May 29, 2024 | Uncategorized
It might sound odd, but here at Roofspec SW we believe that guttering is one of the most important and fundamental parts of any property design and build. In simple terms, having a guttering system that is clean and functioning properly can make a major difference when it comes to property maintenance.
We seem to end up asking customers the same question all the time. ‘Would you rather spend a few hundred pound on fixing the gutters, or a few thousand pound on fixing the house?’ It sounds dramatic, but that’s the truth and here’s why.
Imagine a fairly average property in Plymouth with standard half round guttering, the sort you see just under the roofline of the house. It looks fairly innocent enough, but when that guttering fills with leaves, moss and general muck that washed down off the roof itself, well then you have a potential blockage and that’s when you have a problem.
Guttering systems have been around for years, in fact it’s generally regarded that the ancient Romans used basic guttering systems on the roads they built. They had a peak in the centre of the road and a trough on the two sides that enabled water to run off and protect the road from water damage. The exact same thing can be said for modern guttering on roof, even though the design concept hasn’t actually moved on that much in well over two thousand years.
Having a gutter that leaks or even a downpipe that’s not connected properly will eventually cause damage, you only have to look at where there’s an unaligned piece of pipe and you’ll probably see early signs of water damage on the wall. Further investigation may even unearth damp sections on the correlating inside wall. That sort of damage is expensive to fix and will end up costing a whole lot more than a simple downpipe fix.
So, here’s the thing, at Roofspec SW, we’d much further fix your guttering and get the whole system working well rather than coming along a year later and having to recommend a builder that can come in and re-render outside sections of your property and deal with any damp issues at the same time. One of those options is a lot less expensive than the other, we’ll leave it to you to work out.
Bear in mind that we cover Plymouth and the wider South-West region including Devon and Cornwall and our team has years of experience in dealing with roofing issues. In fact, there’s very little on a roof that can surprise us here at Roofspec SW.
If you would like to talk to us about any roofing work or guttering in Plymouth and the wider South-West region, then please get in contact with us via this website or give us a call on 01752 914217 and remember, as we say at Roofspec SW… ‘the proof is in the roof’.
All the best.
Apr 30, 2024 | Uncategorized
Choosing a builder to handle an extension project is fairly simple. You draw up a shortlist, you to talk to a few people and in some instances, you can even go round and see what they’ve done before.
But choosing the right roofing contractor can be a whole lot more complicated and the reason for that is because you can hardly get up on someone’s roof and check out the quality of work and even if you could, would you know what you’re looking for?
Here at Roofspec SW, it’s natural for us to think that we’re the right fit for any roofing job in Plymouth or the surrounding area, but to help you make a more informed decision here’s our top tips on what to look out for before finally deciding who to go with.
Let’s start with reputation. One of the best ways in which you can find out more about a roofing contractor is to talk to people that know. That might be people who’ve had recent work done or even other trade businesses. Builders you already know will often know a good roofing company and will usually be more than happy to make a recommendation.
Here at Roofspec SW we’re proud of our reputation with existing trade businesses and having worked alongside plenty over the years we feel content that they would recommend us. Equally, we know that previous clients would speak highly of us simply because we’ve never let our customers down.
Next up we have budget. Whenever you work with a roofing contactor, talk to them up front about the budget. They’re best placed to tell customers what’s needed and what it will cost and once the budget is set, it’s important that everyone sticks to that. At Roofspec SW, we not only pride ourselves on getting our quoting right, but just as importantly we stick to those quotes which enables our clients to budget accurately and effectively.
The third element is communication. If you consider that most roofing work is up on top of a building and out of the way, it’s important that there’s a level of communication and trust between contractor and customer. At Roofspec SW, we have a secret weapon in our drone service. This allows us to show customers first hand what’s needed, how we’re progressing and when the job is finished, all without having to set foot on a single scaffold board. This creates a reassurance about the work we do and a level of accountability that other roofers simply can’t offer.
Last up we have relationships. The questions to ask yourself are, how do you feel about this company, do you trust them and are they decent people. If you consider that taking off a complete roof and replacing is a major project and the implication of getting it wrong can be significant. This is why we go to great lengths to meet clients before we start any job, we talk to them, discuss budget and build a relationship … it’s the only sensible starting point for any roofing work.
