Winter roof preparation

Most winter roof damage starts as something small that was already there in September: a slate that had just begun to slip, a ridge tile that rocked, a gutter half full of leaves, a flashing lifting at one corner. The first big wind finds it, and a two minute fix becomes a torn roof and a stained ceiling. A winter check is a systematic look at everything that fails in bad weather. On the roof: slates and tiles, ridges and hips, verges, valleys, flashings at chimneys and walls, skylight seals, and anything fixed to the roof like aerials and satellite dishes, which work loose and damage what is around them. At the edges: gutters and downpipes cleared and flushed, brackets checked, fascias and soffits looked at for rot. The chimney: pots, flaunching, caps and cowls. And inside, the attic: daylight showing through, water marks, damp felt, condensation, blocked eaves vents, and pipes or tanks that are not lagged and could freeze. Small faults are fixed on the day where possible, and anything bigger is photographed and priced so you can decide before the weather closes in.

A yearly routine

For most houses a check every autumn is enough, and it tends to pay for itself by catching one slipped slate or blocked valley before it does damage. We can book you in for the same time each year so you do not have to remember.

After a storm warning

When a wind warning goes out for Kerry, Cork or Limerick, the calls come in the next morning. If we checked your roof in the autumn we already know it, and we have dated photos of how it looked, which makes it quicker to see what the storm moved. Those photos also help with insurance. Policies usually exclude wear and lack of maintenance, so a report showing the roof was in good order before the storm is exactly the evidence an insurer asks for. After a big wind, walk around the house from the ground and look for slates on the path, a gap in the ridge line or a gutter hanging loose, and send us a photo before anyone climbs a ladder.