Cambridge Roofers carries out roof repairs across Milton and the surrounding villages, fixing leaks, broken tiles, failed flashings and ridge pointing before small problems turn into costly ones.
Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
We repair leaking roofs, replace broken or slipped tiles, repoint ridge and hip mortar, and fix failed flashings on chimney stacks, valleys and abutments. If a targeted fix will do the job, that is what we quote - we do not recommend a full roof replacement when a repair is the right answer.
We work across Milton and the wider Cambridge area, including Histon, Impington, Fen Ditton, Girton, Trumpington and Chesterton. If you are in a neighbouring village and unsure whether we cover your area, call us and we will tell you straight.
Understanding the process helps you know what to expect and what questions to ask any roofer before they start. Here is how a properly managed repair job runs, from the moment we arrive to the point we leave your property tidy.
The first thing we do is get eyes on the problem properly. That means accessing the roof safely - usually by ladder, sometimes by scaffold if the roof is high or steeply pitched. We look at the area you have reported but we also check the surrounding sections, because a leak rarely comes from exactly where the water appears inside. Water travels along rafters and sarking felt before it drips, so the entry point can be a metre or more from where you see the stain on your ceiling.
We check the tiles or slates for cracking, slippage and missing nibs. We inspect the pointing on the ridge and hip tiles, which is a mortar bed that hardens and shrinks over time, eventually cracking and letting water in. We look at every flashing - the lead or code-metal strips that seal the joints where the roof meets a chimney, a dormer, a parapet wall or a roof window. We also check the gutters and fascia boards where they meet the roof edge, because a blocked or sagging gutter can force water back up under the lowest course of tiles.
If the loft is accessible, a quick look from inside is useful. Daylight visible through the roof deck, damp timbers or staining on the felt all help pinpoint where the problem is coming from. We will tell you what we find before any work starts.
Once we know what needs doing, we explain it clearly. We distinguish between what must be fixed now to stop the leak and what is worth monitoring or addressing on a future visit. A ridge that is mostly sound but has two or three open joints does not necessarily need a full re-ridge - targeted repointing of the affected joints may be all that is needed at this stage.
We will tell you the materials we intend to use. For tile repairs, matching the existing tile type and profile matters - a plain clay tile roof should be repaired with clay, not concrete, and the colour and texture should be as close as possible to the existing ones. For flashings, most residential repairs use code 3 or code 4 lead, which is the standard for chimney back gutters, soakers and stepped flashings. We will confirm what we plan to use so you can ask about it if you wish.
Before any roofer touches your tiles, safe access needs to be in place. For most single-storey or standard two-storey repairs, a ladder with a roof ladder or cat ladder hooked over the ridge is sufficient. The roof ladder spreads the load so we are not standing on tiles and potentially cracking them in the process of doing the repair.
For larger jobs, or where the roof is particularly steep, high or awkward, a scaffold tower or full scaffold may be necessary. If that is the case, we will tell you at the quotation stage - it is not something that should appear as a surprise on the invoice. Scaffold hire for a typical domestic job in the Cambridge area adds roughly £400 to £900 to a job, depending on the height and configuration needed.
What happens during the repair depends on what needs doing. Here is what each common type of repair actually involves:
Once the repair is done, we check it from the roof before coming down. For tile or slate repairs, this means pressing gently on the surrounding tiles to confirm everything is seated properly and none of the neighbouring tiles have been loosened in the process. For pointing work, we check the mortar is well-bonded and no gaps remain. For flashings, we check the lead is dressed tightly against the upstand with no gaps at the edges.
If we can access a hose, we may water-test a repair on a flat roof to confirm no water is finding a way through before we sign off. On pitched roofs, a visual check in good light is usually sufficient - we can see whether the tile lines are correct and whether there are any obvious gaps.
We clear away all waste material - broken tile pieces, old mortar, offcuts of felt or lead, and any packaging. Old roofing materials go in our van for proper disposal. Your garden, paths and driveway should be left as we found them. If we use a roof ladder, we check that it has not scuffed the guttering or dislodged any tiles at the eaves when we retrieve it.
Before we leave, we will tell you what we did, point out anything we noticed that may need attention in the future, and answer any questions you have. We do not leave a report unless you ask for one - most homeowners just want to know the roof is fixed.
Prices vary with the nature and extent of the work, access requirements and material costs. As a general guide for the Cambridge area:
These are honest typical figures for repair work in this part of Cambridgeshire. The only way to get a firm price for your specific job is to have someone look at it properly.
A common problem on older pitched roofs is mortar failure at the ridge. The ridge tiles sit on a bed of mortar, and that mortar is exposed to frost, rain and temperature movement year after year. Eventually it cracks, gaps open, and water gets in. Many homeowners do not notice until there is a water stain on an upstairs ceiling.
Flashings are another frequent cause of leaks. The mortar pointing that holds lead flashings into brickwork joints shrinks and cracks over time, allowing water to run behind the lead. The lead itself may be perfectly sound - often just re-pointing the mortar is enough to stop the leak.
Slipped tiles on older roofs often mean the nails or nibs have corroded or broken. A tile that has dropped by two or three centimetres may still look roughly in place from the ground but is leaving a gap for wind-driven rain to get under the course above. This is worth sorting before autumn sets in.
We carry out roof repairs in Milton and across the surrounding area, including Cambridge, Histon, Impington, Girton, Fen Ditton, Chesterton and Trumpington, as well as further afield into villages like Comberton, Papworth Everard and Cambourne. If you are in a nearby village not listed here, call us - we are likely to cover your area.
Before agreeing to any roof repair, it is worth asking a few straightforward questions:
A roofer who cannot answer these clearly before work starts is one to be cautious about. A straightforward repair job should have a straightforward explanation.
If you have noticed a stain on a ceiling, missing tiles on your roof, or you just want someone to check the roof before winter, call Cambridge Roofers and we will arrange a time to come and look. Ask any roofer to tell you what they find, explain what needs doing and give you a price before you agree to any work.
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Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
