Roofs from semis of about 1900 to 1980s estates beside Horsham.
Broadbridge Heath grew round a common, then spread along the Horsham road and onto post-war estates. Roofs of several ages sit close together, so we read each one separately.
The Victoria County History records semidetached houses going up along the Horsham to Billingshurst road between about 1896 and 1909. A pair shares a ridge and a party wall, so a repair on one side can reach the other.
Pair of semi-detached tiled roofs
After the Second World War, a council estate and a private estate were laid out on the south side of the village. We do not assume the two match, and we read each roof for its own covering and fixings.
Estate houses with tiled roofs
The history notes another large development in progress in 1982, a year before the southern bypass opened. Roofs of that age may still have ridges bedded in mortar alone, so we check how they are held.
Tiled ridge on a 1980s house
Map of Broadbridge Heath and the neighbourhoods around it, with Crawley for reference.
Broadbridge Heath is a village in the Low Weald on the western edge of Horsham, south-west of Crawley.
The Broadbridge Heath roof story
Three short chapters on how the village grew, how shared semi roofs are handled, and the Horsham and West Sussex steps once a repair grows into a full strip.
Stage 01 · Growth
Broadbridge Heath grew in distinct spells between about 1800 and the 1980s, so the roofs on one road can differ in age and make-up.
The village began with houses round a common. The Victoria County History says Broadbridge Heath had grown from houses around the common before about 1800, and that the heath itself was inclosed in 1858. Building along the Horsham to Billingshurst road then quickened between about 1896 and 1909. After the Second World War a council estate and a private estate were laid out on the south side, and by 1982 another large development was under way. The southern bypass followed in 1983.
Street names and house shapes only hint at it. A house from 1900 may have been re-covered once or twice, and a 1950s roof may have had patches from several hands. So we judge age from what is physically there: the tile profile and its wear, the nails, the underlay, the way the ridge is held. A survey takes in each of these and gives you photos of the ones that matter, each with a plain note.
On a Broadbridge Heath survey
They give a rough frame, never a promise. The Building Research Establishment puts a clay tile at a minimum of 60 years of life. Marley quotes about 60 years for concrete tile and states that it offers no guarantee. A felt underlay or a mortar ridge can give out well before the tiles above them, which is why age alone seldom settles the question. On a roof from the 1980s the ridge and verge are the first places we look, because the 2014 revision of BS 5534 changed what is expected of bedded fittings. Our pitched roofing page explains how tile, batten and underlay work is carried out.
It does, and it is a check we make on every pitched roof. Marley's guidance on cold roofs under non-breathable felt calls for an eaves gap of 25mm along the eaves for pitches of 15 degrees or less, and 10mm for steeper ones. Where loft insulation is packed tight into the eaves, the gap shuts, and the damp that follows can mark the battens and the underside of the tiles. Freeing the gap is a small job that protects the timber for a long time.
If a few slipped tiles and a rebedded ridge are all the roof needs, that is the job we will describe and price. If the battens have rotted or the covering has worn through across a slope, we show you where, and the choice between a repair and a larger job is yours to make.
Stage 02 · Shared roofs
A pair of semis shares a wall, a ridge and sometimes a valley, so a repair on your side can run into your neighbour's.
Semis along the Horsham road from around 1900 were built in pairs, and a pair works as one roof structure with two owners. The ridge runs across both houses. The party wall rises between them, and the join between wall and tiles is sealed with flashing, a strip of lead or other metal worked into the brickwork. Lead flashing in good condition can outlast many tiles, but a poor joint lets water in long before then.
Water does not respect a boundary. A failed flashing on your neighbour's side can show up as a stain in your bedroom, and the reverse is true. We look at both sides of the line from your side and explain what we can see. Where the fix needs access to the other roof, a short conversation first saves trouble, and we can describe the work in plain words for you to pass on. Our answer on the Party Wall Act and roof work explains when the Act comes into play.
