Victorian brick terrace street with slate roofs and chimneys

Roofers in West Hanney

Roof repairs, chimneys, re-roofing and flat roofs in West Hanney, from the houses ringing the village green to the newer homes in the low Vale beside the Ock.

Get a quote Call 01793 626096

West Hanney's roofs, from the green down to the Ock

Stuccoed stone house beside a village green — The houses round the green

West Hanney grows around a central green with a stone cross, its lower shaft and gabled top ancient and the rest modern. The Priory beside it is an L-shaped stone house of Elizabethan or early Jacobean date, now stuccoed. A house like that has a complicated roof: two wings that meet in an internal angle, a valley where the slopes join, and gable ends that each need their own weathering. The stucco matters too, because a leaking valley or a failing gutter lets water behind the finish, where it does harm out of sight. We trace water on a roof like this from the stain downwards before anything is priced.

Red-brick house with tall chimney stacks — Red-brick Georgian houses

The county history describes the vicarage as an early eighteenth-century red-brick house and the rectory as a two-storey Georgian house, also of red brick. Houses of that type usually have steep, simple roofs with substantial brick stacks, and the stacks are where the work tends to start. Brick faces flake in frost, old pointing washes out, and the flashings that seal the stack to the slope lift with age. Few houses of this date still wear their first covering, so whatever is up there today, clay tile or slate, may be a later replacement. The survey records which it is, and how it has been fixed, before any repair is suggested, and it photographs the stack from several angles.

Tiled homes on a flat village street — Thatch, timber frames and newer homes

A thatched Jacobean cottage stands at the north-west corner of the village, and the county history of 1924 also recorded a half-ruined timber-framed house of the late sixteenth century. Thatch belongs to its own trade, but the neighbouring tiled and slated roofs, their party-wall flashings and their chimneys are ordinary roofing work, and the village has plenty of newer houses, garages, porches and extensions as well. The parish is low-lying Vale land, well watered by the River Ock, and low ground means gutters, fascias and flat roofs work harder. Nothing is assumed about age or materials from the road: the roof itself tells us, and the photographs we take for your quote show you the same evidence.

From Swindon to the Ock

Distance: 19 road miles east-north-east of central Swindon
Council: Vale of White Horse District Council
Conservation area: West Hanney, designated 1970 and amended 1990
Setting: A village around a green in the low Vale of White Horse, drained by the River Ock
Council: Vale of White Horse District Council

Questions West Hanney householders put to us

Is a re-roof near the green a planning matter?

A matching re-roof rarely is. A different covering, an altered roofline or a chimney that looks different, inside the conservation area, is worth a word with the district council, and so is anything involving a listed house.

Why do the stacks on red-brick houses need watching?

A stack stands in the open on all sides. Frost flakes the brick, old pointing washes out and the lead around the base lifts, so water gets in long before the slope looks tired.

Does low ground by the River Ock affect a roof?

Not the slopes directly, but it makes gutters, fascias and low walls work harder. The survey follows the water from the ridge down to the drain, not just across the tiles.

How should a roof beside West Hanney's green be treated?

Brick and limestone cottages around a small village green

Roofers on a slate roof along a limestone village street

The short answer

With attention to what is already there. Houses around a village green are usually of mixed ages, so each roof is surveyed on its own merits: its covering, its junctions and its history of repair. The aim is a repair that disappears into the street, not one that announces itself.

The green is the centre of West Hanney, and the buildings facing it span several centuries. There is a stone cross in the middle, a stuccoed Elizabethan or early Jacobean priory, early eighteenth-century red-brick houses and, mixed in with them, the cottages and newer homes of later years. No two roofs are quite alike.

How do roofs of different centuries sit together?

A roof of 1600 and a roof of 1980 want different things. The older one may have a timber frame that has settled and a covering that several generations have mended; the newer one has standard battens and underlay that are simply reaching the end of their life. Our pitched roofing hub describes the coverings and how they age.

Why do valleys and internal angles leak?

An L-shaped house has an internal angle where two wings meet, and every such angle is a valley, a channel that carries water from two slopes at once. Valleys are the places where leaves collect, lead cracks and tiles are cut awkwardly. A valley that leaks onto stucco or brick may not show itself indoors for months, so our check covers the underside of the valley from the loft, not only the slopes.

How closely can a repair be matched?

When a repair is needed on a house with character, we aim to match the surrounding material in size, colour and texture. New tiles look new for a few years, and a good match is chosen to weather in step with the roof around it. Where an exact match is not available, we explain the nearest alternatives and show you samples against the existing roof before anything is ordered. A mismatch on a roof that faces the green stays visible for years, so this is a step worth taking slowly.

Our approach

Study the roof in front of you first, then match what is already on it.

What goes wrong on Georgian red-brick roofs?

The answer

Chimney stacks and their flashings fail first, followed by hips, valleys and the gutters at the eaves. Brick faces flake in frost, pointing washes out and lead lifts. These are slow faults, which is why a house can look sound from the lane while water is already finding its way in, so we spend as long under the roof as we do on top of it.

