Roofers in Fernham

With old brick and tile works recorded in the west of the parish, it is no surprise that clay roofs turn up on Fernham's older houses and outbuildings. Clay is a durable covering, but how long it lasts depends heavily on what is holding it up.

Q1.1Is it the tile or the fixings that fail?

Handmade and old machine-made clay tiles are fired hard, and sound ones will outlast several sets of battens. What gives way is the hardware behind them. Softwood battens rot where they stay damp, nails corrode, and the nibs that hang each tile on the batten snap. When that happens the tile slides, even though the clay itself is fine.

Q1.2What does surface wear tell us?

Over time the face of a clay tile can flake, which is called delamination. A scattering of flaked tiles is a maintenance job. A slope where most tiles have delaminated tells us the covering has little left in it, and the photographs make that plain to you as well.

Q1.3Can the old tiles be reused?

Sound tiles can be stripped, sorted and laid again on new battens and a fresh breathable underlay. Spare tiles from the ridge, the verge and the back of the roof can fill gaps on the front slope, so repairs blend in. Where new clay is needed, we match colour and size from samples held up to the roof. Our pitched roofing page covers re-tiling in detail.

The survey photographs show which category your roof falls into, and the written quote reflects it.

Q1.4What about the valleys, hips and chimneys?

On a clay roof the details deserve as much attention as the main slopes. A valley gutter lined with old lead or a worn mortar trough lets water in long before a plain tile fails. Hip tiles need their own fixings, because they sit on a line of constant movement. Chimney stacks need their flashings checked against the brickwork, as joints that have weathered back let water pass behind lead that looks perfectly sound from below. We photograph these areas on every survey so the quote covers them honestly.

Fernham was part of Berkshire until 1974, which explains why Swindon, in Wiltshire, is the nearest big town yet the council is in Oxfordshire. For roofing, only the current arrangements matter.

Q3.1Who handles building control?

The district council shares its building control with South Oxfordshire in a service called Southvale Building Control. You can also use a registered building control approver instead of the council. On re-roofing, Planning Portal guidance is that no application is normally needed while less than 25 per cent of the total building envelope and less than 50 per cent of the roof is affected. We work out with you where the job lands against those limits and who needs to be told.

Q3.2When do planning or listing rules apply?

Like-for-like repairs seldom need planning permission. Listing changes things, because work that would alter its character needs listed building consent. The Vale council's planners keep the conservation area maps, and a short email to them settles whether a given Fernham address lies inside one.

Q3.3How is St John's roof dealt with?

St John's belongs to the Church of England. A church like that, while in use, sits under the ecclesiastical exemption, so changes are handled by faculty instead of listed building consent.

If your address is in a part of the village you are unsure about, a quick check of the council's published maps and lists costs nothing and avoids surprises. Barns that have been converted to homes can follow different rules from working farm buildings, and a roof light or a new covering on a converted building is worth a conversation before a quote is accepted.

Whatever the route, we explain it before the survey ends, so you know who to speak to and when. Nothing starts until you are happy with the written quote.