WEST BYFLEET
Your Local Roofer in West Byfleet and Byfleet
Fascias, soffits, guttering, roof repairs, retiling and new roofs across KT14, from West Byfleet village out to Byfleet, Pyrford and Sheerwater. Free estimates, no obligation, and a full guarantee on every new project.
Original timber on 1930s houses
Walk almost any road in West Byfleet and you see the same thing. Rows of 1930s semis and detached houses with their original clay tile still on and, in a good number of cases, the timber fascia and soffit they were built with. That timber is where most of our work here starts. GB Roofing repairs, retiles and re-roofs houses right across KT14.
Fascias, soffits and guttering: the West Byfleet job
Timber roofline that has never been replaced is the recurring job here. On some of these houses it is close to a century old. Once the fascia goes soft the guttering drops out of line, water runs behind it instead of into it, and the wall below starts staining.
The fix is not another coat of paint. We take the old timber off, check the rafter feet and the joist ends underneath, replace anything that has rotted, then fit uPVC fascias, soffits, bargeboards and new guttering. Ventilation goes in at the same time, which a lot of these houses never had. Done once, in uPVC, it never needs painting again.
Clay tiled roofs and tile replacement in KT14
Original clay tile is still on plenty of West Byfleet roofs, and it is worth keeping where it can be kept. Clay outlasts nearly everything. What gives up first is the mortar on the ridge and hips, and the odd nib that snaps or a tile that cracks in a hard frost.
We replace individual tiles, re-bed ridges and hips using mechanical fixings rather than mortar on its own, repair verges and retile whole pitches. Matching counts for a lot on a semi, because a patch of bright new tile next to your neighbour’s weathered roof is visible from the pavement. Where the original is no longer made we use reclaimed tiles.
On the ground
Around West Byfleet
We are on these roads regularly, so a look at your roof rarely means a long wait.
- KT14
- Byfleet
- Pyrford
- Sheerwater
- Brooklands
Bungalows and low roofs
The quieter West Byfleet roads have a good number of bungalows, and a bungalow roof is a large area of tile sitting over a small footprint. That means long runs of guttering and a lot of water heading for one or two downpipes, so blockages show up quickly. It also means the roof is easier and safer to reach, so repairs and retiling on a bungalow often come in lower than owners expect.
Towards Sheerwater
The post-war housing on the Sheerwater side is a different roof again. Shallower pitches, interlocking concrete tile and, on the ones nobody has touched, bitumen felt gone brittle at the eaves. When the felt cracks at the bottom edge, rainwater runs behind the guttering rather than into it. Eaves trays and a proper drip into the gutter sort out most of those.
Working on a semi
Half the roofs we work on here are joined to somebody else’s, and that changes how a job is planned. Scaffold has to sit clear of the boundary, the party wall gets a proper flashing detail rather than a smear of mortar, and where new tile meets old along a shared ridge we tell you how it will look before you decide. A word with the neighbours before the lorry arrives saves a lot of bother.
Roof repairs across West Byfleet, Byfleet and Pyrford
Repairs are what most people ring about, usually after a stain appears on a ceiling or a tile turns up on the drive. We deal with slipped and broken tiles, leaking valleys, flashing that has pulled away from a chimney, split felt on a flat roof, and guttering that has blocked or come apart.
Storms tend to find the same weaknesses in the same order. A tile that was already loose goes first, then the felt underneath takes the weather, and by the time a mark shows on the ceiling the batten may have rotted too. Ring early and it stays a small job.
New roofs on 1930s West Byfleet houses
A roof of that age that has never been touched will be on original bitumen felt, or on nothing at all where the felt has torn away. At that stage a re-roof makes more sense than another repair.
We strip the covering, take out rotten batten and rafter, fit a modern breathable underlay, re-batten and lay the new covering with new lead to the chimney and any abutments. You can go back to clay to keep the look of the road, or to concrete tile where the budget matters more than an exact match. Either way you get a written fixed price first, free of charge, and the finished job carries a full guarantee.
Flat roofing for garages, porches and extensions
Garage roofs, porch roofs and the flat roof over a back extension are all common in this part of Surrey, and most of them are felt that has had a long life. When felt reaches the end it blisters, splits along a lap or lifts at the edge in a gale.
GB Roofing is a Restec trained and approved installer. Restec is a British manufacturer of fibreglass and liquid flat roofing systems, made in the UK, and it has been going for around forty years. Flexitec is glass reinforced and goes over most existing surfaces, so a sound garage roof does not always need stripping back. GRProof is fibreglass laid on a fresh deck. Installations we register with Restec qualify for their 20 year materials guarantee, which is Restec’s guarantee on the materials and available only through installers they have trained and approved.
