Street of 1960s brick bungalows with concrete tile roofs

Roofers in Sutton Benger

Roof repairs, flat roofs, chimneys and re-roofing for Sutton Benger, from the stone cottages along High Street to the bungalows and estates that followed after 1950.

Get a quote Call 01793 626096

Sutton Benger's roofs, from High Street outwards

Stone cottages along a village street — The old stone village

The Victoria County History says most of Sutton Benger's older buildings are stone, and the parish church of All Saints combines rubble stone walling with dressed ashlar stone around its openings and corners. Manor Farm has a 13th-century doorway to a first-floor chapel, and a few cottages on the north side of High Street are timber-framed and thatched. The history does not name the coverings on the stone houses, so every roof is read on its own evidence. Thick rubble walls carry heavy roofs well, but the weak points are predictable: gable ends and verges, chimney stacks, and the junction between a cottage and a later extension. Where the cottages stand shoulder to shoulder, shared stacks and valleys need as much attention as the slopes.

Rows of tiled bungalows on a quiet estate — Post-war houses and bungalows

The village grew quickly after about 1950. The county history records around ten council houses then, bungalows at College Green from about 1960, private estates from the 1970s and building south of High Street along Chestnut Road, which lifted the population to 854 by 1981. Houses and bungalows of those decades commonly carry concrete interlocking tiles over felt underlay, with ridges bedded in mortar and verges pointed up the same way. Forty or fifty years on, the bedding cracks, the felt turns brittle, and tiles loosen along the edges. Porches, garages and kitchen additions with flat or shallow roofs usually give up before the main roof does.

Large sheeted roof on a working building — Working buildings on the edge

A poultry factory opened on High Street in 1958, one sign that Sutton Benger has long had working buildings among its houses. Buildings like that, along with farm sheds and workshops beside the old Swindon to Chippenham road, are roofed differently from a home: low pitches or flats, profiled sheets, rooflights, valley gutters and parapets. Faults gather at the laps, the fixings and the gutters. Sheeted roofs from before 2000 may contain asbestos cement, and HSE guidance says to treat a building of that age as containing asbestos unless a survey proves it does not, so the sheets are tested before anyone handles them.

From Swindon to the Avon

Distance: 19 road miles west-south-west of central Swindon
Council: Wiltshire Council
Conservation area: Sutton Benger
Setting: Flat ground beside the River Avon, on the old Swindon to Chippenham road
Council: Wiltshire Council

Worth asking first in Sutton Benger

Can a High Street stone cottage be re-covered without planning permission?

A matching covering rarely needs it. A listed house, or a change to the roof's look inside the conservation area, does, so Wiltshire Council's planning team should confirm first.

What gives out first on roofs from the post-war estates?

Usually the ridge bedding, the pointing along the verges, ageing underlay and soft fascias, plus flat porch and garage roofs. The loft and a ladder show which, so nothing is guessed.

Does the level ground by the Avon matter for drainage checks?

It can. Water lingers around a house on flat ground, so downpipe outlets, gullies and low walls are inspected alongside the roof, because a blocked gutter feeds damp into the wall below.

What suits a High Street stone cottage roof?

Roofer repointing a stone chimney stack above lead flashing

Brick end-of-terrace gable beside a limestone house, slate roofs

The short answer

Repairs that respect the building: matching coverings, soft lime-based mortar on old stone, and fixings that do not fight the walls. A rubble-walled cottage is heavy and slow to dry out, so the roof has to shed water quickly at every edge and keep damp away from the masonry beneath.

A walk along High Street shows the village's age in its older cottages, which each tell their own story. According to the Victoria County History, most of the village's older buildings are stone, and some cottages on the north side are timber-framed with thatched roofs. A cottage of that kind has thick walls, small openings and a roof that has been altered several times, and the right repair depends on knowing which parts are the oldest. We photograph the roof and loft as the survey goes on, so that you can see the same things we do.

Why do old stone walls need soft mortar?

Old rubble walls take in moisture and release it again slowly. Hard cement mortar can trap that moisture, whereas softer lime-based mortar lets it out. So when we re-point a chimney stack or a gable coping on a stone house, we choose the mortar to suit the wall, not the quickest material to hand.

What do chimneys and gables suffer on High Street?

The stack and the gable end take the worst of the weather. A chimney that has lost pointing at the top, a cracked flaunching (the sloping mortar collar that seats the pot and sheds rain) or a lead flashing that has lifted will admit water to the house long before the slope shows any sign. The chimney repairs hub explains the sequence we follow, from the pots down.

Where do extensions on old cottages leak?

Plenty of these houses have a later extension tacked on at the back or side, often by an owner a century or more after the original was built. The valley or abutment where the two roofs meet is the most common source of a stain on an upstairs ceiling. We trace it from the loft first, because water enters at one point and travels along timber before it appears, and repairing the wrong spot just delays the next leak.

Our approach

Match the mortar to the wall, and mend the junctions before the slopes.