We cover Plymouth and the wider South-West region including Devon and Cornwall and our team has years of experience in dealing with roofing issues. In fact, there’s very little on a roof that can surprise us here at Roofspec SW.
If you would like to talk to us about any roofing work in Plymouth and the wider South-West region, then please get in contact with us via this website or give us a call on 01752 914217 and remember, as we say at Roofspec SW… ‘the proof is in the roof’.
Apr 2, 2024 | Uncategorized
Here at Roofspec SW we get asked a lot if it’s possible to fix part of a roof rather than the whole thing and most of the time that’s a question driven by cost.
But in a way it’s wrong to base it on budget alone, the starting point should always be whether or not it needs repairing or replacing … you should pay for what needs to be done and no more than that.
Roof structures tend to age and wear at different rates. Prevailing winds, weather, proximity to other buildings and even specific damage, all play a part in why certain sections of roof need replacing before other do. The point is, if a section of roof has plenty of life left in it, then we wouldn’t suggest replacing it, there’s little point.
What we do at Roofspec SW in that instance, is to make sure that whatever section we do replace, matches as best we can, the original slates or tiles that are already there. What’s more, this can always be neatly done by working along ridges and guttering sections where we have natural breaks in the pattern, creating an almost seamless finish. Over time they all wear in and you probably won’t be able to tell the difference. We might.
The key to this is knowing what to look for and it’s only experienced roofing contractors like us at Roofspec SW that can do that effectively. It also helped that our experience is matched by a bit of modern technology … our aerial drone.
Our fully licensed and insured drone inspection service can help us identify exactly where the issues are and once we have that information, it can make the difference between replacing a full roof and only part of it. In fact, anyone that instantly says ‘replace the full roof’ without having a proper look, probably rode up to your house on a horse, wearing a Stetson hat and cowboy boots.
But if we are discussing budget, it’s important to bear in mind that on some projects it might be easier to balance the books by having just half of a roof done this year and half next. The only word of warning is that additional costs on things like two sets of scaffolding may make it less cost effective than you think. The trick is knowing which half to start with and that’s where we can help at Roofspec SW.
We cover Plymouth and the wider South-West region including Devon and Cornwall and our team has years of experience in dealing with roofing issues. In fact, there’s very little on a roof that can surprise us here at Roofspec SW.
If you would like to talk to us about any roofing work in Plymouth and the wider South-West region, then please get in contact with us via this website or give us a call on 01752 914217 and remember, as we say at Roofspec SW… ‘the proof is in the roof’.
All the best.
Jan 24, 2024 | Uncategorized
Seeing as this is the first blog of the new year, we thought we’d take the opportunity to wish you all the very best for what we hope is going to be an incredibly positive 2024.
But being positive is often as much to do with being prepared and capable of dealing with anything that’s thrown at you. In the case of roofing work, there’s always one thing that tends to crop up around this time of year and that’s stormy weather.
Before we go anywhere near the slightly warmer, months of spring we still have a few colder, possibly windier months to get through and we’ve already seen a handful of decent strength storms in recent months. Just after Christmas, Storm Gerrit (not sure where they get these names from) created major disruption across large parts of the north and although it largely left us alone down here in Plymouth is does highlight the fact that we’re still vulnerable to storm weather and the damage it can create.
The best way of dealing with stormy weather and to properly protect your property is to make sure that your roof is currently in the best possible order that it can be and ready to handle anything that’s thrown at it. Bear in mind loose or missing slates will always compromise the strength of your roof. Every residential roof is designed in such a way that that the parts work together to create genuine strength and missing parts will always create weakness, a bit like a chain being as strong as its weakest link.
Here at Roofspec SW we’re specialists in identifying roofing issues and coming up with solutions that work well and remove problems. We operate a fully licensed and insured drone service that enables us to clearly see any roofing problems without leaving the ground and when work is required, our Roofspec SW team can be up there fixing it way before any bad weather hits again.
We cover Plymouth and the wider South-West region including Devon and Cornwall and our team has years of experience in dealing with roofing issues. In fact, there’s very little on a roof that can surprise us here at Roofspec SW.
If you would like to talk to us about any roofing work in Plymouth and the wider South-West region, then please get in contact with us via this website or give us a call on 01752 914217 and remember, as we say at Roofspec SW… ‘the proof is in the roof’.
All the best for 2024.
