Concrete tiled estate rooftops towards green hills

Roofers in Shaw, Wiltshire

Help with leaking roofs, worn coverings, tired chimney stacks and extension roofs in Shaw, from the older houses near Christ Church and Shaw House to the later homes along the A365 between Melksham and Box.

Get a quote Call 01793 626096

Shaw's roofs, from the manor to the main road

Older stone and brick houses beside a village church — The old core around Shaw House and Christ Church

Shaw's manor is recorded from the 13th century, and the oldest part of the village still gathers around two Grade II* listed buildings: Shaw House, built in 1711 and extended around 1840, and Christ Church, built in 1838 to designs by T H Wyatt and rebuilt in 1905 by C E Ponting in Arts and Crafts Gothic. Houses close to buildings of that rank tend to be older, heavier and more intricate than the roof on a modern semi, with chimney stacks, valleys and abutments that all need careful flashing. On these we look first at the junctions and the fixings, and we find out whether a building is listed before anyone prices a covering.

Terraced and semi-detached homes along a main road — Houses along the A365

Shaw is a village on the A365, about 1.7 miles north-west of Melksham on the road towards Box, and many of its homes sit in short runs along that road or on the lanes that lead off it. Houses of different decades stand side by side here, so one street can hold three or four roof coverings and as many ages of repair. A road frontage brings its own jobs: gutters that carry more dirt, chimney stacks that were rebuilt once and patched since, and porches and bay roofs added by earlier owners. We start by working out which era a roof belongs to, because that tells us how it was built and where it usually fails.

Flat roof on a single-storey house extension — Extensions, outbuildings and flat roofs

Across a village like Shaw, many houses have grown over the years. Single-storey rear extensions, garages and utility rooms tend to be covered under a flat or gently pitched roof, which usually ages faster than the main pitched roof above the original house. The usual faults are ponding where the fall is too slight, splits at upstands, and edge trims that have lifted. A flat roof that has failed once is often fixable with a targeted repair, but when the deck has gone soft the plain answer is a new covering. Which of the two your extension needs, and the reason, appears in the written quote once we have looked.

From Swindon to the A365

Distance: 27 road miles south-west of central Swindon
Council: Wiltshire Council
Council: Wiltshire Council
Parish: Melksham Without, north-west of Melksham
Listed landmarks: Shaw House and Christ Church, both Grade II*

Quick answers for Shaw homes

Is my house near Shaw House or Christ Church listed?

Only those two are named as Grade II* here. A neighbouring house may or may not be listed, so ask Wiltshire Council before work starts, and we can go through the entry with you.

Do you reach Shaw from Swindon without a long wait?

Yes. Shaw falls inside our service area, on the A365 north-west of Melksham. A roof letting water in, or one battered by a storm, is seen first, and the water is stopped before the permanent fix is planned.

Can one repair fix a flat roof on a Shaw extension?

Sometimes. A lifted seam at an upstand or a peeling trim can be repaired. A soft deck or widespread ponding means re-covering over sound boards gives better value.

What should I check on an older Shaw house?

Lead-lined valley gutter between two slate roof slopes

Torch showing a water-stained rafter beneath slates in a loft

The short answer

Start at the joins, not the open slope. Chimney flashings, valleys, the ridge and the fixings holding slates or tiles are where an older Shaw home usually lets water in. Look from the ground with binoculars, then book a survey with photographs.

A house in Shaw that predates the 20th century has had a long time to settle, and every junction on its roof is a place where one material meets another. A sound slope seldom leaks across its open face. Water finds its way in where a chimney meets the covering, along the line where two slopes come together inwards, or along a verge where the covering stops.

Where does water usually get in?

The chimney is the first suspect. Flashing means the lead or metal band dressed into the gap where a stack rises through the slope, and over many years it lifts, splits or pulls out of the mortar joint it is tucked into. Where two slopes meet you get a valley, often lined with soakers, which are small pieces of metal slipped under each course. Both can fail long before the covering does. The ridge caps the apex, and its tiles were traditionally bedded on mortar by itself.

Why does the ridge matter on an old roof?

BS 5534:2014 calls for mechanical fixing of ridge and hip tiles rather than a mortar bed alone. On an older roof in an open village position, a ridge that was bedded once and never revisited deserves a close look, because a loose ridge tile can be lifted by wind long before it leaks. Our ridge and verge dry-fix page explains the modern alternative.

Does the whole roof need replacing?

Rarely, at the first sign of trouble. We recommend whichever fix is smallest yet sound, so a failed flashing means a new flashing and a run of slipped tiles means refixing them. When the battens or underlay beneath have rotted and many tiles are involved, a section or the whole slope is the sensible answer, and the survey photographs will show you exactly why. Our roof repairs page sets out how we make that call.

