New Pitsligo · Aberdeenshire
Roof Repairs in New Pitsligo & North Aberdeenshire
Most roof repairs we do start with a damp patch on a ceiling and end somewhere else entirely. Finding where the water actually gets in is the job.
What we get called out to
Around here the same handful of faults account for most leaks. Slates that have slipped after a gale. A cracked ridge bedding letting water in along the apex. A lead valley that has split where it was never allowed room to move. Mortar fillets round a chimney that have finally cracked through — those were never a long-term detail and they always fail in the end.
- Slipped, broken and missing slates or tiles
- Leaks at chimneys, valleys, dormers and abutments
- Loose or lifted ridge and hip tiles
- Failed cement fillets replaced with proper lead
- Rotten sarking or rafter ends opened up and replaced
- Storm damage, including making safe the same day
Why the leak is rarely above the stain
Water gets in at one point and then travels. On a sarked Scottish roof it runs down the boards, on along a rafter, and drops through the ceiling two or three metres from where it started. So we do not just look at the ceiling and go up to the slate directly above it. We get into the loft where there is access, follow the track back up to the entry point, and repair that.
It is slower than guessing and it is the reason a repair holds. Plenty of roofs we are asked to look at have already been "fixed" once or twice at the wrong spot.
Matching old slate
A lot of the housing stock in Buchan is roofed in Scotch slate, and you cannot simply nail a new Spanish slate into the middle of it — it sits differently, it is a different thickness, and it looks wrong from the road. Where a roof is worth keeping, we refix using reclaimed slate of the right size and gauge, held with lead tingles so we are not disturbing the courses above.
When a repair is the wrong answer
If slates are coming off in twos and threes across the whole roof rather than in one spot, that is usually nail sickness — the iron nails have rusted through and the slates are only being held by the ones lapping over them. Patching that roof is money down the drain, because the next one lets go a fortnight later.
We will tell you when that is what we are looking at, and we will tell you when it is not. Plenty of roofs we are called to need one afternoon's work and nothing more. If that is your roof, that is what you will be quoted for. If it needs more, have a look at full re-roofing.
Questions about roof repairs
Will you charge me just to come and look?
No. We come out, get up to the roof, and tell you what we find. If it is a small repair we can often do it there and then.
Can you repair a roof you did not put on?
Almost always. Most of what we repair is roofs that have been on the house for decades. We will say up front if a previous repair has been done badly enough that it needs undoing first.
How long does a typical repair take?
A handful of slipped slates or a re-bedded ridge section is usually a few hours. Valley and chimney work takes longer because the lead has to be dressed on site. You will get a time estimate with your quote.
Get the leak found, not guessed at
Ring and describe where the water is showing inside. We will come and trace it back to where it is actually getting in, and tell you what it takes to stop it.