Roofers Altrincham
Re-roofing for period homes and new roofs for extensions and dormers across Altrincham, Hale, Bowdon and Timperley.
Altrincham, Hale, Bowdon and Timperley
Re-Roofing and Roof Construction for Altrincham Homes
A Victorian roof in Bowdon or an Edwardian one in Hale was built by people who expected it to be looked at. The slate courses diminish towards the ridge, the ridge tiles are decorated, the leadwork at the chimneys is dressed, not smeared. When that roof reaches the end of its life, the replacement has to be built to the same standard or the house loses something. TRS Roofing & Guttering re-roofs period properties across Altrincham, and builds new roofs on the extensions, dormers and garden rooms the town adds to them every year. We are a family firm from Pemberton, Wigan, and we have been doing this for over 20 years.
OUR WORK
Before and After: Roofing Work by TRS
OUR LEAD SERVICE
Re-Roofing Period Properties in Altrincham
Most of the houses between Altrincham town centre and Bowdon, and across Hale towards Hale Barns, were built between 1870 and 1914. Their roofs are Welsh slate on softwood battens, often with no underlay at all, and they have lasted a century because slate is a very good material. The slate is usually not the problem. The nails holding it are. Iron nails rust through, slates slip one at a time, and once a roof is losing a slate every winter the fixings are finished across the whole roof and patching becomes a losing game.
A re-roof on one of these houses means stripping the slates and sorting them. Good slates are kept, cleaned and relaid; a well cut Welsh slate is worth keeping and nothing new matches it better than itself. Shortfall is made up with reclaimed slate of the same size and colour, or new Welsh slate where the owner prefers it.
Battens and underlay are new. Timbers are checked and any rot at the eaves or around the chimneys is cut out. The ridge goes back on in the original profile, fixed with a dry ridge system that holds it without mortar, and leadwork at the chimneys, valleys and abutments is renewed in Code 4 or Code 5 lead, dressed properly and stepped into the brickwork.
Not every period roof in Altrincham is slate. The 1920s and 1930s semis in Timperley and along the Hale Road have clay tiles, many of them Rosemary plain tiles, and the larger interwar houses in Hale Barns have hipped roofs with bonnet hips and clay ridges. We match those too. What we will not do is strip a slate roof and put cheap concrete tiles on it because it is quicker. The weight is wrong for the timbers, the look is wrong for the street, and in a conservation area it may not be allowed.
FREE, NO OBLIGATION QUOTATION
Get a Quote for Your Altrincham Roof
Tell us about the house and the work you have in mind, whether that is a re-roof, an extension roof or a repair. Prefer to talk? Call 0800 956 7199 or email info@trsplastics.co.uk.
EXTENSIONS, DORMERS AND GARDEN ROOMS
Roof Construction for Extensions, Dormers and Garden Rooms
Altrincham adds more extensions per street than almost anywhere else we work. Rear kitchen extensions on the Victorian terraces off Stamford New Road, side returns on the Edwardian semis, loft conversions with dormers in Timperley and Broadheath, garden rooms and home offices behind the houses in Hale. Every one needs a roof, and the roof is the part the builder most often subcontracts.
We build new roofs on extensions from the wall plate up: the timber structure, the covering and the junction with the existing house. On a single storey extension that usually means a warm flat roof in GRP fibreglass or EPDM rubber, insulated above the deck so the ceiling can be plastered flat and the room stays warm, with a parapet or fascia detail that suits the house. Where the owner wants a pitched roof to match the main house, we frame it, slate or tile it to match, and form the valley or abutment against the original roof so the two drain together instead of fighting each other.
Dormers are their own trade. A flat roofed dormer on a Victorian terrace needs a GRP or lead roof, lead cheeks or tile hanging on the sides, and a careful junction with the slate roof around it so the loft stays dry. We build them with the roofing carpenter and the roofer on the same team, which is where most dormer leaks are avoided. If you are planning a loft conversion or an extension and the builder has not named a roofer yet, we are happy to price that part of the job on its own.
