Roofers covering
Surrey's villas, estates
and period houses

The larger houses around Esher, Weybridge and Virginia Water were often designed to impress from the road, with multiple gables, turrets, dormers and valleys rather than a single simple pitch. Every one of those junctions is a place where a lead flashing, valley lining or tile abutment can fail.

On a roof this size, a leak rarely appears directly beneath its source. Water can travel along a rafter or batten for metres before it shows as a stain, so we trace these leaks methodically rather than replacing the first thing that looks suspect.

Surrey's tradition of tile-hung upper storeys means that on many Victorian and Edwardian properties in Egham, Woking and Guildford, the roof and the wall covering are effectively part of the same job. Cracked, slipped or missing hanging tiles let water behind the tile-hanging and into the wall structure, not just the roof.

Matching this work well means sourcing the right clay tile profile, colour and coursing pattern, including decorative fish-scale or banded courses where they exist, rather than fitting a plain tile that will stand out against the original.

The greensand ridge and heathland around Woking, Guildford and the Surrey Hills carry substantial pine and birch woodland, and roofs on wooded plots in these areas collect needle litter and leaf debris in valleys and gutters throughout the year.

That build-up holds moisture against tiles and slates long after the surrounding roof has dried, encouraging moss growth and accelerating frost damage in winter. It also blocks valleys, which backs water up under the lowest courses and into the roof timbers.

Large parts of Woking, Guildford and the towns along the Egham and Staines direction were built up through the 1930s, and much of that original roofing, including mortar-bedded ridges and early concrete tile, is now old enough that failures are routine rather than exceptional.

We see cracked and slipped ridge tiles, bedding that has hollowed out from behind, and original flashings that were never replaced when the roof covering was. These roofs are generally straightforward to work on, but the sheer number of properties reaching this stage at once means demand for this kind of repair across Surrey is steady and predictable.

Cottages and farmhouses around Dorking and the wider Surrey Hills often mix older, traditional roof coverings with later extensions and outbuildings added over decades. The junctions between old and new are where most leaks start, particularly where a newer flat-roofed extension meets an older pitched roof.

These properties also tend to sit on more exposed rural plots, which means both greater wind exposure and, often, more restricted access for scaffolding, both factors we account for at the quoting stage.

From the open ground around Egham and Staines to the higher ground of the Surrey Hills, winter storms strip verges, lift ridge tiles and tear flat roof coverings with reasonable regularity across the county.

Our priority after a storm is to make the property watertight and photograph the damage thoroughly, giving you clear evidence to pass to an insurer, without us making any claim about what a specific policy will cover.