Roofers in Cumnor

Cumnor sits just west of the A420, about three miles from Oxford, and much of its conservation area is surrounded by the Green Belt. Walk the High Street and the village shows its layers: limestone walls built of coursed rubble, a row of thatched cottages, red brick from a house built in 1900 and plain tiled roofs from every period since.

Q1.1How does a stone slate roof wear?

Limestone slates are hung on pegs or nails and graduate in size, with the longest ones along the eaves. The first sign of trouble is usually a slate that has slipped a few centimetres, leaving a small gap through which rain can reach the timber behind. Those are easy to refix if they are caught early, and a roof survey after a windy spell often finds them.

Q1.2What should I look for on a clay tile roof?

On a brick house with clay tiles, look from the ground for tiles with flaking faces, dark staining where a gutter has overflowed and a ridge line that has started to wave. Clay is a long-lasting material, and the Building Conservation Directory cautions against assuming it has a fixed life, since some peg-tiled roofs have survived for several centuries. What fails is more often the fixings, the battens and the underlay than the tile.

Where a house has thatched neighbours, the covering next door is the neighbour's concern, but a spark or a dropped tool is everyone's, so we plan access with that in mind. Work involving a blowtorch, such as lead dressing or felt, is handled with particular care in a street like this one, and we talk through the method before it begins.

Our pitched roofing page sets out how tiled and slated slopes are repaired and replaced.

The photographs we take at survey show each of these signs on your own roof, which is a better guide than any general description.

Cumnor's conservation area was designated in 1969, and the village includes listed buildings of every grade: St Michael's church is Grade I, The Bear and Ragged Staff is Grade II*, and most of the others are Grade II. Everyday maintenance needs no permission, but three questions come up often enough to answer here.

Q3.1At what size does a Cumnor re-roof need approval?

Building control approval is not normally needed while the job stays under 25 per cent of the total building envelope and under 50 per cent of the roof. Pass either of those thresholds and an application follows, and the covering may then have to be brought up to current insulation standards. Separately, the Planning Portal says a covering 15 per cent or more heavier needs approval, which matters if concrete tile is proposed to replace stone slate on an old frame.

Q3.2Who is the building control body?

The Vale of White Horse shares its building control service with South Oxfordshire under the name Southvale. A private registered building control approver is the other route. Whichever you choose, we tell you what the roof needs and send in the notification on any job that requires one.

Q3.3Do the listed houses or the Green Belt change anything?

Changing the roofing material on a listed building alters its character and calls for listed building consent. St Michael's, still in Anglican worship, comes under the diocesan faculty system for its roof instead. The Green Belt is a planning designation that matters chiefly when you are extending or building; if your plans go beyond repair, ask the Vale of White Horse before committing.

Unsure whether yours is a listed house? The Vale of White Horse keeps the listing records for Cumnor, and we hold off pricing anything that depends on the answer until it arrives.