Torn Felt In The Loft
Underlay hanging in strips between the rafters is the clearest signal available. Once it has gone, every tile is working on its own.
Roof Replacement In Frimley
Roof Replacements In Frimley
Whole Frimley streets are reaching this point together, because they were built together. When the felt has gone, a strip and re-cover is the only repair that lasts.
Built Together, Failing Together
Why Your Whole Road Is Being Re-Roofed
Homeowners here often mention it with a degree of suspicion: three houses on the road had their roofs done last year, and now theirs is leaking. It looks like a pattern because it is one — but the cause is construction history rather than anything more sinister.
Large parts of Frimley, Frimley Green and Mytchett were developed in concentrated bursts through the post-war decades and again through the sixties and seventies. An entire street would go up inside a couple of years, using the same interlocking concrete tiles laid over the same bitumen felt by the same contractor.
Concrete tiles are tough and will keep going for a long time. Bitumen felt will not. After fifty or sixty years it hardens, then cracks, then tears — typically at the eaves first, where it has been exposed to most weather. When every roof on the road started its life on the same day, they all reach that point within a few years of each other.
Down here in the Blackwater Valley there is an additional factor. The air stays damper than on the higher ground a few miles north, north-facing slopes rarely dry out fully, and roof timbers that get wet through a torn felt take much longer to recover. Left alone, a felt problem becomes a timber problem.
Time To Re-Roof?
Signs Your Frimley Roof Has Reached The End
One of these alone may mean little. Three or four together usually settles the question.
Leaks That Move Around
A leak repaired one winter reappearing elsewhere the next is rarely bad workmanship. It is usually a roof past the point repairs can help.
Daylight At The Eaves
Light visible where the roof meets the wall plate means wind-driven rain has the same way in — and the eaves are where felt perishes first.
Tile Fragments In Gutters
Concrete debris collecting after every frost means the tiles are now spalling rather than simply weathering.
Damp, Dark Timbers
Staining along rafters and battens shows water has been getting past the covering for some time — a particular risk in this damp valley air.
Repair Bills Mounting
Three call-outs across two winters generally costs more than doing the job once. We will tell you honestly when you have reached that point.
The Job
What A Full Re-Roof Actually Involves
Disruptive for a few days, then finished for decades. Knowing the sequence makes it far easier to live with.
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Scaffold & Protection
Scaffold up first, drive and borders sheeted. On semis and terraces we agree access with your neighbour beforehand rather than on the morning.
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Strip & Inspect
Covering, battens and perished felt all come off. With the roof open the rafters and wall plate can finally be seen, and anything wet or rotten is reported before it gets covered.
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Membrane & Battens
Breathable membrane goes on, letting the roof space release moisture rather than trapping it — which matters more here than most places — then new treated battens.
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Re-Cover & Detail
Tiles laid, then the details that decide the lifespan: dry ridge and verge instead of mortar, new lead to abutments, and re-formed valleys.
Been Quoted For A New Roof?
It is a lot of money and worth a second opinion. Our inspection is free and we will say honestly if repairs would still see you right.
Included As Standard
What Comes With The Price
Everything listed sits inside the quoted figure. The final invoice matches the quote you accepted.
- Full scaffold, erected and struck, plus ground protection
- Complete strip of covering, battens and perished underlay
- Rafter, batten and wall plate inspection with findings reported first
- Modern breathable membrane throughout
- New treated battens gauged to the chosen covering
- Dry ridge and dry verge systems in place of mortar bedding
- New dressed leadwork to abutments, chimneys and valleys
- Skips, waste removal and a full site clean before we leave
Why Us
A Roof You Only Buy Once
What separates a thirty-year roof from a fifteen-year one is almost entirely detail you will never see from the pavement.
- Our own roofers on site, not a crew you have never met
- Wet or rotten timber photographed and reported while the roof is open
- Dry fixings on ridge and verge, so there is no mortar left to crack
- Ventilation addressed properly, which matters in this damp air
- A final walk-round including the loft before the scaffold comes down
Common Questions
Roof Replacement Questions
The questions we are asked most before a re-roof in Frimley.
Cannot see your question? We are always happy to talk it through — there is no such thing as a silly question when it comes to your roof.
How long does a roof replacement take?
A typical Frimley semi or detached house is usually days rather than weeks once the scaffold is up. Complexity matters more than size — dormers, valleys and steep pitches all add time. You get a realistic programme with the quote and an update if the weather moves it.
I live in a semi. Can just my half be done?
Yes, and we do it regularly. The join is detailed properly at the party wall so there is no weakness where old meets new. Worth knowing though: the two halves will not match visually until your neighbour follows suit, so it is always worth a conversation with them first.
Do I need to move out?
No. The roof is open during the day and made watertight each evening, and the house stays perfectly liveable. It is noisy and there will be dust in the loft, so most people move stored belongings down or sheet them over beforehand.
What happens if you find rotten timbers?
We stop, photograph it and speak to you before anything gets covered. Minor repairs are normally absorbed within the quoted price; anything structural is priced separately so you can see exactly what the extra relates to. Nothing is hidden under new felt.
Can you re-roof in winter?
Yes, and we work right through it. We strip in sections rather than opening the whole roof at once, and everything is watertight before we leave each day. Sustained rain may add a day here and there, but it is no reason to wait until spring with a failed roof.
Should I improve the insulation while the roof is off?
It is worth considering, since access will never be cheaper. Given how damp the air is around the Blackwater Valley, ventilation deserves as much attention as insulation — getting one right and the other wrong causes condensation problems. We will talk both through with you.
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