Roof repairs and re-roofing in Wendover

Housing in Wendover

What the roofs here are like

Wendover sits in a gap in the Chiltern escarpment and has a genuinely old core: the streets around the clock tower and running up towards the church hold timber-framed, brick and rendered buildings under steep clay tile, several thatched or formerly thatched, with the very steep pitches that thatch required and that were kept when tile replaced it. Victorian and Edwardian building extends along the roads out of the centre, then interwar and postwar housing on the flatter ground towards Aylesbury, and modern development on the fringes. Properties climbing towards Coombe Hill and Boddington Hill are larger and set in wooded plots, often with complex multi-level roofs.

What we get called out for

The problems that come up in Wendover

The very steep pitches in the old centre are worth knowing about - a roof at 50 degrees or more needs different access, different fixing and more care, and a formerly thatched roof often has undersized rafters because thatch weighs less than tile. Much of central Wendover is a conservation area with a lot of listed property, so material matching and consent apply. Up towards the escarpment, tree cover and the shading from the hills make moss a serious and recurring problem - the north slopes here get very little winter sun. Wind coming through the gap in the escarpment also makes ridge and verge damage more common than it is further into the hills.

Working in Wendover

Access, scaffold and what affects the timescale

Two things make Wendover different to work in. First, the pitches in the old centre are very steep - a roof at fifty degrees or more needs additional edge protection, takes longer, and on a formerly thatched building the rafters may be lighter than the tile load really wants, which is something we check before quoting. Second, most of the centre is a conservation area with a lot of listed property, so consent and matched materials are the norm. Out towards the escarpment the wind funnelling through the gap is a real factor, and we plan felt and GRP work around the forecast rather than the diary.