Roof repairs in Kent

Finding the leak before fixing it

A stain on the ceiling is rarely directly under the hole. Water that gets past a tile can run along a batten, a rafter or the underside of the felt before it drips, so the first job on any repair is tracing where it gets in.

Leaks often start where two parts of a roof meet: the valley between two slopes, the flashing where the roof meets a chimney or a wall, and the ridge along the top. Those joins are where something has to seal a gap, and where it fails first.

Signs your roof needs a repair

• Slipped, cracked or missing tiles or slates, often easiest to spot from the garden or the street
• Damp patches on a ceiling or in the loft after rain
• Daylight showing through the roof when you look up from the loft
• Ridge tiles that rock, or mortar on the ground below the ridge or the verge
• Water spilling over the gutter in heavy rain, which is often a blockage rather than the roof itself

Do roof repairs need permission?

Repairs that match the existing roof usually need no planning permission. They do not normally need a building control application either: the Planning Portal sets the line at less than 25 per cent of the building's outer envelope and less than 50 per cent of the roof.

If your home is listed, check before any work starts. Historic England's guidance is that like-for-like repairs may not need listed building consent, but changes to features such as ridges, verges and eaves are likely to.