Roofing in Borehamwood: Post War Estates and Hard Working Roofs

Borehamwood grew fast after the war, and most of its housing dates from the late forties through to the seventies. That gives the town an unusually consistent housing stock compared with its neighbours, and a consistent stock means consistent roofing problems. After years of jobs across Borehamwood and Elstree we can usually predict what we will find on a roof before the ladder goes up.

Concrete Tiles Reaching the End of Their First Life

The dominant roof covering in Borehamwood is the concrete interlocking tile, fitted in huge numbers when the estates went up. Concrete tiles are tough but not immortal. After sixty or seventy years the surface weathers, edges become brittle and the tiles become porous enough to hold moisture, which then freezes and spalls the surface further. The felt underlay beneath them, the original bituminous sarking, is very often in worse condition than the tiles themselves, cracked and torn where it has gone brittle with age.

That underlay matters because it is the second line of defence. Wind driven rain that gets past the tiles is supposed to run down the felt into the gutter. Where the felt has failed, it runs into the loft instead. If you have unexplained damp patches in bedroom ceilings with no obviously broken tiles above, perished underlay is the most likely cause, and it is something we check on every inspection.

Flat Roofs on Garages and Extensions

Borehamwood's estates came with garages, and garages came with felt flat roofs. Add half a century of kitchen and rear extensions and the town carries thousands of small flat roofs, most of them felted and refelted repeatedly. Where one has reached the end of its life we replace it with GRP fibreglass or EPDM rubber, both seamless systems with far longer working lives. For a garage roof this is usually a one or two day job.

Ridges, Verges and Mortar

The other signature failure on post war estates is mortar. Ridge tiles and verge edges were bedded on sand and cement, and that mortar has been expanding, contracting and cracking through every season since. Loose ridge tiles are a genuine hazard in storms as well as a leak path. Modern practice is to refix ridges with a dry fix mechanical system that cannot crack out, and on many Borehamwood roofs that single upgrade removes the most storm vulnerable element entirely.

Gutters, Fascias and Maintenance

Original timber fascias hidden behind gutters have often rotted quietly for decades. We replace fascias and soffits in UPVC, renew gutters and clear blockages. As with everything else on this page, the cheap maintenance jobs prevent the expensive repair jobs, and we will always tell you which is which.

Why Borehamwood Homeowners Use Imbrex

Over 20 years in the roofing and building trade, registered with Checkatrade and TrustATrader, fully insured with £5m public liability and no deposit required on any job. We are based nearby in Watford, so inspections and emergency call outs are quick. The phone is answered seven days a week, 8am to 8pm.

Call 0800 474 8347 or use the contact form for a free, no obligation quote.