Roofers in East Grinstead (RH19)
East Grinstead has roofs that most towns do not. The High Street carries one of the longest runs of timber-framed buildings in the country, and the roofs on and around it sit on frames that have been moving for centuries.
Roofs on old timber frames
A roof on a timber-framed building is not a flat plane with a covering on it.
The frame beneath has settled unevenly over a very long time, so ridges dip, slopes are not true, and a roof relaid as though it were straight looks wrong and often fails at the junctions. The right approach is to follow the building rather than correct it — which takes longer, needs a roofer who has done it before, and cannot be priced from the pavement. Around the centre there is also the conservation position to establish: what may be used, and whether consent is needed, before any scaffold goes up. Tile-hanging on elevations is common on Wealden buildings here too, and it fails and gets repaired much like a roof does.
The rest of RH19
Step out from the centre and it is Victorian terraces and solid family houses, where the roofs are conventional and the problems are the ordinary ones: fixings at the end of their life, slipped tiles, ridges that have let go, flashings that were never right. Those are straightforward to survey and straightforward to price, and we will tell you plainly whether a repair is worth doing or whether it is buying a year.
Who actually does the roofing
Roofing is a specialist trade, and on an old frame it is a specialist job within a specialist trade.
SG brings in roofers it has worked with for years and manages them on site — we survey, price, run the job and stay answerable for it.
More in East Grinstead
Everything we do in East Grinstead is on the East Grinstead area sheet, and the full detail of how we approach this trade is on the roofing page.
Common questions
Q.01My house is old and the roof line is uneven. Can it be relaid?
Yes, and it should be relaid following the building rather than straightened. Trying to correct centuries of settlement in a re-cover usually looks wrong and causes problems at the junctions.
Q.02Is consent needed for roof work near the High Street?
It can be, depending on the building and where it sits. We establish that at the survey rather than partway through, because it affects both what may be used and when work can start.
Q.03Do you repair tile-hanging as well as roofs?
Yes. On Wealden buildings hung elevations are common and they weather and fail much as a roof does, so they are surveyed and priced the same way.
Q.04Do you cover all of East Grinstead?
Yes, from the old centre out to the Victorian streets and the newer housing beyond.
Thinking about roofing in East Grinstead?
Tell us what you are planning. We come out, look at the job properly and give you a price for it.