Pitched and flat roofs in a town the railways built up.
Redhill grew once the railways arrived in the 1840s, and its recorded past includes breweries, timber yards and printing works. We look at each roof on its own merits and price in writing.
The line to Dover left what became Redhill Junction in 1842, and the Reading branch followed in 1849. We expect Victorian and later houses, then let the loft confirm what each one actually has.
Row of tiled houses from the street
In 1911 the Victoria County History listed breweries, tanneries, timber yards and printing works in Redhill. Flat roofs on any unit or garage carry water differently from a pitched slope, so we survey them separately.
Flat roof on a low building
Fengates House is listed Grade II*. Roofs like that sit under a different rule: the council is asked first about anything that would alter the covering, the chimneys or the way the roof is made.
Old tiled roof with a chimney
Map of Redhill and the neighbourhoods around it, with Crawley for reference.
The name describes a hill of sand, and Redhill Common, about 478 ft high, lay in the old Reigate parish.
Our Redhill notebook
Three short chapters on working out what a Redhill roof is made of, the flat roofs that go with works and garages, and which Surrey and borough bodies a larger job brings in.
Stage 01 · Background
Redhill was a hill of sand until the railways made it a town, so the loft often tells you more than the street.
The name Redhill is a plain description. In 1911 the Victoria County History called it a hill of sand, and Redhill Common, about 478 ft high, was then a large open space in Reigate parish. What turned it into a town was the railway. The South Eastern line to Dover was carried from what became Redhill Junction in 1842, and the branch from Redhill to Reading followed in 1849. By 1911 the same history said that industry had gravitated to Redhill, the new town in the east of the parish, with breweries, tanneries, timber yards, printing works and fuller's earth works.
Standing in the street, you often cannot. A town that grew from the 1840s onward has a long run of building dates, and roofs get recovered, extended and patched along the way. The survey does the work. From the loft hatch we read the underlay, the battens, the rafters and the gaps at the eaves, and from the ladder we read the tiles, the ridge and the flashings. Each of those gives away a decade or an earlier repair, and together they tell us whether you have a roof that needs a few hours or one that needs a decision.
On a Redhill loft inspection
Underlay is the sheet laid over the rafters, under the battens. Older roofs may have bitumen felt that does not let vapour through, and Marley's ventilation guidance says a cold roof with that kind of non-breathable underlay needs a 25mm ventilation gap along the eaves for pitches of 15 degrees or less, and 10mm for steeper roofs. Insulation packed hard into the eaves can seal that gap, and damp rising from the house then collects on the timbers. Opening it up again is a small job that keeps the battens healthy. On the pitched roofing page you can see how we put right slipped tiles, decayed battens and split underlay.
Where two houses share a ridge, one side may have been partly replaced and the other left alone, so we compare both rather than assuming a match. The photographs we take on the roof show you the difference.
Chimneys get the same scrutiny. A stack is brick with a flaunching cap on top, the mortar that holds the pots, and lead flashings at its base, and the lead is often the first part to fail. We look for staining on the chimney breast inside as well, because it can reveal a failed flashing long before a ceiling shows a mark.
Stage 02 · Flat roofs
A town with a recorded history of breweries, yards and printing works has flat roofs to match, and they behave differently from a tiled slope.
Pitched roofs shed water by gravity and overlap. A flat roof has to be a continuous, sealed surface with a slope too slight to see, and it fails differently: a blistered seam, a puddle that never drains, an upstand that has pulled away from the wall. Whether it covers a garage, a rear extension, a shop unit or a small works building, the survey asks the same things.
Published figures give EPDM a service life of 20 to 30 years, GRP 25 to 40 years and felt 10 to 20 years. Those are typical ranges rather than guarantees, and the roof's condition on the day matters more than a table. A well-laid membrane on a sound deck can outlast a poorly detailed one by a wide margin. The choice also depends on access, the shape of the roof, how many penetrations it has and whether it must be walked on. The survey decides it, and the written price reflects what it found. Our flat roofing page covers each system in turn.
