A slipped tile over the back bedroom is one thing. A covering that has gone past saving is another, and it’s worth knowing which you’ve got before the rain tells you. This week the trade press carried a story that shows it at the grandest scale: plans have gone in for urgent roof repairs at Hatfield House, the Grade I listed Jacobean mansion, after a 2023 survey found its roof coverings in an advanced state of deterioration.
Look at what the architects actually propose. The mid-20th-century copper on the main roof comes off and goes back to Code 7-8 lead, with rolled batten joints, proper steps and drips and sensible bay sizes. Slipped slates are replaced like for like. New lead-lined gutters go in. The timber boarding underneath stays, because it’s still sound. The stated aim is to cure the cause of the decay, not patch the symptoms. That’s the right instinct on any roof, big or small, and the consultation on the application runs until 21 October.
The same thinking applies to a clay-tiled roof off Burton Road or a terrace near Monks Road. A leak round the chimney isn’t a chimney problem if the flashing was dressed in thin lead and has been baked by twenty-odd summers. It’s a lead problem. For most domestic work you’re looking at Code 3 soakers, Code 4 flashings and Code 5 in valleys and gutters. And in the conservation area up around Bailgate and Steep Hill, lead is often the only covering you’ll get consent for anyway.
Ask for a proper survey before anyone orders materials. Walk the roof, then check the battens, nails and felt laps from inside the loft. Plain tiles want a 65mm head lap at 35 degrees.
If tiles are sliding because the nails have rotted rather than the tiles failing, resetting them is money wasted. Ridges and hips that have lost their bedding are the usual early warning, and rebedding or dry-fixing them costs a fraction of what a gale will cost you.
Allen Roofing covers roof repairs in Lincoln and across Lincolnshire, from chimney work and lead flashing to full re-roofs. If you’d like a second pair of eyes up there before winter, have a look at allenroofingltdlincoln.co.uk/.