep every tile that is sound, and make good the missing ones with reclaimed or handmade plain tiles that match in colour and camber. New battens go under the stripped section and each tile is fixed with a modern clip or nail in place of the old corroded fixing.

Hips and valleys get particular attention: we renew hip irons and bedding, and valley trays or lead where they have worn through. Where the whole roof is failing in a way that patching cannot cure, we say so and show you the photographs. Our nail sickness guide explains the fault in more depth, and flaking clay tiles covers the frost damage.

Chapter 3: Our 1970s house in Yateley has a ridge that is losing mortar. Is that urgent?

What we find

Houses on Yateley's post-war estates, built mostly in the 1960s and 1970s, are typically roofed in concrete interlocking tiles with the ridge and verges set in sand and cement. That mortar is now fifty years old or more. It shrinks away from the tiles, cracks along its length and drops out in pieces, so you may find grey crumbs on the patio or in the gutter after a windy week.

It is not an emergency on the day you spot it, but it does get worse. Once the bed has failed, a ridge tile can rock and lift in a gust, and water runs under the ridge into the loft along the ridge board. The tiles on the slopes are usually fine at this age, which makes the ridge a good repair job and not a reason to re-roof.

What we fix

We check the ridge and the gables from the scaffold. If the tiles are sound, we remove them, clear the old mortar and fit a dry ridge, a batten with the tiles screwed or clipped down over a breathable roll. BS 5534 expects the ridge, the hips and the verges to be fixed mechanically, and BS 8612 sets the performance requirements for dry-fix systems, so mortar is no longer the only thing holding the roof edge down.

The verges are done at the same visit with dry verge units, which saves hiring the scaffold twice. On a semi, reported UK prices for a dry-fixed ridge span £900 to £1,600, and scaffold can add between £300 and £900. The method is explained under ridge tile repairs.

Chapter 4: The felt roof on our Yateley garage extension is bubbling. Do we need a new roof?

What we find

Many 1960s and 1970s houses in Yateley have a flat-roofed garage or a kitchen extension at the back, finished originally in bitumen felt on a timber deck. Felt expands in the sun, contracts in the cold and gradually loses its flexibility. Blisters appear where moisture is trapped underneath, and splits open along the joints and the upstand, the short vertical upturn where the roof meets a wall.

Inside the garage, the sign is often damp on the ceiling boards near the edge or a patch that never dries. On some garages from this period, the roof may be corrugated sheets of asbestos cement instead of felt. Grey corrugated sheets on a building of that age count as suspect until a test says otherwise, so do not drill, jet wash or stand on them.

What we fix

For a felt roof, the usual job is to take the covering off down to the deck, renew soft boards and re-cover in EPDM, which is rubber supplied as one sheet, or in GRP, a fibreglass laminate that is laid wet and sets solid. Both last far longer than felt with proper edge trims and falls. Cost guides report EPDM on a single garage at £1,200 to £2,500 as a typical UK range, though what you pay is set by the survey.

If the sheets turn out to be asbestos cement, HSE guidance treats careful removal of whole sheets as non-licensed work, with a risk assessment, controls and trained operatives. It becomes notifiable if the sheets would be substantially broken up, so we plan to keep them intact. On a small garage, overlaying is sometimes an alternative. Material choices are compared under garage roof replacement.

Chapter 5: Why does moss keep coming back on our Yateley roof near the common?

What we find

Yateley lies between the River Blackwater and the lowland heath of Yateley Common, on the gentle slope of the valley. Houses near the common often sit close to oaks, pines and birch, and shade is the main reason roofs stay damp. A north-facing slope under trees may take a long time to dry after rain, which gives moss and lichen a place to settle.

Moss is more than cosmetic. It holds water against concrete and clay tiles, packs into the overlaps and can lift the edges of tiles over the winter. Pieces wash into the gutters and block the outlets, so water spills over the fascia and runs down the wall. Leaves and pine needles from nearby trees add to the same problem.

What we fix

We clear moss by hand, brushing it down and collecting it, and then apply a biocide to the surface so regrowth is slowed. We avoid pressure washing on older concrete tiles, because the jet can strip the surface layer and force water under the laps. Gutters get emptied while we are there, and a blocked downpipe is rodded through.

Cost guides put hand removal with biocide at £748, £863 and £978 for a small, average and large roof, as a typical UK range, and the price you receive is fixed after the survey. Where overhanging branches are the cause, cutting them back does more than any treatment. See our roof cleaning page, and moss blocking gutters for the gutter side.

Questions from Yateley homeowners

Can the clay tiles on a Yateley house be matched when only part of the roof needs repair?

Usually. Older steeply pitched clay roofs vary in colour and texture, so we look for reclaimed tiles with a similar weathered finish rather than fitting bright new ones in patches. If the tiles are the common plain type, a good match is often possible. Where it is not, we can move sound tiles from a back slope to the front and use new ones out of sight.

Our house is in Darby Green. Does the conservation area affect a roof repair?

It can. Darby Green is one of three conservation areas in Yateley, along with Yateley Green and Cricket Hill, and Hart District Council is the authority for all of them. Like-for-like repair is normally fine, but swapping one material for another may call for consent, so check with Hart's conservation officer before ordering. We photograph the existing roof first, which gives the council a clear record.

Is a conservation rooflight possible on a clay-tiled house by Yateley Green?

Often, yes, though in a conservation area the type and position of the window matter more than usual. Read our conservation rooflights guide, then check with Hart's planning team. On plain clay tiles, a slim-framed conservation rooflight, flashed neatly into the tiles, normally sits best.

Do you work on roofs near listed buildings such as St Peter's Church?

We work on houses and commercial buildings, not churches, but the rule for a listed house nearby is the same: any change to materials or appearance needs consent. St Peter's has a wooden bell tower dating from the early 16th century and was restored after a fire in 1979, a reminder that old timber roofs repay careful records. Protected bats and nesting birds can also affect when work may start.

Our 1960s house in Yateley has a tired roof. Does it need a full replacement?

Not necessarily. Concrete interlocking tiles from that era often outlast the ridge mortar, the eaves felt and the fascias, so many roofs need those parts renewed and nothing more. From inside the loft we look at the underlay, and on the roof we lift a few tiles to inspect the battens. Where the covering can still give good service, we tell you so, and a typical UK range for re-covering a three-bed semi is £6,500 to £10,500, whereas your own figure is fixed only after the survey.

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