How We Work in Brighton

The First Call or Callback

It starts with a conversation. Call us on 01273 973 996 or book a callback and tell us the job in a sentence — a leak over a bedroom, slipped slates after a Channel gale, gutters overflowing down the wall. We ask a few questions to understand urgency and arrange a free survey at a time that suits you. If it's an active leak, we prioritise it and can often attend the same day to make safe.

There's no call-out fee and no obligation at any point. We'd rather tell you honestly whether you have a problem than sell you one.

The Free Survey — What We Look At

A proper survey means getting to the roof, not squinting from the pavement. We inspect at height where safe, or with a drone or pole camera where access is restricted, and we look at the whole system — because on Brighton's stock the leak is rarely where the stain is.

What we check on Brighton roofs

• Regency and Victorian slate roofs — slipped or delaminated slates, nail sickness, and the concealed lead parapet gutters that are the commonest hidden ingress point in Brunswick, Kemp Town and the seafront squares.
• Concrete-tile estate roofs — nail sickness and mortar failure on the post-war stock of Moulsecoomb, Whitehawk, Hollingbury, Saltdean and Peacehaven, where coastal wind uplift finds every weak fixing.
• Flat roofs — failed laps, ponding and tired felt on extensions and garages, assessed for repair versus warm-roof replacement.
• Lead, valleys and flashings — the junctions where most leaks actually begin, checked for coastal corrosion and failed dressing.
• Gutters, fascias and ventilation — the roofline and roof-void condition that coastal humidity makes critical here.

We photograph what we find and explain it in plain terms, so you understand the problem before any money is discussed. If the honest answer is that the roof is fine, we'll tell you that too.

The Written, Itemised Quote

After the survey you get a written quote — not a number scrawled on a pad. It breaks the job into access and scaffold, materials, labour and waste, so you can see exactly what you're paying for and compare like-for-like with any other quote. An itemised quote is the single clearest sign of an honest roofer; a vague block figure is where overcharging hides.

The quote states the specification, the guarantee, and the payment terms up front: no deposit on repairs under £500, staged payments on re-roofs, and never any payment before materials are on site. If the survey revealed options — repair versus replace, like-for-like versus upgrade — the quote sets them out with honest cost and lifespan for each, and links you to our repair-or-replace guide so you can decide with the full picture.

Scheduling, Access & Permits

Once you accept, we agree a start date and handle the logistics. Where the job needs scaffold — chimney work, full valley rebuilds, re-roofs, or anything beyond a day at height — we arrange it and, where it stands on the public highway, obtain the pavement scaffold licence from Brighton & Hove City Council. On the narrow terraced streets of Hanover and Fiveways, and in the conservation-area squares, we plan access and permits with the extra lead time those locations need.

Scaffold and access are itemised in your quote, never sprung on you as a hidden extra. We tell you what will appear outside your home, for how long, and what we need from you — usually just agreed access and occasional power.

The Work — and the Weather

On the day, we protect the areas below and around the work, and carry out the roofing to the agreed specification. We work clean, keep disruption down, and you don't need to be home for external work — just power and access agreed in advance.

Brighton's coastal weather is part of the plan, not an excuse. We build weather margin into every booking, and if rain or high wind stops work mid-job, temporary weatherproofing goes on the same day so your roof is never left open. A worked example: a rear valley rebuild on a Fiveways Victorian terrace typically runs two to three days; we'd sheet the opening each evening and at any weather pause, so the interior stays dry throughout.

Cleanup, Sign-Off & Aftercare

When the work is done, we clear everything — old materials, offcuts, and a magnet-sweep for nails — and leave your property as we found it, bar the new roof. We walk you through what we've done, answer any questions, and hand over your written 10-year workmanship guarantee, which is transferable if you sell.

Aftercare doesn't end at sign-off. If anything about the covered work needs attention, you call us and we come back and put it right — no quibbling, no re-charge. That's what the guarantee means, and it's why so much of our work in Brighton comes from repeat customers and their recommendations.