- Fibreglass GRP roofs, laid in one continuous piece
- Torch on felt in three layers, and traditional pour and roll
- Built up systems for garages and larger flat areas
- New decking where the boards underneath have gone soft
Chimney repairs and leadwork
Plenty of houses here still have their original stacks and a good many are no longer used. An unused chimney still has to keep the weather out. We repoint, re-flaunch, replace cracked pots, fit caps and cowls, and renew the lead flashing and soakers where the brickwork meets the tiles. Where the brickwork above the roof line has broken down we rebuild it. If you would rather not keep the stack at all, we can take it down and make the roof good.
Where we work around West Byfleet
West Byfleet is KT14 and we cover all of it, together with the roads running into Byfleet, Pyrford and Sheerwater, and out towards Brooklands. Village addresses are no trouble, and neither are the narrower lanes around Pyrford, where the lorry has to be thought about in advance rather than on the day.
Woking, Addlestone and Weybridge are the nearest towns and we work in all three, as well as Chertsey, Esher, Cobham, Oxshott, Lightwater and Bagshot. GB Roofing covers Surrey, Middlesex and London. If you are not sure whether you fall inside our area, ring 01932 690 995 and ask.
Green stain running down the wall?
A dark or green streak below the guttering is nearly always a failed joint or a fascia that has dropped, not a fault in the brickwork. Water is running behind the gutter instead of through it. Left alone it soaks the wall and eventually reaches the rafter feet, which turns a cheap roofline job into a costly one.
Services
What we do in West Byfleet
New Roof
A full strip and re-cover, done once and done properly.
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Roof Repairs
Leaks traced, tiles replaced, storm damage put right.
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Flat Roofing
Fibreglass and felt flat roofs for extensions, garages and dormers.
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Restec Flat Roofing
Restec trained and approved, with the manufacturer’s materials guarantee.
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Tiled Roofing
Clay, concrete and natural slate, matched to what is already there.
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Fascias, Soffits & Guttering
The roofline that keeps water off your walls, replaced in uPVC.
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Chimney Repairs
Repointing, flaunching, flashing and unsafe stacks made good.
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Leadwork
Flashings, valleys and dormers dressed in lead that lasts.
Read moreHow we work
Four steps, and no surprises
The same run of events on every job, whether it is one tile or a whole roof.
Ring or email
Tell us what you have noticed. Grant can usually tell from a description whether it is a morning’s work or something bigger, and he will say so.
We come and look properly
We get up on the roof rather than guessing from the drive, and photograph anything you cannot see for yourself.
A written price
Set out clearly, so you can compare it fairly against another quote. Free, and no obligation to go ahead.
Booked in and cleared up
We hold the date as far as the weather allows, sheet up, and the rubbish leaves with us at the end of it.
Gallery
Recent work
Questions
West Byfleet roofing questions
Sometimes, but on West Byfleet houses of this age it is rarely worth it. Original timber that has gone soft in one place is usually going in others, and paint over soft wood lasts a season. Replacing the roofline in uPVC costs more once and nothing afterwards. We will tell you honestly which of the two you are looking at.
Yes, in most cases. Clay tiles from the 1930s are still made in similar patterns, and where they are not we use reclaimed tiles that have weathered to roughly the same colour. Matching matters more on a semi than anywhere else, because a bright new patch beside your neighbour’s roof is obvious from the road.
Yes. We work across the whole of KT14, which takes in West Byfleet, Byfleet, Pyrford, Sheerwater and out towards Brooklands. Woking, Addlestone and Weybridge are covered too, along with the rest of our area across Surrey, Middlesex and London. Ring us with your postcode if you want it confirmed.
On a typical West Byfleet semi it is a short job, usually finished inside a couple of days once access is sorted out. The old timber comes off, the rafter feet get checked, any rot is cut out and replaced, then the new fascias, soffits and guttering go on. Weather and scaffolding can add a day.
For most garage roofs, yes. Fibreglass is laid in one continuous piece, so there are no felt laps to lift in the wind, and it stands up to being walked on. Where the existing surface is still sound the Restec Flexitec system can go straight over it, which keeps both the cost and the mess down.
Nothing. Estimates are free and there is no obligation to go ahead. Grant comes out, gets up and looks properly rather than guessing from the ground, then tells you what he has found and what he would do about it. You get a written price for that work and nothing else added later.
Other areas we cover
Whether it is a dropped gutter, a few slipped tiles or a roof that has come to the end of its life, call GB Roofing on 01932 690 995 or email grant@gbroofingservices.co.uk. Free estimate, straight advice, and a full guarantee on every new project.