The first serious gale of winter rarely arrives unannounced. By the time a storm is named, you usually have several days of forecasts and a yellow warning to think about. What you do in those days matters far more than anything you can manage at midnight with a torch and a bucket. Roofs tend to fail in a predictable order: a ridge tile lifts, a gutter that has been quietly silting up since spring overflows, a bargeboard that has been softening behind the paint finally lets go. Most of it is visible from the ground. Give a roof an unhurried hour in October and it will often give you a quiet winter in return.
Ridge tiles and the mortar line
Start at the very top. Ridge tiles along the apex, and the hip tiles running down the corners, are usually bedded in mortar rather than fixed mechanically. That mortar is a wearing surface. It shrinks, cracks, and eventually lets a tile rock. A ridge tile is heavy; when one comes off in a gust it can take out a car windscreen or a conservatory roof on the way down.
From the pavement, with binoculars, look along the ridge for gaps, tiles sitting at an odd angle, or a run of missing mortar. Then look at the ground beneath the eaves and on the drive. Small grey crumbs of mortar, or a tile lying in a flowerbed, mean something has already moved. You cannot fix this from a ladder leaning against the gutter — and you shouldn't try. Note it and book someone.
Slates, tiles and flashings
Scan the slopes for slipped slates, tiles sitting proud of their neighbours, or a clean rectangular gap where one used to be. Pay particular attention around the chimney, where lead flashing does the sealing work. Look for lead that has been lifted by frost, cracked at a fold, or pulled away from the brickwork, and for pointing that has crumbled out of the chase. The same goes for the valleys where two roof slopes meet, and around any dormer or roof window.
Bargeboards, fascias and the eaves
The timber or uPVC trim at the edge of the roof is not just decoration. The fascia carries the gutter, and the bargeboard on a gable end closes the roof against driven rain coming in sideways. Both take the wind head-on, which is why they are so often the first casualty.
Rot announces itself as flaking paint, dark soft patches, or a gutter that has begun to sag and pull away from the wall. Where you can safely reach a board from a ladder — with someone footing it and the ladder on firm level ground — press it gently with your thumb. Timber should feel solid and cold. Spongy, crumbly or springy means water has been getting in for longer than you think. Soffit boards underneath, which ventilate the loft, are worth checking at the same time; a missing soffit vent panel is an invitation to condensation.
Gutters, downpipes and where the water actually goes
Blocked gutters cause more autumn damp than almost anything else on this list. When they back up, water sits against the fascia, works behind the felt, and eventually finds a way into the wall or the loft. Clear them once the leaves have mostly fallen — late November in most parts of the UK is better timing than September, when there is still a tree's worth of debris to come.
While you are up there, check the brackets, the fall of the run, and the joints, which should be sealed but not smeared. Then follow the water down. A downpipe that discharges onto a path is simply moving the problem two metres sideways; a gully full of grit will flood the base of the wall. If you have a water butt, check the diverter is not blocked and that the overflow points somewhere sensible.
Branches, moss and the slow damage
Trees deserve their own pass. A branch that brushes the roof in a light breeze will abrade tiles and strip grit from the surface for years, and it drops leaves straight into the gutter. In a gale, a limb within falling distance of the roof is a genuine risk. Anything close to overhead cables is a job for a qualified tree surgeon, not a Saturday with a bow saw.
Moss is less dramatic but persistent. It holds water against the covering, and when it freezes and expands it prises tiles and slates apart. Scrape it off gently or treat it, but avoid pressure washers on concrete tiles and on any older covering — blasting the surface shortens its life considerably.
Inside the loft, with a torch
Before the cold sets in, go up into the loft properly: torch, gloves, and a board to stand on. Insulation should sit between and over the ceiling joists, but it must not be crammed into the eaves, where it blocks the airflow that keeps the roof space dry. Nor should it be pushed up hard against the underside of the roof covering.
Look for daylight through the roof. A pinhole usually means a slipped tile or a failed flashing; a wider gap needs attention sooner. Look for dark staining around the chimney breast, under valleys and near the water tank. Check that any pipes and tanks up there are lagged — a burst pipe in a freezing loft is an expensive way to start January. If you find damp and cannot trace it, get a professional opinion rather than guessing at sealant.
The pre-storm checklist
- Binoculars from the pavement: ridge, hips, chimney, flashings, valleys.
- The ground below: fallen slates, mortar crumbs, bits of tile or lead.
- Gutters and downpipes: clear, flush through, brackets and fixings sound.
- Fascia, soffit and bargeboard: prod, sand, prime and repaint before winter.
- Trees: book a surgeon if anything is within falling distance.
- Loft: torch, daylight, damp patches, clear eaves, lagged pipes.
- The rest of the garden: shed roofs, greenhouse panes, fence panels.
- Loose objects: bins, planters, trampolines, hanging baskets, aerials.
The last two matter more than they sound. Half the damage reported after a storm is caused not by the storm itself but by something the storm picked up and threw. If a gale is forecast within the next day, bring in what you can and lash down what you cannot.
When to bring someone in
Anything above gutter height is best left to a roofer with a proper access set-up, and the same goes for any work you would be doing one-handed while holding on. Photograph what you can see from the ground, make a note of where it is, and get two quotes if the job is not urgent. Ask for a written description of the work and check that the firm carries insurance.
Roofing is not a task to improvise. A roof is a system — covering, fixings, ventilation and drainage all doing different jobs — and most of the failures we notice in February began as something small in September. An afternoon in autumn, spent looking rather than fixing, is usually the cheapest maintenance you will do all year.
Photo: rmsep4 / Pixabay