Dec 1, 2023 | Uncategorized
As we approach the end of 2023, we’re not only reflecting on what has been a really positive year for us at Roofspec SW but we’re also looking forward to having some well-earned time off for Christmas. However, we’d like you spare a thought for one bloke that doesn’t get much time off in December … Santa Claus.
OK, so maybe he only works for one month a year (or one day depending on how you look at it) but this is someone that we at Roofspec SW worry about, especially with the state of some of the chimneys we see in Plymouth throughout the course of the year.
At Roofspec SW, one of the services we offer is our drone survey service. It enables us to have a really good look at the state of a client’s roof without having to step one foot on a ladder or scaffolding. Our drone inspects the roof properly and we can report back to the client effectively and efficiently. However, while we’re up there, we always take a look at the condition of any chimney at the same time.
Chimneys may not be as functional as they once were with less people having open fires these day, but they still remain an important and integral part of any roof structure. Having a chimney in bad condition will allow water to get in just as much as a leaking roof and it will undoubtedly cause further expensive damage within the property if unresolved. In addition to that, a chimney with damaged brickwork creates a serious hazard to anyone passing below.
People don’t often consider chimneys, mainly because they’re ‘out of site and out on mind’ but also because they’re not used as they used to be, but they still pose a potential problem. That brickwork there is just as important as any other section of brickwork in the property and is has to be maintained to avoid serious potential problems.
The best way to check out the condition of your chimney and the rest of the roof is by calling us at Roofspec SW. We’ll book you an appointment with our fully trained expert who will come round and send the drone up to have a proper look. Not only will you get a full written report but you’ll be able to see any chimney damage with your own eyes via the camera and recorded footage.
So, if you are in any way worried about the state of your chimney (especially when you consider who may be using it in December), then get in contact with us via this website or give us a call on 01752 914217.
Lastly, we hope you all have a great Christmas. Put your feet up, get some rest and spend some valuable time with friends and family and remember, as we say at Roofspec SW … ‘the proof is in the roof’.
Oct 15, 2023 | Uncategorized
The summer’s well behind us now and we’re heading into winter, but while we still have the odd day of decent weather, it’s definitely worth checking the condition of your roof, just to make sure there’s no obvious problems and that your roof is completely ready for the winter months ahead.
At Roofspec SW, we’re specialists in all aspects of roofing work and we cover the whole of Plymouth, Devon and wider south-west area. During our time we’ve built up the sort of experience that enables us to spot a roofing problem a mile off (slight exaggeration, but you get the idea). What we always encourage people to do, is check some of the roof yourself for the obvious signs and if you have any concerns after that then give us a call at Roofspec SW … we’ll take it from there.
So, as winter approaches here’s our suggestions of what to look out for.
- Watermarks inside your house. Go round your house and start looking for any brownish watermarks either on your ceilings or down the walls. These will usually be on the top floor of the property and are always a good indication that the roof needs some work.
- Next up, take a look inside your loft. If you can, get up there during the day, keep it as dark as you can and start looking around for any obvious signs of daylight peeping through the slates or tiles. This is a sure sign of an issue that needs to be addressed.
- While you’re in the loft space, check out the timbers if you can. Touch them to see if they’re damp in anyway. Also, check that any insulation you might have is dry and isn’t holding water that’s leaked through.
- Before you leave the loft space check for signs of condensation which will show as water build up on the underside of slates. This is where the warm air inside rises up to meet the cold air outside and creates condensation on the underside of the slates. It’s often an indication of poor ventilation in the roof and can result in black spot build up on your internal ceilings and walls and further damage.
- Once you’re outside the property, look up and check the guttering. Look for signs of leakage, overspill and poor downpipe connections. These will all impact the performance of your roof and its ability to protect your property.
- Look for missing slates. This is the obvious one because if you have any missing slates it will compromise your roof’s ability to keep water out. Look carefully for changes in the roof pattern, slate fragments on the floor or whole slates that have slipped into the guttering … these are all the normal signs.
These simple checks will help you get your house through the winter and if you do have any issues or concerns then you should always call a professional team like us at Roofspec SW. Bear in mind it’s always a lot less expensive to repair a roof where damage is spotted quickly rather than replacing a whole roof structure and damaged parts of the building later down the line.
If you’re in any doubt when it comes to roofing work, then get in contact with us via this website or give us a call on 01752 914217 and remember, as we say at Roofspec SW… ‘the proof is in the roof’.
Recent Comments