Roof repairs in Hythe

On the older roofs in Hythe the usual cause is the nails rather than the slate or tile. Once the fixings rust through, slates start slipping in ones and twos along the same course, often after a blow from the south west.

A few can be refixed one at a time, each held with a tingle or a slate hook. When they are slipping right across a slope, the fixings have failed across the whole roof, and stripping and refixing it, reusing the sound slates, is the repair that lasts.

Where a roof meets a chimney or a wall, the joint should be lead, dressed down over the slates or tiles and tucked into a cut in the brickwork. On a lot of older Hythe houses it has been replaced at some point with a mortar fillet, which cracks as the building moves and lets water run down inside the wall.

Lead itself lasts a long time. It splits where it was fitted in lengths too long to move with the weather, and it lifts where the pointing holding it into the brickwork has washed out. Both are straightforward to put right once somebody is up there to see which it is.

Ridge and hip tiles held on by mortar alone loosen as the mortar breaks down, and on an exposed coast a rocking ridge tile is usually the next thing to come off in a gale.

On new roofs mortar on its own no longer counts as a fixing: LABC Warranty's technical manual says ridge tiles only bedded on mortar are not acceptable. When an old ridge is being rebedded, it is worth asking how it will be fixed.

A valley is where two slopes meet, so it carries the water off both of them, and a split in its lead or a build up of leaves and moss puts a lot of water in one place. On a terrace it often sits on the line between two houses, which means next door has an interest in how it is repaired.

Flat roofs over bays, porches and rear extensions are often where a leak really starts, even when the water shows up under the main roof. A felt roof that has blistered or split in one place can be patched, but once it is failing in several places a new covering is the better use of the money.

Gutters and the fascia boards behind them usually fail together, because a blocked or sagging gutter soaks the timber it is fixed to. Replacing one without looking at the other tends to mean a second visit.

Storm damage on this coast is mostly tiles and ridges lifted on the side facing the wind, and water through a ceiling is often the first sign of it. Making the roof weathertight comes first, and the permanent repair follows once it can be done properly.

We are on the High Street, so for most Hythe addresses looking at a roof is a short trip rather than a scheduled visit. If water is coming in, say so when you ring: that moves you up the list, and the emergency cover runs 24 hours.