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Concrete tiled estate rooftops towards green hills

Roofers in Oaksey

Tiled and slated roofs, chimneys, gutters and flat roofs in Oaksey, from the old cottages around All Saints church to the later houses and extensions on the lanes towards the Swill Brook.

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Oaksey's roofs, from the church to the brook

Old stone cottages beside a village church
The cottages around All Saints

All Saints is a Grade I listed church, and a church has stood on the site since the first half of the twelfth century, with nave walls that may be that old. Houses and outbuildings gathered near a building of that age have usually been patched, extended and re-covered more than once. What we hunt for is the quiet damage: ridge bedding that has crumbled, flashings at chimneys that have lifted, timber at the eaves that has been damp for years, and tiles or slates swapped in over time with a near match instead of the original. Oaksey also has a conservation area, so any repair near the church is planned around the look of the street.

Converted barn with a long pitched roof
Farm buildings and older outbuildings

A village of around six hundred people on the Gloucestershire border carries the sort of roofs rural parishes collect over time: barns turned into homes, lean-to sheds, garages and old stable ranges. Oaksey Park House, a three-storey early seventeenth-century manor, was demolished in 1956, a reminder that older roofs here cannot simply be replaced like for like once they are gone. On converted buildings the usual troubles are long rafter spans that have sagged, valleys where two roofs meet, and rooflights fitted years ago whose seals and flashings have since failed. Each gets a repair sized to the fault, not a wholesale strip.

Mixed tiled roofs on village houses
Later houses and extensions

Away from the church, Oaksey has houses and additions from many periods, and that shows overhead. Concrete interlocking tiles, clay tiles and slate can all turn up within a few doors of one another in a border village like this, and each ages differently. Concrete tiles lose their surface coating and gather moss on the shaded slope, clay tiles can crack along their edges, and slate slips when its nails corrode. Rear extensions and garages often have flat or very shallow roofs, which are where leaks tend to start. Gutters, fascias and soffits on these newer buildings are as likely to need attention as the covering, so we look at the whole edge of the roof, from the gutter line up to the first course of tiles. Where a rear extension joins an older roof, the lead at the junction is checked as carefully as the covering either side of it.

From Swindon across to the Swill Brook

Map showing Oaksey and central Swindon. 18 road miles west-north-west of central Swindon.

Distance
18 road miles west-north-west of central Swindon
Council
Wiltshire Council
Council
Wiltshire Council
Conservation area
Oaksey is a conservation area
Setting
A village on the Gloucestershire border near the Swill Brook

Oaksey roof questions

Will Oaksey's conservation area affect my re-roof?

Repairs in matching materials rarely do. Swapping the covering for something different, or touching a listed house, should go past Wiltshire Council first, before any price is agreed.

Who deals with the roof of All Saints church?

A parish church still used for worship goes through the diocesan faculty process instead of listed building consent. Private houses beside it follow the ordinary rules.

Can an old Oaksey cottage roof be mended without stripping it?

Often, yes. Where the timbers are sound, we refix, re-bed and patch in matching materials. The survey photographs show whether a strip is really needed.

Q1

What do roofs near All Saints, Oaksey, need?

Weathered brick chimney stack with eroded joints and cracked pot
Weathered brick chimney stack with eroded joints and cracked pot
Roofer repointing a stone chimney stack above lead flashing
Roofer repointing a stone chimney stack above lead flashing

The short answer

Mostly patient maintenance. Roofs on old village buildings fail at the details first: ridges, valleys, chimney flashings and eaves. Catching those early keeps the covering and the timbers beneath it sound, and often puts off a full re-roof for many years.

Stand by the church wall and you are looking at a building whose walls may be as old as the twelfth century, with wall paintings from the fifteenth or early sixteenth. The houses nearby have not stood that long, but many are old enough to share its problems, and a roof near a church often has a long record of earlier repairs hidden under it.

Why do the details fail before the covering?

Tiles and slates are seldom what fails first. The ridge is. It runs along the apex of the roof, the join between opposing slopes, and the mortar bedded there years ago cracks, lets water in and loosens the tiles. Once a ridge tile moves, rain finds the gap long before anyone sees it from the ground. Hips, the sloping lines at a corner, and verges, the edges at a gable end, go the same way. Since the 2014 revision of BS 5534, a ridge or hip tile gets clips or screws in addition to its bed of mortar, which no longer carries the load alone. Any re-bed we do in Oaksey is fixed that way, and the ridge is checked end to end for movement.

Where do chimneys let water in?

Chimney stacks take in water at three points: the pots, the flaunching, the cap of mortar that seats the pots on top of the stack, and the flashings. Flashings are lead strips turned into the brickwork to seal the join between stack and slope. Lead lasts well, but it moves with the weather, and a stack built into a thick old wall can draw a flashing out of the joint it sits in.

What happens to the eaves and timber?

Water that gets in at the eaves rots the rafter ends and the wall plate beneath them, usually out of sight. We take photographs at the eaves from the ladder and again inside the loft, so you can see for yourself what is damp and what is dry before you read the quote.

