Swansea is not one roofing town. Within a few miles you have the Victorian terraces of Uplands and Brynmill, the postwar centre rebuilt after the bombing of February 1941, the steep hillside housing of Townhill and Mayhill, and the coastal property running round the bay towards Mumbles and the Gower.
Those are four different roofing propositions, and a storm does different things to each. T & T Roofing South Wales repairs storm damage across Swansea, and rather than give you one general account, this page sets out what tends to happen where.
Below is what we are most often called to in Swansea, roughly in the order it comes up. If what has happened to your roof is not on the list, call anyway — it is not an exhaustive list, it is the common ground.
Housing built high on a steep slope is exposed in a way that ground-level housing is not. It stands above the shelter that surrounding buildings would otherwise give, and it catches wind that has accelerated up the slope face.
The consequence on a roof is loading concentrated at the ridge and the upper courses, on the elevation facing the exposed side, and along the verges. Storm damage in those streets is disproportionately ridge damage, and displaced material on a steep slope can travel a long way before it stops.
On a steep street, a displaced ridge or slate is a hazard to more than your own property. If something has moved and there is a pavement, a parking area or another house below it, keep people clear and tell us that when you call so we can treat it accordingly.
These are slate roofs, generally steep, frequently three storeys, and very often with rear back-additions creating a valley gutter between the main roof and the rear wing. That valley is the single most common source of a storm leak in this kind of house.
A valley carries a large share of the roof's water through a narrow channel. Fill it with storm debris and water backs up above the level of the slate either side and runs underneath. The result is a leak at the back of the house with a roof that looks untouched from the street.
Much of this stock is rented, and roofs in rented property tend to be attended to when something goes wrong rather than before. We work for landlords and agents as well as owner-occupiers and can provide a written report and quotation suitable for passing on.
Swansea's town centre was largely destroyed over three nights in February 1941 and rebuilt in the decades that followed. That rebuilding brought the roofing of its era: shallower pitches, concrete tile, flat and mono-pitch roofs, and large areas of commercial flat roofing.
Shallow pitches shed water more slowly and are less forgiving of a lifted tile or a blocked gutter, and driven rain can be pushed up a shallow slope against the fall. Flat commercial roofing fails at its perimeter details under wind and at its outlets under volume.
Property around Swansea Bay and out towards Mumbles takes marine exposure: driven rain off the water and salt-laden air that corrodes the nails, clips and flashing fixings holding a roof together.
Coastal roofs therefore tend to fail at the fixings rather than the covering. Tiles and slates come off intact because the metal holding them gave way, and a repair that replaces only what was lost leaves the neighbouring material on the same corroded nails.
Wherever you are in Swansea, wind takes roofing material from edges: the eaves, the verge, the ridge and around interruptions such as chimneys, dormers and rooflights. Once one unit has gone, the wind has a purchase on its neighbours.
Where the surrounding roof and fixings are sound, a targeted repair is right and we will do exactly that. Where the fixings are failing across the slope, we will tell you, because patching in that situation is money spent twice.
The ridge takes the highest loading on any roof and has nothing above it for protection. Mortar-bedded ridges lose their bond over decades, so a ridge tile is often sitting rather than fixed long before a storm reveals it.
Chimney stacks stand clear of the roof in the fastest air. Storms find loose pots, cracked flaunching, open mortar joints and lifted flashing at the base. Disused stacks, of which Swansea's terraces have a great many, stay damp without a working flue and weather faster than they appear to.
Between the commercial centre, the rear extensions on the terraces and the garages and dormers across the suburbs, Swansea has a large amount of flat roofing. Wind damages it at the edges; volume damages it at the outlets.
We assess felt, EPDM and other systems along with the drainage, and give a straight answer on repair against replacement rather than patching a covering that has plainly finished.
The immediate priority is removing the risk of falling material and limiting water damage inside. What can be done on the day depends on the weather and on access — and in Swansea access varies enormously, from a terraced rear roof reached through the house to a hillside property where getting equipment to the building is the first problem to solve.
We inspect the damage, identify the work required and provide a written quotation. Where the cause is a blocked valley or a drainage capacity problem rather than something the wind removed, we describe it accurately, because a claim built on a loose account of the cause rarely survives being examined.
Whether the work is covered is a matter for your insurer and your policy wording.
In the Victorian terraces that usually means the valley gutter between the main roof and the rear back-addition. A blockage there makes water back up and run under the slate, with nothing visible from the street.
Height and exposure. Housing high on a steep slope stands above the shelter surrounding buildings would give and catches wind accelerated up the slope, so damage concentrates at the ridge and upper courses.
Salt-laden air reaches well inland, and it works on the metal rather than the tiles. Coastal roofs often fail at the fixings while the covering is still perfectly sound.
Shallow pitches shed water more slowly and driven rain can be pushed up them against the fall, so they are less tolerant of a lifted tile, a worn lap or a blocked gutter than a steep roof.
Keep people clear of the area and call us. On a steep street displaced material travels further than you would expect and it is a risk to more than your own property.
Yes. We can provide a written assessment and quotation suitable for passing to a property owner, agent or block manager.
We cover Swansea and the surrounding area. Tell us where you are and we will confirm.
Five guides written specifically for Swansea. We are publishing these in batches rather than all at once, so some are still being written — those are marked, rather than linked to a page that is not there.
We cover fifteen areas from our base in Neath. If yours is not listed, call and ask — the list is where we work most, not a boundary.
Tell us what the weather has done and what you can see from the ground. We will assess the roof, explain what needs repairing and give you a free, no-obligation quotation.
Tell us what the weather has done and what you can see from the ground. We will come back to you — usually the same day.
If water is coming in now, please call rather than email — 07766 547309.
