Roofers in Stow-on-the-Wold

Stow-on-the-Wold was founded by Norman lords to draw in trade from converging roads, and fairs have been held there under royal charter since 1330. Most of the buildings around the market square date from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, St Edward's Hall, now the library, among them. Roofs on a market-town frontage like this lead a hard life: long ridges, tight valleys between neighbouring gables, and lead where one building meets the next. The weak points are the joints between properties, because a gutter or flashing that belongs to one house often drains another, and repairs need agreeing on both sides.

Narrow alleys known as tures run between the buildings into the market square, and they were once used for herding sheep to market. Roofs along a ture sit very close together, with shared walls, shared gutters and valleys that carry water from two buildings at once. Working there needs a plan for access before any tile is lifted: scaffolding may have to be arranged around neighbours, and materials carried a long way by hand. On a visit we assess access first. Whatever it demands is then set out in your written quote, which avoids awkward discoveries on day one.

The town stands on top of an 800 ft hill at the junction of main roads through the Cotswolds, including the Roman Fosse Way. That height means roofs here meet the wind head-on, and ridge tiles, verges and gable edges take the strain first. A roof on high ground also dries quickly, so wind damage and wear at the edges are what we most often find, in place of the slow rot of a damp valley. Gutters on an open site fill with wind-blown leaves and moss spores just the same, and a downpipe blocked at a corner can soak a gable wall for years. For houses built or re-roofed in any age, the first questions are how the ridge is fixed, how the verges are held and whether the underlay has begun to tear at the laps.