Our roof repairs page follows a small fault from first look to finished repair, and the chimney repairs page covers stacks in more detail.

Q2

Is repair enough for an Oaksey cottage roof?

The answer

Frequently, if the timbers under the covering are dry and sound. A repair fixes a fault; a replacement is for a roof that has stopped keeping water out as a whole. The loft inspection and the survey photographs show which of the two you are looking at.

The smaller-sounding option is not always the right one, and the larger one is not always needed. We start from the fault and work outwards, and we propose the smallest repair that properly deals with it.

When does a repair do the job?

A slipped slate, a cracked tile, a lifted ridge or a failed flashing are contained faults. Fixing the fault and checking the ground around it solves the problem, and the rest of the roof carries on as before. On a cottage roof that has otherwise been steady for decades, this is the usual outcome.

When does patching only buy time?

Some signs point to something bigger. Tiles that crumble in the hand, battens that are soft or split, daylight showing through the roof boards, and the same leak returning after a patch all suggest the covering or its support is spent. Mending a roof like that piece by piece costs more across the years than doing it properly once.

What does a re-roof involve?

A full re-cover means stripping the old covering, checking the timbers, fitting new underlay and battens, and laying the new tiles or slates. Re-covering stays outside Building Regulations when less than 25 per cent of the building envelope is touched and under 50 per cent of the roof surface is renewed. Go past either limit and building control approval is required, with an insulation upgrade possible alongside. In Oaksey that goes through Wiltshire Council's building control team or a registered building control approver, and when notification is required we deal with it ourselves and explain each step.

Our roof replacement page sets out the thinking behind a full re-cover. Price depends on access, roof size and what the survey turns up, and the written figure follows our visit to the roof.

Our rule of thumb

Mend what is sound, and replace only what the survey shows has failed.

Q3

Who approves roof work in Oaksey's conservation area?

Clay tile roof opened to battens and membrane for repair
Clay tile roof opened to battens and membrane for repair
Pallets of new slates in a garden beside a scaffolded house
Pallets of new slates in a garden beside a scaffolded house

The short answer

Wiltshire Council decides planning and listing questions for Oaksey. Most repairs in matching materials need neither. A new covering, a rebuilt chimney or any listed house is worth a call to the council first, and notifiable work goes to building control.

Oaksey is a conservation area, which does not stop roof work. It asks you to think about how the work looks from the lane before you start.

Does the conservation area mean a planning application?

Covering a roof again in matching materials generally sits outside planning control, since the street scene is left as it was. Moving from clay tiles to a different colour of concrete does change the look, so put the question to Wiltshire Council's planning team before committing. That is the council's call, not ours, but we can pass on what the survey found and help you put the question clearly.

What if the house is listed, or it is the church?

All Saints carries a Grade I listing, and some neighbouring houses could be listed as well. Alterations that change a listed property's special character need listed building consent, and that takes in the roof covering. While a Church of England church is used for worship it sits under the ecclesiastical exemption and goes through the faculty system, a separate route from the one a private house next door would take.

What if the old roof shelters bats or nesting birds?

Bats and nesting birds are protected by law, and old roofs beside churches and farm buildings are where they turn up. If the survey shows signs, we stop and tell you before anything is disturbed.

When does building control come in?

Where work is notifiable, it goes to the council's building control team or a registered building control approver. We explain what applies and send the notification.

Unsure if your house is listed, or where the conservation boundary runs? Ask the council before work is priced, and tell us the answer so the quote reflects it.

MythA conservation area means you cannot change anything on the roof.

FactMatching repairs go ahead as normal; it is a change to how the building looks that the council weighs up.

Roofing services in Oaksey

Nearby towns we cover

Questions from the lanes round All Saints

What goes wrong first on a roof beside a very old church?

Usually the details rather than the covering. Ridge bedding cracks, lead flashings lift at the foot of a stack, and eaves timber stays damp for years unseen. We check those first and photograph each one, so you can look at the fault yourself before the quote arrives. Most of these are modest repairs when caught early.

Do you work on converted barns and outbuildings in Oaksey?

Yes. Long spans, valleys between an old roof and a new one, and rooflights fitted years ago are the usual trouble spots on converted buildings. We repair the fault where it sits, and say plainly if a whole section needs more than that, and why.

Is the work written down and guaranteed in Oaksey?

Yes. Your quote is written, and the survey photographs showing your own slopes come with it. The finished work carries a 10-year workmanship guarantee in writing, covering what we carried out.

Who clears up after a roof job on a village lane?

We do. At the end of each job we sweep up and take every scrap of waste away with us, whether that was a ridge re-bed or a full re-cover. Mention any narrow access or parking limits on your lane when you ring, and the survey can plan around them.

Ask us about your roof

Tell us what’s happening and we’ll call you back.

  • Photos of what we find
  • A written quote
  • 10-year workmanship guarantee

Or call 01793 626096

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