Roofers Wimbledon

Around Wimbledon Village and the streets closest to the Common, a lot of properties sit within conservation areas, and the roofs are usually clay tile or natural slate, materials chosen because they were the standard when these houses were built and they've weathered into the character of the street ever since.

A repair that's technically sound but visually wrong, the wrong tile colour, a rooflight that sits too proud of the roof line, stands out immediately here in a way it wouldn't on a plainer street.

My name's John Quilligan. Roofing has been in my family for three generations. Where a rooflight is genuinely needed on a conservation-area property, we use a conservation-style unit, one that sits flush with the roof rather than protruding above it, which is usually what the council expects and what actually looks right on an older roof.

Further out, toward South Wimbledon and Merton, the housing is more standard and the same level of restraint isn't always necessary, but we still check before assuming.

A lot of the period properties around Wimbledon Village and the streets nearest the Common are roofed in clay tile or natural slate, materials chosen when the houses were built, and matching them properly matters more here than on a plainer street.

A repair using the wrong tile colour or profile stands out immediately against a roof that's weathered into the character of the street over a century or more.

Repointing on these properties uses lime mortar, matched to the original, rather than a modern cement mix. Cement traps moisture inside older brick instead of letting it evaporate out, which causes the brick face to crack and flake over time.

This is a genuine, common mistake we see left behind by previous repairs on Wimbledon's older housing stock, and it's exactly why we treat chimney and roof brickwork on period properties differently from a standard modern repair.

Every year from late June into mid-July, roads closest to the All England Club, Church Road, Wimbledon Park Road, Somerset Road, and parts of Southfields, become resident-only zones with daily closures and parking suspensions for the length of the tournament. If your property sits within that zone and you've got roof work planned for early summer, timing matters more here than almost anywhere else on our patch.

We factor this into scheduling for anyone near the grounds. A job that would normally take a couple of days can run into real access problems if it overlaps with the Championships, since scaffolding delivery, skip collection, and even our own vans getting close enough to park can all be affected by the road closures. If you're booking work for June or early July and you're near SW19's tournament zone, it's worth flagging during the inspection so we can plan around it rather than discover the problem on the day.

Do I need a special type of rooflight if my property is in a conservation area? Often, yes. A conservation-style rooflight sits flush with the roof rather than protruding above it, and it's usually what's expected on a listed or conservation-area property. We can advise on this during the inspection.

Can you clean moss off an old slate or clay tile roof without damaging it? Yes, using methods suited to the actual material rather than aggressive pressure washing, which can strip natural slate or damage older clay tile glazing.

Is my property in Wimbledon likely to be in a conservation area? A significant part of Wimbledon Village and the streets nearest the Common fall within conservation areas. We'll check this during your free inspection if you're unsure.

Do you cover South Wimbledon and Merton as well as the Village? Yes, the whole area. The approach differs depending on the property's age and status, but we cover it all.

Do you charge for the inspection? No. No call-out fee, ever, regardless of what the inspection finds.