Roof repairs and re-roofing in Sarratt

Housing in Sarratt

What the roofs here are like

Sarratt is arranged along an unusually long, narrow village green, and the housing fronting it is period and low-density - brick, flint and rendered cottages under steep clay tile, with a number of larger houses and former farmhouses interspersed. The village church sits apart from the green down towards the Chess valley, with its own cluster of old buildings around it. Behind and beyond the green there is modest 20th-century infill, some postwar housing and bungalows, but far less than in the larger villages nearby. Outlying farms and converted agricultural buildings account for a significant share of the property here, and those bring large, simple roof areas over long spans.

What we get called out for

The problems that come up in Sarratt

Sarratt is rural and heavily treed, and it sits above the Chess valley where damp hangs about. Moss on north-facing slopes is the standard job, and gutters here fill with field and tree debris rather than just leaves - annual clearing is genuinely worth it rather than optional. The period cottages around the green are mostly in a conservation area, so material matching matters. Barn and outbuilding conversions bring the other common work: large roof areas that were re-covered at the time of conversion, often twenty or thirty years ago now, with rooflights whose flashings are reaching the end.

Working in Sarratt

Access, scaffold and what affects the timescale

Rural working, with everything that implies. The lanes are narrow, and the approach to several properties is over unmade track that turns to mud between November and March - we will often suggest waiting for firmer ground rather than churning up your drive and getting a lorry stuck. Once on site, plots are large and access is easy. Because Sarratt is a fair way down the lanes from anywhere, we try to group visits here, and for small jobs we will be honest about whether the callout makes sense on its own. Conservation-area constraints apply around the green and near the church.