Roofing in Colchester
Colchester sits north-east of our Witham base, up the A12, and we make that trip regularly. The town has a wide spread of property. Streets of Victorian and Edwardian houses run out from the old centre, many with slate roofs and intricate valleys. Beyond them are inter-war and post-war homes and large modern developments with tiled roofs and plenty of extensions.
Older roofs often need sympathetic work to keep their character, while newer homes tend to need help with the add-ons: flat-roofed extensions, dormers and rooflines. We are comfortable with both.
Re-roofs and new pitched roofs
On older Colchester houses, the original roof covering may have been patched many times over the decades. When slates are slipping across several slopes, or the loft shows no underfelt at all, a re-roof is usually the most sensible long-term fix. We strip back, check the rafters, lay a breathable membrane and new battens, and re-cover in tile or slate.
Where you want to keep the look of a period street, we can talk about slate or tile that suits the house. You can read about the full process on our new roofs page.
Flat roofs: GRP and EPDM
Kitchen extensions and garages across Colchester commonly have flat roofs, and plenty of them still use old felt. We replace these with GRP fibreglass, which gives a hard, seamless finish, or EPDM rubber, which is flexible and often laid in a single sheet. Lee will recommend the better fit for your roof after seeing it.
Our flat roofing page goes into more detail about both systems and how we run a flat roof job.
Repairs and maintenance, including leadwork
Not every problem needs a big job. We fix slipped tiles and slates, re-fix loose ridges, clear and reline valleys and repair or replace lead flashing where roofs meet walls, dormers and roof windows. Lead that has cracked or pulled away from brickwork is a common cause of leaks on older houses.
See our roof repairs page for the types of repair we carry out. If your fascias and gutters are also tired, we can replace them in uPVC at the same time, as explained on our guttering, fascias and soffits page.
Booking a free site visit
Arranging a visit is simple. Call Lee on 07947 758052 or send us your details through our contact page. He will arrange a time during the working week, Monday to Friday between 8am and 5pm, to come out and look at the roof.
After the visit you will get a clear written quote. There is no charge for this and no pressure to go ahead. Lee oversees every job himself, so the person you meet at the quote stage is the one responsible for the finished work.
Older houses and careful workmanship
Period houses in Colchester often have features that newer homes do not: steeper pitches, intricate valleys, decorative ridges and walls that are not quite square. Working on these roofs takes patience. We take our time setting out the new battens and covering so the finished roof sits straight and looks right from the street.
Where original materials can be salvaged and reused, we will discuss it with you. Where they cannot, we suggest replacements that suit the age and style of the house.
Nearby areas
Along with Colchester, we regularly work in Witham and Braintree, and across the rest of Essex. If you are towards the county town, see our page for Chelmsford.