Roofers in Strichen

A planned village, and what that means for the roofs

Strichen was laid out to a plan in the 1760s, and it shows in the roofs. Long unbroken terraces along the main streets, all of the same date, all built to the same detail, usually in Scotch slate on sarking with shared gable stacks. When those roofs reach the end of their life they tend to reach it together, and one house in a terrace needing a re-roof is often a sign the neighbours are a year or two behind.

Terraced work has a practical side to it as well. Scaffolding one house in a run usually means a word with the neighbours on both sides, and where two owners want work done at the same time it is markedly cheaper to share the scaffold than to pay for it twice. If you know a neighbour is thinking about it, tell us and we will quote it both ways.

Wind off Mormond Hill

The hill shelters the village from some directions and funnels wind down it from others. Properties on the north and west edges of Strichen take noticeably more of it than those in the middle of a terrace, and it is those roofs where we most often find verges lifted and ridge tiles working loose. On an exposed gable we would normally recommend dry verge rather than re-bedding mortar that will only crack again.

Being four miles away

Distance matters more than people expect with roofing. At four miles we can come out and look at something small without it turning into half a day, which means we will actually quote for the little jobs — a couple of slipped slates, a gutter joint, a loose ridge — that firms travelling from Aberdeen will not get out of the van for. There is no call-out charge and no travel cost on Strichen work.

• Slipped slates on terraced roofs, refixed with lead tingles
• Shared gable stacks repointed and re-flaunched
• Dry verge on exposed west-facing gables
• Moss stripped by hand from north-facing pitches