What fails first on Sutton Benger's post-war estates?

The answer

Ridge bedding, verge pointing and underlay usually go first on roofs from the 1950s to the 1970s, with flat porch and garage roofs close behind. These faults build slowly and are rarely visible from the garden, so the loft inspection and a close look from a ladder are where the evidence is.

From the council houses of about 1950 to the bungalows at College Green and the private estates that came later, Sutton Benger added a lot of homes in a few decades. They went up quickly and to the building habits of their time, and most are now at the stage where the repairs any roof of that age needs have fallen due. Catching the early signs matters, because the same few faults tend to appear together.

What makes ridges and verges fail on post-war roofs?

On a roof of this era the mortar under the ridge tiles cracks and lets go, and the verge pointing at the gable falls away in pieces. BS 5534:2014 changed the approach to ridge and hip tiles, which are now fixed mechanically as well as being bedded, so a repair now brings in mechanical fixings or a proprietary dry-fix ridge and verge. Our dry-fix ridge and verge page describes both.

What happens to old felt and battens under the tiles?

Under the tiles, bitumen felt dries out and splits at the laps. A split does little harm while the tiles are sound, and a lot when one slips in a gale. If battens have rotted where water has run along them, a patch will not last, and stripping a section is the better answer.

Could an older soffit contain asbestos?

For any building built or refurbished before 2000, the HSE says to presume asbestos is in it. Insulating board was fitted in some soffits, and by eye it looks much like modern board. If a soffit looks original, we pause and have it checked before cutting or drilling. Work on intact asbestos cement can be non-licensed, but insulating board is mostly licensed work, which is a reason to find out first.

Common faults on roofs from the 1950s to the 1970s

Where on the roof	The usual trouble	The fix
Ridge tiles	Bedding breaks up and tiles work loose	Lay again with added fixings
Verges	Pointing falls away at the gable	Point up again or fit a dry verge
Underlay	Felt turns brittle and splits	Replace when a section is stripped
Fascia and soffit	Timber softens where gutters overflow	Renew the affected lengths
Flat porch roof	Water ponds and the covering splits	Re-cover with a suitable membrane

Who deals with roofing consent in Sutton Benger?

Roofers on a slate roof along a limestone village street

Brick and limestone cottages around a small village green

The short answer

Wiltshire Council covers Sutton Benger, through its planning team for permission questions and its building control team for notifiable work. The village has a conservation area, so any scheme that changes how a roof appears should go to the council before a contract is signed, and a listed house needs consent for anything beyond a repair that matches.

Sutton Benger is in Wiltshire, not Swindon Borough, and so the council is Wiltshire Council. The routes below are the same ones any homeowner in the village would use.

Which limits trigger Building Regulations in Sutton Benger?

Under Approved Document A, a rise of more than 15 per cent in the load on a roof counts as a significant change, which is the reason a heavier covering means a structural check. Separately, the Planning Portal sets the everyday limits: under 25 per cent of the building envelope and under 50 per cent of the roof. For notifiable work, you can use Wiltshire Council's building control team or a registered building control approver, and we explain which route fits your job.

How do the conservation area and listing apply?

The village has a conservation area. Repair work in matching materials leaves the building looking as it did, so planning permission rarely comes into it. New materials, new roof windows or a changed roofline are different. A listed building needs listed building consent before any alteration that touches its character, and the covering on the roof is part of that character.

What should I have ready before ringing?

If you phone or message us, a few facts speed everything up, and the list below shows what helps most. Daylight pictures taken from the garden or the road are plenty to start with, and we do not expect anyone to climb up for them. The survey then fills the gaps with our own pictures of your roof, taken close up. Our commercial roofing page covers the same questions for workshops, farm buildings and shops.

Roofing services in Sutton Benger

Nearby towns we cover

Questions from College Green to Chestnut Road

Can a College Green bungalow roof be re-covered without major structural work?

Usually, when the new covering is similar in weight to the old one. A like-for-like tile swap leaves the structure alone, but a much heavier covering needs a check on the rafters and possibly building control. We inspect the roof timbers from the loft first and say plainly whether the structure can take what you have in mind.

Do you work between Sutton Benger and Chippenham?

Yes. Sutton Benger and the towns around it, including Chippenham, Calne and Malmesbury, fall inside the 30 road miles we cover from Swindon. Ring 01793 626096, message us on WhatsApp or use the form on this page, and any of the three reaches us directly.

How do you approach a large sheeted roof on a workshop or farm building?

We start by checking the age of the sheets and the fixings, because older sheets may contain asbestos cement. If so, careful handling follows the HSE's rules for non-licensed work. If not, the usual faults are loose fixings, worn laps and blocked gutters, and a repair often does the job.

Does low, flat ground beside the Avon make fascia timber rot sooner?

It can contribute, mainly by keeping the air damp and by encouraging overflow when gutters block. We look for softening at the lower edge of the fascia and at the ends of the rafters behind it, then say whether the lengths can be patched or need replacing.

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