The village history records the rectory as a two-storey Georgian house of red brick and the vicarage as an early eighteenth-century red-brick house. Houses from that period are well built, but their roofs have usually had two or three centuries of weather, and the faults are consistent.

Why do chimney stacks fail first?

A chimney stack takes rain on every face and frost at the top. Soft old brick flakes when it freezes while saturated, a process called spalling, and hard modern mortar can make it worse by trapping moisture in the brick. Re-pointing in a mix suited to the brick, rebuilding the top few courses and renewing the flaunching are the usual remedies, and the chimney repairs hub explains how we sequence them.

What fails on hips, valleys and lead?

Hips are the sloping ridges at the corners of a hipped roof, and valleys are their opposite. Both depend on lead or well-cut tiles, and both fail slowly. Under BS 5534:2014, hip tiles bedded in mortar are also fixed mechanically, so a hip that is only mortared deserves attention. Lead flashings crack at bends, lift at the edges and pull out of their joints.

How do old gutters cause trouble?

Old cast-iron gutters corrode at their joints and drop between brackets. A gutter that overflows soaks the brick below and the timber behind it, so rainwater work is part of every roof survey we carry out. Where a run is beyond saving, new gutters go in to a gentle fall towards the downpipe, with brackets set close enough to carry a full gutter in heavy rain.

Typical faults on an older brick house roof

Where	The usual trouble	The fix
Chimney stack	Brick faces flake and pointing opens	Re-point, or rebuild the top courses
Flaunching	Cracks and lets water into the stack	Renew the mortar collar
Hip tiles	Mortar bed breaks up and tiles slip	Re-bed with added fixings
Lead flashing	Lifts at the edges or splits at bends	Patch or renew in the right code
Eaves gutter	Joints leak and brackets sag	Realign, re-seal or replace lengths

Who must approve a roof job in West Hanney?

Rolled lead roof covering over a bay above white windows

Scraped-back rafter beside thick spray foam under a slate roof

The short answer

West Hanney falls under Vale of White Horse District Council, which decides planning, while building control is shared through Southvale with South Oxfordshire. The village is a conservation area, so changes to a roof's appearance are worth a conversation with the council. Ordinary like-for-like repairs normally need no permission at all.

Most roof work in West Hanney needs no approval at all, but three situations call for a closer look. It helps to know which applies before a contract is signed.

Does a full re-cover count as notifiable work?

Two Planning Portal tests apply to a re-cover. The first is whether the work touches less than 25 per cent of the total building envelope and less than 50 per cent of the roof, in which case no building control application is normally needed. The second is weight: a new covering at least 15 per cent heavier than the old one needs approval, and a thermal upgrade under Part L may follow either way. In this part of the Vale the council's route is Southvale, its building control service shared with South Oxfordshire, and a registered building control approver is there if you prefer a private firm. Tell us the plan and we will say which route applies, then look after the notification if there has to be one.

How does the West Hanney Conservation Area affect roof work?

The council's records give the West Hanney Conservation Area a designation date of 22 July 1970, amended on 24 July 1990. Inside the boundary the council looks closely at any change that would alter how a roof looks from the lanes or the green. Repair in matching materials leaves a building looking as it did, which means it is not development in the planning sense. A different covering is another matter altogether. Our roof repairs hub sets out the repairs that fall on the safe side of that line.

Does a listed West Hanney house need consent first?

On a listed house, listed building consent comes first for any alteration that alters its character, and a new roofing material is one such alteration. The council's records show whether a building is listed. We look this up when the survey is arranged, so the answer is known before a price is given.

Roofing services in West Hanney

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Questions from around the green and the Ock

Why do older brick stacks in West Hanney lean or flake?

Usually water. Frost splits saturated soft brick, old pointing washes out, and the stack loses its grip on the roof beneath it. A lean can also come from a failed flashing that has let water into the masonry for years. We look at the brick, the pointing and the base before deciding whether to repair or rebuild.

Can a stuccoed stone house be repaired without damaging the finish?

Yes, if the roof and gutters are put right first. Most damage to stucco starts with water getting behind it from a leaking valley, abutment or gutter. We repair the source of the leak and leave the finish alone, then suggest a plasterer if the stucco itself needs attention.

Do you work in West Hanney and the villages across the Vale?

Yes. West Hanney sits inside the area we cover, which stretches to 30 road miles from Swindon. A phone call to 01793 626096, a WhatsApp message with a photograph, or the form at the foot of this page will all get a reply, so give us the postcode and we will confirm.

Does the conservation area boundary affect a rear extension roof?

It can. Inside the boundary, a change to a visible roof is examined for its effect on the area, whereas a roof at the back of a plot may matter less. The council's boundary map shows exactly where the line runs, and we can read it with you before a price is given.

Ask us about your roof

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

Photos of what we find
A written quote
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