Roofers in Uley

Uley sits on the Cotswold escarpment, so owners often ask about stone. Nobody can tell from the lane which roofs are stone slate and which were recovered in something else long ago, and we do not assume. Where a roof is stone, a few points are worth knowing before anyone quotes.

Q1.1How are stone slates laid and held?

Traditional Cotswold practice puts the largest slates, normally about 600 mm long and sometimes reaching 750 mm, in a double course along the eaves. The courses then shrink as they climb, so the smallest slates, called short cocks, finish beneath the ridge. Near the top edge of every slate is a drilled hole, and a wooden peg, traditionally cleft oak, goes through it to hook the slate over its batten. Pitches were steep, commonly 47° to 55°.

Q1.2How heavy is a stone roof, and does it matter?

It is very heavy. Cotswold District Council's technical guidance of April 2000 puts it at about 1000 kg for every 10 square metres. Weight like that means the timbers underneath matter as much as the stone, so a survey looks at rafters, purlins and wall plates as well as the surface. If the frame has sagged, slates loosen and the slope waves. Swapping the stone for something lighter is a structural decision, not a cosmetic one.

Q1.3Where should replacement slates come from?

Policy from English Heritage, printed in that same guidance, favours newly cut stone slates rather than salvaged ones, and says that any salvaged slates ought to return to the very roof that shed them. It also warns against putting sandstone and limestone together on one roof, because the two weather differently. Our Cotswold stone roofing page covers repair, relaying and sourcing in more depth.

A valley village does not hand a roofer a flat drive and an open sky. Houses in Uley step up and down the slope, some sit well above the lane, and branches crowd the roofline. That shapes how we plan and run a job, and what we look for once we are up there. A roof that is awkward to get at is not harder to mend well, but it does take more thought beforehand, and we would rather do that thinking at the survey than halfway up a ladder.

Q3.1How is scaffold erected on sloping ground?

It needs level bases, so the poles stand on solid plates and each lift is measured against ground that falls away. A gable end on the downhill side may be a storey taller than it appears from the road. We settle the scaffold height at the survey, because a tower that proves too short wastes a visit. On a narrow lane, materials arrive in smaller loads and are carried up by hand or hoist.

Q3.2What do overhanging trees do to a roof?

Leaves pile up in gutters and valleys and keep water against the roof edge, shade keeps moss alive on cold slopes, and a falling branch can crack a tile or dent a flashing. Nothing here argues for felling a tree. It argues for a gutter clear and a roof check booked every autumn. Our gutters, soffits and fascias page covers the rainwater side.

Q3.3Do gusts along the valley matter?

Ridges, verges and hips meet each gust first, so we test their fixings before anything else. Under BS 5534:2014, mortar by itself is not what keeps a ridge or hip tile on the roof; a clip or screw backs it up. On an exposed ridge, that backup is a sensible safeguard against a tile dropping onto the lane below. Verges deserve the same attention, since the wind gets under them from the side.

Once the roof is done, we clear the plot and carry the waste off with us.