West Bay & East Cliff
Bridport's harbour 1.5 miles south of town, overlooked by the golden sandstone East Cliff on the Jurassic Coast.
Learn more about West Bay & East Cliff on Google MapsRoof Repairs In Bridport
Water coming through somewhere above the landing?
Slate, tile and lead repairs for Bridport's listed streets, outlying villages and harbourside homes
Most roof repairs in Bridport start with a slate. The 19th-century houses on East Street and West Street are largely roofed in it, often hipped, and after a century or more the iron nails holding each slate rust away. One slips, then the one above it, and rain finds a path into the loft. Around Bradpole you'll also see plain clay tile, which cracks and loses its nibs, and on the estates around Skilling the usual culprit is a concrete ridge whose mortar has crumbled. West Bay gets the worst of the wind. We look at the whole roof, tell you what has failed and why, and quote a fixed price for the repair.
Roof Repairs Quote In Bridport
Tell us a little about the roof and we will call you back.
Why a proper repair matters on a Bridport roof
A repair here has to cope with old fixings, coastal weather and, quite often, a conservation officer. These are the things we focus on.
01
Slates refixed, not glued
A slipped slate held back with a dab of sealant will slide again within a winter or two. We refix with a copper or stainless tingle or nail it properly, which is how slate is meant to be held.
02
Matched slate and tile
We source reclaimed slate and clay tiles in matching sizes so a repair on a Bradpole cottage or a town-centre terrace doesn't stand out as a patch of brighter, newer material from the street.
03
Hips and valleys sorted
These are the weak points on hipped Victorian roofs. We replace corroded lead soakers, re-bed or dry-fix the hip line and clear valley gutters choked with moss and debris so water can run off freely.
04
Wind damage put right
Storm Ciarán in 2023 closed the coast path from West Bay to Burton Bradstock. After weather like that we check ridges, verges and any loose tiles that have lifted, not just the one piece that came down.
05
A cause, not a guess
If a damp patch keeps returning we go into the loft and follow the water back. On old roofs it often turns out to be a split flashing or a blocked gutter rather than the slates themselves.
06
Honest advice on when to stop
If the slates are failing all over and repairs are getting more frequent, we'll say so. Patching a roof that needs replacing wastes money, and we'd rather tell you straight than keep coming back.
1,000+
Roofing projects completed
5★
Every review we have is five stars
10 yrs
Guarantee on roof replacements
Free
Roof surveys and written quotes
Bridport
What goes wrong on Bridport roofs, street by street
The town centre is the slate quarter. Along South Street and up towards Bucky Doo Square the 19th-century houses carry hipped slate roofs, and many are listed or inside the Bridport conservation area. Repairs there are about patience: lifting slates without cracking their neighbours, cutting replacements to match, and renewing lead where the hips and chimneys meet the slope. The ground is Eype Clay, and a little seasonal movement over many decades can open up joints along a ridge.
Head out to Bradpole and Bothenhampton and the mix changes. Slate sits alongside plain clay tile, and there's the odd thatch we leave to thatchers. The newer streets around Allington and Skilling are brick with concrete tiles, where a crumbling ridge or a lifted tile after a blow is the typical call. West Bay is its own case: exposed, salty, and hard on nails, clips and lead.
When repairs stop being worth it, we can talk you through roof replacement in Bridport and what a new roof would cost for your type of house.
"Ask us to repair a slipped slate on one of Bridport's older houses and we'll usually find the nails on that whole slope have rusted to about the same point."
Step by step
How we repair a roof in Bridport
- 1
Find where the water gets in
We inspect from the loft first, looking for daylight, wet battens and stained felt, then from the outside. On a hipped roof the source can be a metre or two from where the stain shows.
- 2
Show you the problem
Photos of the slipped slate, cracked tile or split lead go to you with a short written explanation, so you can see what we saw without climbing a ladder yourself.
- 3
Fix the price
You get a written quote for the repair itself, plus any access costs. On a main-street frontage that might include scaffold on the pavement, with protection for people walking past.
- 4
Set up safe access
Small repairs may need only a roof ladder or a tower. Higher or more exposed work, particularly on taller town houses and harbourside properties at West Bay, gets scaffold.
- 5
Make the repair
Slates refixed with tingles or nails, broken tiles swapped for matching ones, lead dressed and fixed, and ridge or hip tiles mechanically fixed rather than just re-bedded in mortar.
- 6
Look over the surrounding roof
While we're up we check the slopes around the repair and the gutters below. If something nearby is close to failing we'll tell you, and you can decide whether to deal with it now.
- 7
Tidy up and report back
Broken slate and old mortar are cleared away. You get before and after photos and a short note of what we did, which is useful when you come to sell.
Our guarantee
Ten years on a new roof, written down and signed
When we replace a roof in Bridport, the paperwork you're handed at the end will, on all but a handful of unusual jobs, include a 10 year guarantee on the work. If yours is one of the exceptions, you'll know at quote stage, not after. It names your address, says what was done and is dated the day we sign the roof off. It covers the installation itself, meaning the battens, membrane, fixings, the slates or tiles and the junctions where the roof meets walls and chimneys. If any of that lets water in through a fault in how it went on, we come back and fix it without charging you.
