Active leaks, storm damage, slipped tiles and failed flashings need attention before the damage spreads inside your home. We cover Cromer and the surrounding villages.
Photo from one of our recent jobs
Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
A roof problem that is letting water into your home should not be left. Whether a storm has lifted ridge tiles, a slate has slipped in the night, a flashing has pulled away from a chimney or a flat-roof membrane has split, the damage inside your property grows the longer the roof is open to the weather.
Not every roof fault is an emergency, but some signs tell you that water is getting in now and the situation is serious. A wet patch spreading across a ceiling, a ceiling that is swollen or bulging, or water dripping through a light fitting are all signs that action cannot be put off. A single slipped or missing tile on a pitched roof does not always mean an immediate flood - most pitched roofs have a layer of underlay beneath the battens and tiles, and if that underlay is intact it holds water back for a time. But underlay is not a permanent barrier, and some older roofs were built without it at all, so the protection it gives varies considerably.
On a flat roof, a split or lifted membrane lets water through at once. Standing water on a flat roof usually means a blocked outlet or insufficient fall, and if that water is sitting against a split seam it will find its way inside. A roof that has taken storm damage - visibly lifted, cracked or missing tiles, a ridge tile that has shifted, lead flashing that has lifted away from a wall - should be treated as an active risk even if you have not yet seen water inside.
The most important rule is simple: do not go onto the roof yourself. Even a single-storey roof is dangerous without the right access equipment, and a wet or wind-damaged roof is more so. Everything below applies to actions you can take safely from inside the property or from the ground.
Storm damage to roofs is often covered by buildings insurance policies, but there are important things to know before you call your insurer. Photograph the damage clearly, note the date and time, and keep any receipts for emergency work you commission. Tell your insurer as soon as you can - many policies require you to report damage promptly, and some require you to take reasonable steps to prevent further damage in the meantime.
Insurers commonly decline claims where they decide the storm only exposed existing wear and tear on the roof, rather than causing new damage. Each policy has its own definition of what counts as a storm - some refer to recorded wind speeds, others to rainfall intensity. If a claim is refused, you can follow the insurer's complaints process and, if that does not resolve matters, take the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
In many emergency situations, the first visit is about making the roof weather-tight as a temporary measure while a proper repair is planned. This typically means covering the damaged area with a tarpaulin or heavy-duty temporary sheeting, secured so it cannot blow away and cause further damage. Temporary sheeting protects the interior and stops the fault from getting worse, but it is not a finished repair and should not be left indefinitely.
Whether make-safe work can be done depends on access. A slipped tile on a lower slope of a roof can sometimes be reached with roof ladders. Larger areas, steeply pitched roofs, or roofs at height may need scaffolding before any work can be carried out safely. Scaffolding adds to the cost of emergency work, and access is one of the main factors that decides what can be done on a first visit and what needs a follow-up visit.
After any emergency visit, the underlay, battens and roof timbers beneath the visible fault are checked as well as the tiles, slates or membrane. Water travels and the damage is often wider than the entry point suggests.
Pitched roofs with slates. Slates slip when their fixing nails corrode and fail - this is known as nail sickness and it is common on older properties. Slates have no nibs and rely entirely on their nails to stay in place. Slates are double-lapped, so a single slipped slate does not leave a clear hole straight through, but it does expose the joint in the course below, which lets rain reach the battens and underlay. A significant number of slipped slates usually means the nails across the whole roof are near the end of their life.
Pitched roofs with clay or concrete tiles. Plain clay tiles are also double-lapped. Interlocking concrete tiles are single-lapped, so a cracked or missing interlocking tile leaves less redundancy. Tiles can crack in frost or under foot, and can slip if the nibs break or the tile clips fail. Ridge tiles on older roofs are bedded in mortar; when that mortar cracks and falls away, ridge tiles can lift and shift. Many newer roofs use a dry-fix ridge system instead of mortar, and faults there are different - usually a fixing that has failed or a part that has come loose.
Lead flashings. Lead flashing seals the join between the roof and a chimney, dormer, parapet or soil pipe. When lead lifts away from the wall it can often be dressed back down if the lead itself is not cracked or split. If the lead is cracked, split or has perished, it needs replacing. Repointing the lead into the mortar joint is a separate step and also needs to be sound. Failed lead flashing is one of the most common causes of water appearing at chimney breasts or on upper-floor ceilings.
Flat roofs. A split or lifted felt or EPDM rubber membrane lets water in directly. Standing water on a flat roof is a sign that outlets or drainage channels are blocked, or that the roof has lost its fall. In both cases, the membrane underneath needs inspecting. Older felt roofs are more prone to splitting in cold weather; EPDM rubber membranes cope better with changes in temperature but can still lift at the seams or edges if the adhesive fails.
No two emergency jobs are the same, and the cost depends on several factors. Access is usually the biggest one - a repair reachable with roof ladders costs far less than one that requires a full scaffold. The extent of the damage matters too: a single slipped slate is a small job, but if water has been tracking through for weeks and has soaked the battens and started to rot a rafter, the scope of work is much larger. Temporary sheeting costs less than a finished repair, but a second visit and permanent fix adds up. Materials - the type of tile, slate or membrane, and whether matching materials are available - also affect the final figure. We do not give price ranges on emergency calls before we have seen the roof, because a number given over the phone without an inspection is rarely reliable.
Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers, who ring you back to talk through what has happened and arrange a visit.
We will look at the roof, explain what we find, and tell you what work is needed and what it will cost before anything is done.
No obligation · We'll call you to arrange a free visit
Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
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