Roofers in Brixton
Victorian slate at the front, felt over the back extension, asphalt on the estate blocks, and no two of them go the same way.
- Postcodes
- SW2 · SW9
- Borough
- Lambeth
- From our yard
- 1.3 mi
Roofs in SW2 and SW9
Slate, felt, asphalt.
Most of Brixton's terraces went up between the 1860s and the 1890s, once the railway came: stock brick, Welsh slate, softwood battens. On the flat-fronted streets the roof hides behind a parapet, two slopes falling into a lead-lined valley that runs front to back. The later terraces show their slate at the eaves. Between them stand Lambeth's post-war blocks, flat roofs in asphalt over concrete. Where a slope has been stripped and redone it is usually concrete tile now, heavier than the rafters were cut for.
Round the back it is a different roof. The extension over the kitchen is usually felt on boards, laid flat or near enough, so water sits at the far edge against the main wall. Splits open at the upstand where the felt turns up, not out in the middle. By the time a ceiling stains the deck is soft, and membrane over a wet deck buys two winters. Many of these houses are flats now, so roof and ceiling have different owners.
Access sets the price more than the covering does. A mid-terrace with no side return means every slate and every bag of waste goes out over the pavement, and a scaffold standing there wants a Lambeth licence booked in advance. Over the shops around the market streets there is nowhere to stand a lorry once the stalls are out, so material goes in early. Up the hill the green strips the houses sit behind are protected Rush Common land, where nothing may be erected at all, so the tower still stands on the footway under licence.
There is one reviewed job in SW2 and SW9 on our Checkatrade profile. It runs longer than we quote on a page like this, and we would rather send you to the whole thing than show you the first half of it — read it on Checkatrade (opens in a new tab).
What we do in Brixton
The five these roofs ask for.
Questions
What people ask
in Brixton
01Water is coming in at the top of my front bedroom wall. Where is it getting in?
On the older Brixton terraces the roof behind the parapet is two slopes draining into a lead-lined valley gutter that runs to one outlet. Block that outlet with moss, a ball, a nest, and water backs up over the lead upstand and comes through the top of the front wall. Clearing it is the first job. Splits in the lead come next, usually where a run was laid too long without a drip.
02A few slates come off my Brixton terrace every winter. Is re-fixing them enough?
For a while. The nails on an 1880s roof are iron and they rust through long before the slate does, so slates let go one at a time with nothing wrong with them. Two or three a year, re-fix them. A dozen off one slope means the rest are hanging on the same nails, and re-fixing turns into a subscription rather than a repair. In Lambeth's conservation areas the replacement comes back in slate, not tile.
03What is involved in getting a scaffold or a skip onto a Brixton street?
Anything standing on the pavement or in the road needs a licence from Lambeth, applied for before the scaffold arrives rather than on the day. Brixton Road and Brixton Hill are a TfL red route, which is a separate permission and a longer wait. Off the main roads a suspended parking bay is usually enough. The paperwork, not the roof, tends to set the start date.
04I own a flat in a Lambeth estate block. Can I have the roof done myself?
Not on your own. The roof over a block belongs to the freeholder, Lambeth or a managing agent, and the work is theirs to order and yours to pay for through the service charge. Major works trigger a formal consultation before they can bill you. What a leaseholder can usefully do is pay for an independent survey with photographs and a written view of what is failing. That is what an agent acts on.
05Do you cover Brixton?
Yes. Brixton is about 1.3 miles from our yard in Camberwell, and SW2 and SW9 are inside the area we quote in.
06How quickly can you get to Brixton?
For an active leak we aim for the same day — the call-out line runs 24 hours. For a survey we are usually with you within a few days.
07Do you charge to come and look?
No. The survey and the written quote are free, and there is no call-out fee for pricing a job anywhere in Brixton.
08Can I see work you have done nearby?
Every review on Checkatrade carries the postcode district of the job, so you can see the areas we work in and read what those customers said. Ask when you ring and we will send photographs of a roof like yours.
Free quote
Get a price for your roof.
We will come out, photograph what we find and give you a fixed price in writing. No call-out fee and no obligation.