A guarantee that long only makes sense if the roof is built properly underneath, so it shapes the job from day one. Every slate or tile is mechanically fixed to the current British Standard rather than relying on its own weight, which matters on a stretch of coast where the wind arrives with nothing in its way. Breathable membrane goes on before the battens. Valleys, abutments and chimneys get proper lead or a tested dry-fix system, never a smear of mortar that cracks in its third winter.
Materials carry their own manufacturer cover on top, and that differs from product to product. Your paperwork says which one applies to your roof.
10
Year guarantee on roof replacements
1,000+
Roofing projects completed
Signed paperwork at handover, with photos of the roof taken before, during and after.
Repair, quick patch or new roof: what makes sense in Bridport
On an old slate roof in the town centre, the cheapest fix today is rarely the cheapest over ten years. Here's how the options stack up.
| Comparison point | Proper repair | Sealant or quick patch | Full roof replacement |
|---|---|---|---|
| How long it lasts | Years, often until the roof is due for replacement anyway | Weeks to a couple of seasons | Forty years or more, depending on material |
| Time on site | Half a day to two days | An hour or two | One to three weeks for a typical house |
| Typical cost | £150 to £1,500 for most jobs | Low, but often paid more than once | £7,000 upwards for a terrace or semi |
| Scaffolding | Often not needed | Rarely needed | Always needed |
| Effect on the rest of the roof | Surrounding area checked and left sound | Can trap water and hide rot beneath | Everything renewed down to the rafters |
| When it's the right call | Isolated faults on a roof with life left in it | Emergency holding measure only | Widespread slipping, failed felt, or repeat leaks |
What affects the cost of a roof repair in Bridport
Most repairs we do here come in between £150 and £1,500. Where yours sits depends mainly on these four things.
Getting up there
A single slipped slate on a low extension is quick to reach. A hip three storeys up on East Street or West Street needs scaffold on the pavement and protection for pedestrians, all of which goes on the bill.
Slate, clay or concrete
Natural slate and handmade clay tiles cost more per piece than concrete, and matching reclaimed stock for a listed house can take time to find. Concrete tile repairs on the Allington or Skilling estates are usually the least expensive.
Lead involved
If the leak is at a chimney, valley or hip, the job usually means new lead soakers or flashings. Lead is costly, and dressing it properly around an old chimney stack takes longer than replacing a few slates.
West Bay exposure
Repairs by the harbour often turn up more corroded fixings than we'd find in town, because salt air works on nails and clips. Replacing those along a whole run adds time, but it stops the next gale doing the same damage.
Roof Repairs in Bridport: your questions
Does the clay ground in Bridport affect my roof?
It can. The town centre stands on Eype Clay, which takes up water in winter and dries in summer. Over many years that slight movement can crack the mortar on ridges and verges or open a gap where a roof meets a wall. Mechanically fixed ridges cope with it better than mortar alone.
How quickly can you get to a leaking roof in Bridport?
Bridport and West Bay are about 35-40 minutes from us in Weymouth. We'll give you an honest time when you call, and if the damage is bad we can look at making it weathertight first, then come back for the permanent repair.
Do I need permission to repair the roof on a listed building in Bridport?
Minor like-for-like repairs often don't, but anything that changes materials or appearance on a listed building may need listed building consent from Dorset Council. The area also has seven conservation areas and lies in the Dorset National Landscape. If in doubt we'll advise you to ask the council before we start.
Can one slipped slate really cause a leak?
Yes. Slates overlap so that each joint is covered by the one above. Lose one and you expose the joint beneath, and rain driven by a south-westerly will go straight through onto the felt or, on older roofs, onto the battens.
Should I repair or replace my concrete tile roof?
If the tiles are sound and the problem is a ridge or a few broken pieces, repair. If tiles are crumbling, the felt beneath has perished and leaks are appearing in different places, a new roof will usually be better value. We'll give you a straight view after looking at it.
What to do in Bridport
Bridport Museum
Town museum on South Street housed in 'the Castle', a Grade II* listed early 16th-century building.
Learn more about Bridport Museum on Google Maps
Colmer's Hill
Near-conical sandstone hill above Symondsbury, 1.5 miles west of Bridport, crowned by pines first planted after the First World War.
Learn more about Colmer's Hill on Google MapsFind us working in Bridport
Reviews
What customers around Bridport say
More than a thousand roofing jobs finished, and every review customers have left us is five stars.
Those reviews are on their way onto this page. Until they land, ask us for photos of recent jobs near you in Bridport when we come out to quote - seeing a finished roof on a house like yours tells you more than any star rating.
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Get your Bridport roof repaired properly
Send us a photo or give us a call. We'll come out, find the cause and give you a fixed written price for the repair - no obligation.