Roofers in Wandsworth
Most of SW18 is Victorian slate draining into a lead valley, with clay plain tile taking over through the Southfields grid and the streets off Magdalen Road.
- Postcodes
- SW18
- Borough
- Wandsworth
- From our yard
- 4.2 mi
Roofs in SW18
Slate, then plain tile.
Wandsworth divides neatly by roof. The terraces climbing East Hill are mid-Victorian and three storeys, double-pitched in Welsh slate with a lead-lined valley running front to back between the slopes. The Tonsleys below them are smaller, two-storey cottage terraces of the same period with a lower back addition behind. The Southfields grid and the streets off Magdalen Road came later and carry clay plain tile, often with a tile-hung gable to the front. Past that, toward Wimbledon Park, interwar semis sit under concrete interlocking tiles.
Nail sickness ends most of these slate roofs. The slate is still sound after 150 years; the iron nails holding it are not. They rust away, tails slip one at a time, and the slope gets patched with lead tingles until it is more clip than slate. East Hill is steep enough that you can read it from the pavement below: gaps in the courses, a slate sitting in the gutter, a run of metal across an otherwise even slope.
The Tonsley streets are narrow and built hard to the pavement, with no shared passage to get a scaffold through to the back. That puts the standard on the footway, which needs a licence from Wandsworth, and usually a parking bay suspended for the lorry as well. East Hill is the A3, which limits when and where a wagon can stand. Several of these streets sit in conservation areas, so natural slate goes back on the front slope.
What we do in Wandsworth
The five these roofs ask for.
Questions
What people ask
in Wandsworth
01Can I put fibre cement slate on a house in the Tonsleys?
On the front slope, usually not. The Tonsley streets sit in a conservation area, and the council expects a like-for-like natural slate in the same size and coursing as the neighbours. Rear slopes that nobody sees from the street are treated more loosely. Ask Wandsworth planning before you order, because the difference in material cost is smaller than the cost of taking a roof off twice.
02Water is coming in where the two slopes meet on my East Hill terrace. Is that the valley?
Almost always. Those roofs drain into a lead-lined valley between the two pitches, and lead moves every time the sun hits it. Too long a run between drips and it tears at the fixings. Add a century of leaf litter at the outlet and the water ponds, backs up over the upstand and comes through the ceiling. Renewing the lining in shorter bays fixes it. Sealant does not.
03Do I need a licence to scaffold a Tonsley terrace?
If it stands on the pavement, yes. Wandsworth issues the footway licence and it runs for a fixed period, which you extend if the work overruns. Apply before the scaffolders are booked, not the week they turn up. Most of these streets are permit parking too, so a suspended bay for the skip and the lorry wants arranging at the same time.
04My 1930s semi near Southfields has sound concrete tiles but it still leaks. Why?
Because the leak is under the tiles. Interwar roofs were laid on sawn softwood battens over bitumen felt, where they were felted at all, and both wear out long before a concrete tile does. The felt tears along the eaves and at the gutter line, the battens go soft round the nail holes, and wind-driven rain finds the gap. Strip it, re-felt and re-batten, and most of the tiles go back on.
05Do you cover Wandsworth?
Yes. Wandsworth is about 4.2 miles from our yard in Camberwell, and SW18 is inside the area we quote in.
06How quickly can you get to Wandsworth?
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 Wandsworth.
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.