Where two roofs meet
On a semi, the best repair is often agreed over the garden fence first.
Flashings at the party wall, chimneys and abutments are lead work, and our lead work service covers them. Cost guides quote lead flashing repair per metre, and a stepped flashing costs more than a straight one because each step is cut and dressed by hand. Your own price comes after the survey, once we have measured the run and seen the state of the pointing the lead sits in.
Older semis often have chimney stacks on the shared wall, and a stack serves both houses. The work on it, whether repointing, a new flaunching or a new flashing, is worth coordinating so the scaffold goes up once. We can price the job for one house or, if both owners agree, for the pair, with a separate written total for each.
They do. Where two roofs meet in a valley, or where a gutter runs across both frontages, a blockage on one side sends water back across the join. We check the valley liner and the gutter fall as part of the survey, and show you the lengths that hold water. Roofline repairs, from fascia boards to gutter runs, are part of what we price after the survey.
Stage 03 · Permissions
Horsham District Council handles planning and building control for Broadbridge Heath, and West Sussex County Council licenses scaffold on roads and pavements.
Broadbridge Heath sits outside the South Downs National Park, so planning rests with Horsham District Council. The same council runs building control under the Sussex Building Control name. Its list of conservation areas comes with maps and character statements, so you can check whether your street falls inside one before a repair goes beyond matching materials. Whether an Article 4 direction touches your address is a separate question, and Horsham's planning team can answer it.
Start from the Planning Portal's national yardstick. Work that affects under 25 per cent of the building envelope, and under 50 per cent of the roof, normally falls outside building control. Approval comes into play if the new covering is 15 per cent heavier or more than the old, or if it would behave quite differently in a fire. On a pair of semis the whole roof may be renewed in one go, which can pass those limits, so we raise it with Horsham before a date is fixed. Our roof replacement page describes a full re-roof from first strip to final clear-up.
Who to ask in Broadbridge Heath
On a road of semis with small front gardens, it may. A scaffold frame on a public highway needs a West Sussex County Council licence; the council wants 10 working days or more between applying and putting the frame up, and charges £266 for a month. At booking, ask who applies; we handle the licence jointly with the scaffolder and pick the start date to suit. A frame standing wholly on your own ground falls outside the licence rules, and the survey tells us which case yours is. Either way, the neighbours hear from us before the frame arrives, and the pavement is kept clear of skips and stacked tiles.
Roofs can hold bats, which the law protects along with their roosts, and official guidance counts roof repair as work that can harm them. If the survey turns up signs, the job stops there and then, and the way forward is settled with you before any tile is lifted. Start by sending a photo of the problem area with your Broadbridge Heath postcode, and we will propose a survey time. Photographs of the ridge, the valleys and the gutters from the garden are the most useful, because they show us where to start looking before we put a ladder up.
They can, though we never assume. A semi from around 1900 may have been re-covered or patched over the decades, while a 1980s house may have a mortar-only ridge. Each survey records the covering, the fixings and the shared line with your neighbour, and the photographs show you which repairs matter on your roof, and which can wait for another year.
We repair your side and check the flashing, ridge and pointing where the two roofs meet. If the fix needs access to the neighbouring roof, a conversation with them first is sensible, and we can describe the work in plain words. Our answer on the Party Wall Act explains when the Act applies, so you know what to say to the people next door.
First check your road against Horsham District Council's conservation area maps, and remember that on a pair of semis a mismatched slope shows from the road. A change to the roof's appearance is still worth raising with Horsham's planning team, and so is the question of an Article 4 direction. Share your plans when you first write, so our total is based on the materials you actually want.
When the frame stands on the highway, West Sussex County Council asks for a minimum of 10 working days from application to erection, and its fee for one month is £266. A frame inside your boundary is not covered by that licence. We plan the start date around whichever applies and tell your neighbours before the frame arrives.
Tell us which slope, ridge or shared line is giving trouble, add your postcode, and we will propose a time for the survey.
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