New roofs in Great Yarmouth

A roof in Great Yarmouth does not have the same life as the identical roof twenty miles inland, and pretending otherwise is how coastal roofs fail early. Wind straight off the North Sea and salt carried in the air work on fixings, mortar and the edges of a roof continuously. It is the reason nail sickness turns up here on roofs that would still be sound further west.

What we do differently on the coast

Fixing specification

Exposure determines how many tiles or slates need mechanical fixing rather than relying on their own weight and interlock. On the seafront rows that is a much higher proportion than a standard detail assumes, and we specify it from the exposure rather than from habit.

Edges and verges

Wind gets under a roof at the verge and the eaves. Once it lifts one tile it takes the row. Dry verge systems fixed mechanically hold where mortar bedding does not.

Materials that cope with salt

Fixings and flashings corrode faster here, so the choice of nail and clip matters more than it does inland.

The building stock

The rows behind the seafront and much of the older town are terraces in slate and clay pantile, tightly packed, with shared valleys and very limited access. The estates at Gorleston and out along the Bradwell side are largely concrete interlocking tile of post war construction, now needing re-covers where the felt has perished.

What is included

• Fixed written quote with the specification set out
• Timbers exposed, inspected and repaired before recovering
• Breathable membrane, treated battens, dry ridge and verge
• Fixings specified for coastal exposure, not a standard inland detail
• Scaffold, disposal and clear up in the price