THE FINISH
The Finish: How We Work on Altrincham Homes
People in Altrincham look at roofs. Here is what they will see on one of ours.
Slates are sorted by thickness before they go on, with the heaviest at the eaves and the lightest at the ridge, the way the original roofer laid them. It is slower and it is the reason the courses look right from the road.
Lead is dressed with the proper tools, not a hammer, and fixed with lead wedges and sealant into chased joints. Flashings are stepped up the chimney course by course, not cut in a straight line.
Ridge and hip tiles go back in the original profile. On a decorated Victorian ridge we reuse the existing tiles where they are sound and source matching reclaimed ones where they are not.
Gutters are hung to a fall and checked with water before we leave. On period houses we fit cast iron effect or deep flow guttering where the original profile calls for it, not standard half round because it was on the van.
Boards over the drive, sheeting over the beds, a skip that arrives when we do and leaves when we do, and a last walk round with a magnet for nails.
Finished roofs, roofline and extension work are in our gallery. To talk through your own roof, call 0800 956 7199.
SLIPPED SLATES, LEADWORK AND VALLEYS
Roof Repairs in Altrincham
Slipped slates, a lead flashing that has split at the chimney, a cracked valley, a ridge tile loosened by the wind: on a period roof these are the jobs that turn into ceiling damage if they wait. We repair them with matching materials. Slates are replaced with reclaimed Welsh slate of the same size and fixed with copper nails or slate hooks, not glued or stuck with a strip of lead that looks wrong and lets go in a year. Lead is replaced with lead.
If the repair we are asked for would only last a season because the roof around it is failing, we say so and explain what a re-roof would involve, without any pressure to choose it.
WHY TRS
Why Altrincham Homeowners Choose TRS
TRS Roofing & Guttering is a family run business with more than 20 years in roofing and UPVC roofline work, based in Pemberton, Wigan and working across Trafford and south Manchester. The team is trained across pitched roofing, flat roofing and the full roofline range, which matters on a period house because the roof, the ridge, the leadwork, the fascias and the gutters all have to be right together.
Quotes are written and itemised after a proper survey. On a period property that survey includes the loft, because the condition of the timbers decides half the price and we would rather you knew that before we start than after. Customer reviews are on our testimonials page and in the Google widget below, and finished work is in the gallery.
To arrange a survey for a re-roof, an extension roof or a repair in Altrincham, call 0800 956 7199, email info@trsplastics.co.uk or send the enquiry form.
What our customers say
WHAT WE DO
Our Roofing Services Include…
Every service we offer is listed on our services page, and you can see finished work in our gallery.
QUESTIONS WE GET ASKED
Roofers Altrincham FAQs
Can you match the original slates on my Victorian or Edwardian house?
Yes. We reuse your own sound slates first, then make up the shortfall with reclaimed Welsh slate of the same size, thickness and colour. New Welsh slate is also available if you prefer a uniform finish. We do not replace slate with concrete tiles on period roofs.
My house is in a conservation area. Do I need permission to re-roof it?
A like-for-like re-roof using the same material normally does not need planning permission. Changing the material, for example from slate to tile, can need permission in a conservation area, and parts of Bowdon, Hale and the town centre are conservation areas. Trafford Council’s planning team can confirm for your address, and we will tell you if we think a change of covering would need checking before we quote it.
How does a new roof on an extension or dormer work with the existing roof?
We build from the wall plate up and form the junction with the main roof ourselves, so one team is responsible for the whole thing being watertight. A flat roofed extension gets a warm GRP or EPDM roof with a proper upstand and flashing into the house wall. A pitched extension is slated or tiled to match and valleyed into the original roof. Dormers get lead or GRP roofs with lead cheeks or tile hanging on the sides.
How do quotes work?
One of us visits, inspects the roof and the loft, and you receive a written quote by email with each part of the job priced separately. It is free, there is no obligation and the price only changes if we find something under the roof that could not be seen at the survey, which we would show you before doing anything about it.