Every year the same postmortems get written after the first real storm. A tile slips on a south-facing pitch in October, someone leaves it, and by December there is water in the ceiling roses and a scaffold quote on the kitchen table. Roofway Services Ltd, a roofing firm working out of Copthorne near Horley, wants that call to be a rarer one, and says most of what it fixes in winter could have been caught from the garden in September.
The company, which handles pitched and flat roofs, repairs, uPVC guttering and chimney work across Sussex and Surrey, points at edges. Ridges, chimneys, the place where a flat roof meets a wall. That is where the weather gets in.
“Wind is patient,” the firm’s team put it. “It finds the one flashing that moved two centimetres and pries at it all night. By morning the felt underneath is soaked and nobody notices until a damp patch shows three months later.”
Their autumn walkthrough takes about ten minutes and needs no ladder. Count down a roofline from the street for tiles that look dark, which is usually moss holding water. Look for a gap of light anywhere you can see into the loft. Watch the gutters during rain, because an overflowing back edge tells you more than a dry day inspection. And on any flat section, look for standing water a day after the rain stops. A pond that survives the sun is a pond that will survive the frost, and frost splits what water softens.
Guttering deserves its own mention. Leaves come down in September, sit in the channel all autumn, and the first freeze expands everything at once. Fascia boards along older stretches of the Horsham and East Grinstead roads are the usual casualties, and replacing one runs well beyond the cost of clearing two gutters.
Roofway’s advice on hiring is refreshingly unsalesy. Get more than one written quote, check it names the materials and how the roof will be accessed, and treat any knock-at-the-door repair offer after windy weather with the suspicion trading standards has warned about for years. A firm doing right by you will show insurance and references without being asked twice.
“An hour on a ladder in September saves the emergency call in December, and the honest contractors will say so even though the emergency call pays better,” the team said.
Roofway Services Ltd covers Sussex and Surrey, including Horsham, Brighton, East Grinstead, Worthing and Eastbourne. Free quotes on 01342 459298, or visit roofwayservicesltd.co.uk.
ENDS