Flat roof words explained
A flat roof is only flat to the eye; it has to slope enough to drain.
The 2025 edition of BS 6229 retains 1:80 as the lowest finished fall on general areas and internal gutters. IKO, quoting the 2018 edition, advises designing for 1:40, so that the roof as built still reaches that floor. In practice, that means a roof with ponding water is a sign that something about the fall, the deck or the drainage has moved or was never right. A new membrane over a ponding deck will pond too, so we fix the cause first.
Access, timing and who is on site. A unit with people working beneath needs the work planned around them, and a landlord may want the roof inspected before a lease ends. We photograph the roof and write down what we find before we quote, so the person who pays has the same facts as the person who occupies. Our commercial roofing page sets out how we approach larger buildings.
Drainage is the other half of the story. Outlets, gutters and downpipes need clearing and checking for leaks at the joints, and a blocked outlet will fill a flat roof like a tray. Before anyone lays new membrane, we check that water has somewhere to go.
Stage 03 · Permissions
Redhill has the Redstone Hill and Linkfield Street conservation areas, and building control, a listed house and a Surrey licence can all matter too.
Redhill has two conservation areas to know about. Reigate and Banstead Borough Council designated Redstone Hill and Linkfield Street, and a house inside either needs more thought before its roof changes look. A postcode check with the council settles which side of a boundary your house sits.
Fengates House carries a Grade II* listing, and the national list also records 10 Hooley Lane and 10 Whitepost Hill at Grade II. Where roof work could change a listed house's special character, listed building consent comes first, so ask Reigate and Banstead Borough Council before anything is ordered. Our post on whether roof work needs planning permission sets out what counts as a repair and what counts as a change.
The Southern Building Control Partnership is the building control team for Reigate and Banstead, Mole Valley and Tandridge. Under the Planning Portal's two-part test, approval is normally not needed below 25 per cent of the building envelope and 50 per cent of the roof, but a new covering that is 15 per cent or more heavier, or that performs differently in a fire, changes that. Under Part L, re-covering a flat roof with fresh membrane is classed as renovation, so on those jobs we raise it with the partnership early.
Paperwork on a Redhill job
Surrey County Council wants applications in at least 10 working days before your hoped-for start, and its page says it processes them within 10 days. The charge is £208 per 28 day period, and renewing costs the same. The application fee cannot be refunded. Where a structure is unsafe or the risk is serious, Surrey asks for a phone call instead. The council does not state who applies, so ask whoever quotes. Scaffold kept off the road and pavement, on land that is yours, falls outside the licence.
None of this means a long wait for a simple repair. A slipped tile, a blocked gutter or a leaking flashing can be quoted from a survey without any council involvement. The forms matter on big jobs, and the survey tells us which side of the line yours falls on, which we then explain to you.
First step: a snapshot of the roof from the road or the back garden, with a note on whether it is pitched, flat or both.
Not because of the town's age. Redhill grew from the 1840s, so houses were built across many decades and many have been repaired since. Only the loft and the slope show whether the covering, battens and underlay are still sound. If they are, a repair makes more sense, and the survey photographs show you which case applies.
Published figures give EPDM 20 to 30 years, GRP 25 to 40 years and felt 10 to 20 years, as typical ranges. The better choice depends on access, shape and how many pipes or rooflights break through. We check the deck and the fall at the survey, then give one written price for the system that suits the roof.
Not if the work would affect the building's character: that needs listed building consent as well as any planning permission. Fengates House is Grade II*, and 10 Hooley Lane and 10 Whitepost Hill are listed Grade II. Ask Reigate and Banstead Borough Council before you order anything, and send them the survey photographs with a short description of the repair.
For scaffold on the public road or its pavement, Surrey County Council wants the application 10 working days or more before you hope to begin, and charges £208 per 28 day period. If the structure is unsafe, it asks you to phone. Scaffold kept off the highway needs no such licence. Ask whoever quotes who applies.
Tell us whether the roof is pitched or flat, attach a photo from wherever you can see it, and we will arrange the survey.
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