Roofers Balham

A lot of Victorian terraces in Balham aren't a single roof any more. The original pitched slate roof is still there, but many houses have picked up a flat-roofed rear extension over the kitchen, and a fair number have a loft conversion with its own dormer or rooflight added on top of that.

Three different roof types, three different failure points, on one house.

My name's John Quilligan. Roofing has been in my family for three generations, and my team and I check the whole roof, not just the part that prompted the call.

A leak reported near the loft conversion sometimes turns out to trace back to where the extension roof meets the original brickwork, not the newer work itself. We inspect properly, often with a drone where access is tight between terraced houses, before we tell you what's actually wrong.

The point where a flat-roofed rear extension joins the original house is one of the most common places for a leak to start in Balham, and it's often missed because it doesn't look like a roof problem from inside. Water can track along the junction between the old brickwork and the new flat roof covering and show up as a damp patch a metre or two away from where it's actually getting in.

Loft conversions add a second junction of their own. A dormer window or a flat-roofed loft box sits on top of the original pitched roof, and the flashing around that join takes real weather stress over the years. If your loft was converted more than a decade ago and you've noticed a stain near the ceiling on the top floor, this junction is one of the first places we check, not the roof tiles further down the slope.

Terraced streets also mean tight access between properties. We plan scaffolding and equipment around this from the start, rather than turning up and discovering the gap between your house and next door is narrower than expected.

Prices vary with access, roof type, and how many separate roof sections a property actually has, which is exactly why we inspect before quoting.

Minor repairs typically run £150 to £400. A full pitched roof replacement typically runs £7,000 to £12,000 for tile, or £10,000 to £16,000 for natural slate. Flat roof work on rear extensions typically runs £2,800 to £7,000 depending on the system used. Where a leak needs tracing across a junction between an original roof and a later extension or loft conversion, the inspection itself takes longer, since we're checking more than one roof section rather than one straightforward area.

The only way to get an exact figure for your property is a free inspection.

My extension roof and the original house roof meet in the middle. Is that a weak point? Often, yes. The junction between an original pitched roof and a flat-roofed extension is one of the most common places for a leak to start, and it's worth checking specifically, not just assuming the fault is in whichever section the damage first appeared in.

I had a loft conversion done years ago. Could that be causing a newer leak? It's worth checking. The flashing around a loft dormer or rooflight takes real weather stress over time, and a stain appearing near the top floor ceiling doesn't always mean the original roof further down is the problem.

Can you actually get access on a terraced street with tight gaps between houses? Yes. We plan equipment and scaffolding around this before the job starts, rather than working it out on the day.

How quickly can you get someone out? Same day in most cases, seven days a week.

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