Roof replacement in Letchworth Garden City
We replaced a failing 120-year-old, four-gable roof in Letchworth to match the original. Here's how we approach a new roof in the garden city.
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Free quote · no obligation
- We look first and show you what we find
- An itemised quote, in writing
- Leaks answered any time
How it works
Getting it sorted is simple
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Step 1
Tell us what the roof is doing. About 30 seconds.
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Step 2
Let us come and look.
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Step 3
Say yes or no to the written price.
Then leave it with us
We do the hard part
- Photos of what we find, so you can see it too
- A straight answer, and no work the roof does not need
- Scaffold, skip and materials all itemised on the quote
- Building Control sign-off arranged on a re-roof
- A written company guarantee on the work
Our work
Photos from our recent jobs
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A full re-roof with new timber soffits and fascias
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An old polycarbonate workshop roof, rebuilt with four opening skylights
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A full re-roof and a large chimney stack taken down
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Welded leadwork round a chimney, done the traditional way
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Spray foam out and a new roof on, with TLX Gold insulated membrane
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A natural Spanish slate roof with lead valleys and a Code 5 box gutter
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A returning customer: the side roof, matched in man-made slate
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A slate hip roof, finished
“The finished roof looks great, and is an excellent match to the original which is important in Letchworth.”
Before you ask
Questions people ask
Do I need Heritage Foundation consent to replace my roof?
Often, if anything visible will change, and it is worth asking even for like-for-like work. Check with the Foundation before the job is booked. We can give you the details they ask about.
Can you reuse my original tiles?
Where enough are sound, reusing them on the most visible slopes is one way to keep the look. We'll check how many survive and tell you honestly whether it's worth it.
Will a new roof change how my house looks?
It should not. On the four-gable roof we replaced in Letchworth, the owner said the match to the original was excellent. That is the standard we work to.
Ready when you are
It takes about 30 seconds to ask, and you are not committing to anything.
More about roof replacement in Letchworth Garden City
The four-gable roof
The owner first asked us for a deep repair. The roof was around 120 years old, it had four gables, and it was failing. In the end, the whole roof was replaced.
What mattered most to him was how it looked when we'd finished. In his words, the new roof is "an excellent match to the original which is important in Letchworth". He's right, and it's why we plan garden city roofs differently.
Why matching matters here
Letchworth was the world's first garden city, begun in 1903 on Ebenezer Howard's ideas, and many of its early houses were designed by Barry Parker and Raymond Unwin. Their Arts and Crafts cottages are all about the roof: steep pitches, deep eaves, gables, dormers, tall chimneys and, very often, red clay tiles. Change the roof carelessly and you change the house.
Much of the town is a conservation area, and the Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation also looks after the look of the town through its Scheme of Management. So a replacement roof is expected to look like the one it replaces.
How we plan a garden city re-roof
- Record the roof before anything comes off: photos of every gable, valley, verge, ridge and dormer.
- Check consents with the Heritage Foundation and North Hertfordshire District Council before anything is ordered.
- Match the covering: the tile, its colour and size, and how the verges and ridges are finished.
- Renew what's underneath: breathable membrane, treated battens and counter-battens, and Code 4 or Code 5 lead in the valleys and against the chimneys.
- Top up the loft insulation to 300mm or more while the roof is open.
Old outside, new underneath
From the street, the roof should look as it always has. Underneath, it should be as sound as any new roof. On most houses we fit dry ridge and dry verge systems, but on a garden city house we only use them where they won't change the look. Sometimes a traditional mortar finish is the right call, and we'll tell you which we'd do and why.
Every cost goes on an itemised written quote, including scaffold, skip and Building Control sign-off, which we arrange. The finished roof comes with our written company guarantee.
Roof replacement nearby: St Neots · Bedford · Kempston · Huntingdon · Cambridge · Milton Keynes
Other work in Letchworth Garden City: Roof Repairs · Flat Roofs · Spray Foam Removal
Everything we do in Letchworth Garden City · All about roof replacement