Roof replacementin Worthing, Brightonand across West Sussex

We work in four main coverings, and the choice usually comes down to the existing structure, the character of the street and the budget. Weight matters: a roof designed for natural slate will not always take concrete tile without strengthening, and we will tell you when that is the case rather than loading it up and hoping.

The covering is the visible half. Underneath it sits a breathable membrane lapped correctly down the pitch and dressed into the gutter, treated battens fixed at the right gauge for the covering and pitch, and fixings specified for the exposure of the site, coastal roofs at Worthing, Shoreham-by-Sea and Littlehampton see wind loads that inland roofs at Haywards Heath never will.

Ventilation is designed in at the same time. Air needs to enter at the eaves and leave at the ridge, or moisture from the house sits in the loft and condenses on the underside of the roof. Roofs that leak in dry weather are almost always ventilation problems, not covering problems.

A re-roof is only as watertight as its junctions. Chimney stacks, party walls, dormer cheeks, valleys and abutments to render all get code-appropriate lead, cut in and dressed by hand rather than sealed with mastic. We form our own leadwork, so it is detailed to the building rather than to whatever pre-formed part happens to be on the van.

Verges, ridges and hips are finished either bedded and pointed or with dry-fix systems, depending on exposure and what the property suits. Where the old roof had failed ridge bedding, dry-fix removes the recurring maintenance entirely.

Domestic re-roofs are usually pitched, tiled or slated, and run to a household timetable, access, parking, skip placement and keeping the garden usable all matter. We work around them.

Commercial and mixed-use roofs bring larger spans, more plant and services on the roof, and often a mix of pitched and flat areas that need tying together. They also bring hot-works questions, which our insurance covers. Where a commercial building must stay open, we phase the strip so no area is ever left open overnight.

Not every failing roof needs the whole thing done at once. Part re-roofing a single elevation, a rear extension or an outrigger is common and is priced the same way, one fixed figure, agreed first.

A typical semi-detached re-roof runs to several days on site once the scaffold is up, and a larger detached or commercial roof longer. Weather sets the pace: we never strip more than we can make watertight the same day, so a wet week stretches the programme rather than compromising the work.

Scaffold, skips and access are all set out in the quote so nothing arrives as a surprise cost. We clear as we go and sweep the site at the end of every day, because you still have to live there while the roof is off.