Roofers in Herne Hill
Most of SE24 was slated between the 1860s and the 1890s and fixed with iron nails, which is why one slipped slate in Herne Hill is so often a question about the whole slope.
- Postcodes
- SE24
- Councils
- Lambeth & Southwark
- From our yard
- 1.6 mi
Roofs in SE24
Nail-sick Welsh slate.
Herne Hill filled in after the railway arrived in 1862, and it filled in piecemeal. The Poet's Corner streets went up two, three and four houses at a time, off pattern books, so pitches and ridge heights step as you walk along a terrace. Behind the gault and red brick fronts it is nearly all the same roof: Welsh slate on sawn softwood battens, clay ridge bedded in lime mortar, lead to the valleys. The Sunray Estate is the exception, steeply pitched and tiled in clay.
Nail sickness is behind most of the slipped slates on those roofs. The slate itself is usually sound. It is the iron nail that has rusted through at the shank, and gravity does the rest. One goes, then a gale takes six. In the loft it shows as rust streaking down the battens and daylight at the nail holes. Patching a slope in that state is money spent twice. A re-slate renews the battens, adds a membrane and re-lays the sound slate on copper nails.
The borough boundary runs down the road itself, so the council changes at the kerb: Lambeth on the west side, Southwark on the east. Scaffold licences, parking suspensions and conservation consents all follow that line. Poet's Corner is a Lambeth conservation area, the Sunray Estate is Southwark's and carries an Article 4 direction. Most terraces here have no side return, so the scaffold goes up off the footway and the licence comes before the slate.
Reviews from SE24
What people here actually said.
Asphalt Roofing Repair10/10
“Another excellent job completed by Van and his team at Harrington. Work spec clearly given and professionally completed on time. Good to work with reliable tradespeople.”
SE24 · 2025-03-26 Pitched Roofing Repair10/10
“I highly recommend Van and his team. We had a roof that was leaking badly and with all the recent rain things were getting worse by the day. Van supplied us with video and photos of the problem and followed up with a competitive quote. He was on site during the work and kept us informed of progress and finish date. If you want to work with a company that does what it says it will do then Harrington Property Services is worth a call.”
SE24 · 2024-04-07
What we do in Herne Hill
The five these roofs ask for.
Questions
What people ask
in Herne Hill
01Why does my Herne Hill roof lose a slate every time it blows a gale?
Because the nails are older than the slate. These roofs were slated between the 1860s and the 1890s with iron nails, and iron gives out long before Welsh slate does. Once the shanks corrode, slates let go at random across the slope rather than in one patch. Refixing the fallen ones holds for a winter. It does nothing for the rest of them.
02Do I need permission to re-roof a house on the Sunray Estate?
Usually, yes. Sunray is a Southwark conservation area with an Article 4 direction over it, so alterations to the outside of the house need permission rather than going through as permitted development. That means the covering, any rooflight and any dormer are decided by Southwark rather than assumed. The roofs are steeply pitched plain clay tile, so a like-for-like clay tile is the straightforward case to put to them.
03There is a gutter running through the middle of my roof. Is that normal?
On the older terraces off Milkwood Road and around Poet's Corner, yes. Plenty are twin-slope roofs with a lead-lined valley down the centre, hidden from the street behind a parapet. It works until the lead splits at a lap or the outlet blocks with moss and slate grit. Then the water backs up and comes through the top-floor ceiling. Clear it every autumn.
04How does scaffolding work on a terrace with no side access?
It goes up from the front, off the pavement, which needs a footway licence and usually a suspended parking bay. Which council issues it depends on your side of Herne Hill: Lambeth to the west, Southwark to the east. On the climb up Red Post Hill the scaffold has to be stepped and tied properly, which adds time. Slate, battens and waste come over the front, not through the house.
05Do you cover Herne Hill?
Yes. Herne Hill is about 1.6 miles from our yard in Camberwell, and SE24 is inside the area we quote in.
06How quickly can you get to Herne Hill?
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 Herne Hill.
08Can I see work you have done in Herne Hill?
Yes — the Checkatrade reviews on this page were left by customers in SE24, and every review on the platform carries the postcode district of the job.
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