Norfolk
Roofing in Watton
Xcell Roofing Ltd proudly serves Watton and the surrounding area.
Watton is a Breckland market town with a mix of older brick and pantile in the centre and a lot of bungalow and estate development around it. Bungalows have their own roofing character, large shallow roof areas and long runs of fascia and guttering relative to the size of the house.
Across IP25 fascia, soffit and guttering replacement is a bigger share of our work than it is elsewhere in the county, for exactly that reason.
A centre rebuilt after 1674
On 25 April 1674 a fire went through Watton and destroyed sixty houses and the butchers' shambles. The clock tower on the High Street was put up in 1679 by a local merchant, Christopher Hey, in the years after. Watton has had a conservation area since 1976, managed by Breckland Council, and if your house is inside it we will say so at survey and tell you whether the work is likely to need consent.
Pantile on the older town buildings usually has bedded ridges and verges, and the mortar is what goes first. Once it cracks and drops out, wind gets under the end tiles and water gets into the top of the wall. Rebedding or repointing is a modest job if it is caught early and a much bigger one once the timbers beneath have been wet for a few winters.
After the airfield
RAF Watton opened in January 1939, and in 1995 part of the former camp was sold for the Blenheim Grange housing estate. Along with the bungalows around the town, that gives Watton a large stock of low pitched concrete tile roofs of a similar age.
A shallow roof depends more on its interlocks and underlay than a steep one, so a lifted tile or a torn membrane at the eaves lets in more water than you would expect. Moss holds water against the tiles and blocks gutters, which matters more on a low slope where water already runs slowly. On the long fascia runs, rot usually starts at the joints and behind the gutter brackets, well before it shows from the ground. Replacing boards, soffits and gutters together, while the scaffold or tower is up once, is usually cheaper than doing them one at a time.
Where to go next in Watton
Our fascias, soffits and guttering page covers replacement, and if you are weighing up the cheaper option, read our article on whether to cap fascias or replace them. For moss, see roof cleaning and moss removal and our advice on pressure washing moss off a roof. Loose ridges and verges come under ridge, valley and gable repointing.
Recent work near Watton
Roofing in Watton: your questions
Should I cap my old fascias with uPVC or replace them?
Capping covers the timber but does not stop rot that has already started, and it hides it while it spreads. If the boards are sound, capping can be reasonable. If they are soft at the joints or behind the brackets, replacing them is the better job. We check before we recommend either.
Is moss on a bungalow roof a problem?
A little moss is mostly cosmetic. Heavy moss holds water against the tiles, lifts them at the laps and washes into the gutters, and on a shallow bungalow roof that is where leaks and overflowing gutters come from. We remove it by hand rather than blasting it off.
Do you work on the older buildings in Watton town centre?
Yes. The older property in the centre is mostly brick and pantile, and repairs should match what is there. Part of the town is a conservation area, so we check the position at survey and tell you whether the work is likely to need consent before anything is ordered.
Ready to get started?
Tell us about your project and we'll be in touch.