If you can see daylight in the loft, stains on rafters or damp patches around the chimney breast, mention them when you ring. They help us find the fault faster.

Does a flat roof extension in Shaw need replacing?

The answer

Not always. A flat roof with a few splits, a lifted edge trim or a blocked outlet can usually be repaired. A roof with a spongy deck, water standing for days or a covering that has failed in several places is past repair and needs a new membrane over a sound deck.

Garage, kitchen-extension and utility-room roofs sold as flat are really laid to a slight fall. Rain needs to run to a gutter or outlet, and when that fall is lost, water stands and shortens the life of the covering.

How do I tell a repair from a replacement?

Press on the roof from a safe position or look at it from an upstairs window. If it is firm and the damage is local, repair is the likely answer. If the surface feels soft underfoot, water has probably reached the deck, which is the board beneath the covering, and a patch on top will not last. Ponding that dries within a day or two is less alarming than water that is still there days later.

Which flat roof coverings are common?

You will meet three. EPDM is a synthetic rubber sheet, usually supplied as a single piece cut to the roof. GRP, glass-reinforced plastic, is the fibreglass option, and felt means bitumen sheet, commonly torch-on. Typical lifespans in the national guides are 20 to 30 years for EPDM and 25 to 40 years for GRP, and the sources disagree about felt, so we treat any figure as a guide and not a promise. Our flat roofing page goes through the options.

What decides the cost?

Size, access, the state of the deck and the covering you choose. Whether a scaffold is needed, and whether a quote includes VAT, change the total, so ask every firm about both. The quote we send in writing after the survey gives one total price.

If the roof is leaking while you wait for a visit, move belongings away from the wet area and tell us. A roof that is actively leaking gets our attention first, with the water stopped before the lasting repair is planned.

Who deals with roof consent for a Shaw home?

Rolled lead roof covering over a bay above white windows

Long flat roof on a 1960s brick building being re-covered

The short answer

Shaw lies under Wiltshire Council. Routine repairs and matching re-coverings rarely need an application, but listed buildings do need consent for changes to their special interest, and larger re-roofs can fall under the Building Regulations. Wiltshire Council's building control team or planning team can confirm.

Ordinary roof work seldom needs permission, but a few situations are worth knowing about before anything is priced.

When are the Building Regulations involved?

Building control sign-off is not normally required where under 25 per cent of the total building envelope and under 50 per cent of the roof is disturbed. Beyond those limits approval applies, and better insulation could be required. A covering more than 15 per cent heavier than the old one also needs approval under Approved Document A. Should the work be notifiable, we walk you through it and lodge the notification ourselves. For Wiltshire homes, you would be dealing with Wiltshire Council's building control team or a registered building control approver.

What about listed buildings in Shaw?

Shaw House and Christ Church are both Grade II*. Work altering a listed building's special character, roof covering included, needs listed building consent. Church of England churches still in worship use are covered by the ecclesiastical exemption, with the faculty system doing that job instead. Houses near those buildings are not listed because of their neighbours, but check, and if you are unsure, ask Wiltshire Council's planning team before you commit.

Do I need planning permission to re-cover a roof like for like?

An application for planning is not usually required when the same covering goes back. Changes to roof windows or the shape of the roof are a different matter, and our skylights page covers that ground.

Our job is to explain what applies to your roof in plain words before the work begins, and to put it in the written quote so there are no late surprises.

MythLiving close to a listed building means my roof is listed too.

FactListing applies to the individual building, so check your own house with Wiltshire Council.

Roofing services in Shaw, Wiltshire

Nearby towns we cover

Questions from along the A365

Why would a house near Christ Church have different roof problems from a newer one?

Older houses have more junctions: chimneys, valleys, abutments and verges, each sealed with metal flashings that wear out. Newer houses often have simpler roofs, but their ridges, fixings and small flat sections can still fail. We read the roof by its age and its details, and the photographs in your survey pack show the fault.

Will you work on a roof as old as Shaw House's?

We repair older roofs using matching materials and methods, and where a building is listed we confirm which consent applies before work begins. Putting back the same material is the starting point, and anything different is talked through with you first.

Do you cover the villages around Shaw, Melksham and Box?

Yes, as long as the address is within 30 road miles of Swindon. Shaw is inside that distance, and nearby addresses on the A365 are worth checking against the areas page. Give us the postcode when you ring and we will tell you straight away.

My chimney stack near the A365 is leaking. Is it the stack or the roof?

It could be either, and often it is the flashing between the two. We check the lead, the mortar joints, the flaunching on the pot and the covering around the base. Flaunching is the mortar collar that holds the pot in place. Our survey photographs show which part has failed, so you only pay to fix what is wrong.

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