Roof repairs in Wells-next-the-Sea

Most roof repairs in Wells come back to the same two things: salt and wind. Salt air corrodes the nails, clips and lead that hold a roof together, and a strong wind off the sea finds whatever has come loose. So the tiles on the seaward slope start to slip, a verge lifts, or the lead behind a chimney splits, and water gets in at the edge of the roof long before it gets in through the middle.

Where Wells roofs let water in

Pantiles slipping

Clay pantile lasts far longer than the nails holding it. One or two slipped tiles is a small repair, done properly with the tile refixed rather than bedded in mortar. Tiles slipping across a whole slope means the fixings have gone generally, and we will tell you so rather than keep coming back.

Verges and ridges

Mortar at the verge and along the ridge cracks and washes out on an exposed roof. Where it has failed, dry verge and dry ridge systems are fixed mechanically and do not rely on mortar at all.

Lead at chimneys and walls

Lead flashings crack along their folds with age, and the fixings holding them corrode faster here than inland. A bead of sealant along the crack will not see out a winter on this coast. We cut out the failed lead and form new.

Flint and brick junctions

Where a roof meets a flint wall, the joint needs forming in lead. Mortar fillets crack against flint, and water then tracks into the wall behind.

Getting to the roof

The older town is tightly built around the quay and the yards, and plenty of houses are reached down a narrow lane. A small repair can sometimes be done from a ladder or a tower; anything bigger needs scaffold planned for the plot. We work that out when we look at the roof, and it is in the written price.

Listed and conservation area property

Part of Wells is a conservation area and there are 185 listed buildings in the parish. For a repair the rule is simple: like for like, in the same material, so the repaired patch disappears into the roof. On a listed building we will tell you if the work is likely to need consent before it starts.

After a storm

Where it is safe, we make the roof weathertight on the first visit and come back for the permanent repair. We photograph the damage before we touch it, because the photographs are what an insurer asks for. Our guide on what to photograph after storm damage covers the rest.

Second homes

More than one in five homes in Wells is a second home, and a leak in an empty house can run for weeks. If you are away, we can look at the roof with access arranged through you or a key holder and send you the photographs, so you can decide what to do without making the trip.

If the roof has reached the point where repairs no longer make sense, see new roofs in Wells-next-the-Sea. For the stack itself, see chimney repairs in Wells.