Upton Country Park
Free-entry country park on the shore of Holes Bay with gardens, woodland and the Grade II* Georgian Upton House.
Learn more about Upton Country Park on Google MapsRoofers In Upton
Has your Upton roof reached the age where things start to give?
Repairs, re-roofs and flat roofs for the estate homes that grew Upton into Poole's next-door neighbour
We're roofers based in Weymouth, and Upton is the far eastern end of the patch we cover - about 45 minutes' drive, so we'd rather be straight about that now than later. We make the trip because the work here suits what we do. Much of Upton went up as housing estates in the 1970s and 1980s, and a roof laid then is now forty-odd years old. That's the age when the original felt goes brittle, battens soften and mortar ridges and verges crack away. From Moorland Parade to the streets off Poole Road, we survey for free and put our price in writing.
Free Roofing Quote In Upton
Tell us a little about the roof and we will call you back.
About Upton
A village name on a town-sized place
Upton sits in the civil parish of Lytchett Minster and Upton, which only took that name in 1986. Before then the whole parish was simply Lytchett Minster, after the older village that still carries the name. The growth happened in Upton. From the 1970s onward, much of the land around it became housing estates, and by 2001 the parish held around 7,500 people in a little over 3,200 homes. The built-up area now runs into Poole with no break you'd notice from the car, though the council boundary still matters, as you'll see below.
For roofing, that history means a lot of houses of similar age, built in similar ways, wearing out at roughly the same time. Concrete interlocking tiles were the usual covering on estate housing of that era, and the tiles themselves often have years left in them. What sits underneath is another matter. Bitumen felt from the period tends to turn brittle and tear along the eaves, ridges bedded only in mortar work loose, and many of the flat-roofed garages and extensions built alongside the houses are on their second covering already - or should be.
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
What Upton homeowners most often ask us to look at
Roof Repairs
Cracked mortar ridges, a verge shedding its bedding, felt torn at the eaves so rain runs in behind the gutter - the usual faults on a forty-year-old Upton estate roof, fixed at the source.
Learn more about roof repairs in Upton →
Roof Replacement
When the felt and battens under a 1970s or 80s concrete tile roof have given up, a full re-roof to current fixing standards is often a better spend than another round of patching.
Learn more about roof replacement in Upton →
Flat Roofing
Upton's estates came with plenty of flat-roofed garages and single-storey extensions. Tired felt there is a leak we find again and again, and a modern covering usually ends it for good.
Learn more about flat roofing in Upton →Roofing that fits how Upton was built
Nearly every point below comes back to one fact: a lot of Upton's roofs share a birth decade, and that age is now showing.
Ridges and verges fixed to today's rules
Most roofs here were finished with mortar-bedded ridges and verges. Since BS 5534 was revised, ridge and hip tiles must be mechanically fixed and mortar on its own no longer counts. When we rebed or replace them, they go back with clips, screws or a dry-fix system.
Straight talk about felt
Original bitumen felt sagging between rafters or crumbling at the eaves can't be mended in any lasting way. If that's what we find, we'll tell you, show you photos from the loft, and explain where a repair stops making financial sense.
Tiles that actually match
Some concrete tile profiles laid in the 1970s and 80s have since been changed or dropped by their makers. We source the closest current match, or borrow from a slope nobody sees, so a repaired patch sits flat and keeps water out at the laps.
Garage roofs done properly
A garage roof painted with sealant every few winters is a familiar sight here. We strip back to the deck, check the boards for rot and lay a new covering meant to last decades rather than the next couple of seasons.
Weather that's mild, not gentle
The Met Office stations either side of Upton, at Swanage and Hurn, both record roughly three quarters of the UK's average rainfall. Wind is the bigger enemy: the red warning for Storm Eunice in February 2022 covered Poole, right next door.
Consents rarely get in the way
Upton has no conservation area of its own, so replacing a roof like for like seldom involves the planning office. If you're in Lytchett Minster's conservation area, or want a different material, we check with Dorset Council before any work starts.
"On most Upton re-roofs we've stripped, the concrete tiles could have gone round again - it was the felt and battens underneath that had run out of life."
Our guarantee
Ten years on a new roof, written down and signed
When we replace a roof in Upton, 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.
Our process
Seven steps to a sorted roof in Upton
- 1
Free survey, outside and in the loft
We look at the roof from the ground and up a ladder, then from the loft hatch, because on a roof this age the felt tells us more than the tiles do. You get photos of anything we find.
- 2
An itemised written price
The quote lists each element - tiles, fixings, underlay, scaffold, waste - with VAT shown. If we think a repair will do the job, we say so rather than pricing a whole roof you don't need.
- 3
Scaffold where it's allowed
Where there's room on your drive or garden, scaffold stands on private ground and stays out of the street. If it has to go on the pavement, we plan the layout well before the start date.
- 4
Strip and look underneath
Sound tiles come off and are stacked for reuse. With the old felt exposed, we check battens and rafter tops for rot and photograph anything that changes the plan before going any further.
- 5
Build back with proper fixings
Breathable membrane, treated battens at the right gauge, and single-lap tiles nailed or clipped as BS 5534 requires. Ridges and verges are fixed mechanically, not trusted to mortar the way they were when your house went up.
- 6
Checks from ridge to gutter
We walk the finished roof, check flashings against walls and chimneys, and run water through valleys and gutters to be sure it all drains where it's meant to.
- 7
Clean-up and handover
A magnetic sweep for stray nails, scaffold down, skips gone. You get completion photos and a plain account of what was done, which is handy to pass on if you ever sell.
What to do in Upton
Upton Heath
Protected fragment of the old Dorset heath just west of Upton, with views across Poole Harbour and Purbeck.
Learn more about Upton Heath on Google Maps
Holes Bay
Intertidal bay off Poole Harbour next to Upton, an important haven for wetland birds with a shoreline trail.
Learn more about Holes Bay on Google MapsFind us working in Upton
Reviews
What customers around Upton 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 Upton when we come out to quote - seeing a finished roof on a house like yours tells you more than any star rating.
Roofing prices in Upton
Two things drive most Upton prices. The first is what we find under the tiles: a roof needing its ridge rebedded costs a fraction of one where the felt has failed across every slope. The second is access - a semi with a clear side path is quicker to scaffold than a house where the pavement is the only option. Sticking with concrete tile keeps costs lower than switching to slate, and planning fees rarely come into it.
Questions from Upton homeowners
Do I need planning permission to re-roof my house in Upton?
Usually not, if the new roof looks much like the old one. Dorset Council is the planning authority for Upton, and Upton itself has no conservation area. The Lytchett Minster Conservation Area, designated in 1998, covers the older village, where permitted development rights are narrower, so anything that changes the roof's appearance there should be checked first. We're not aware of any Article 4 direction on house roofs in Upton. If your home is actually across the boundary in Poole, the planning authority is BCP Council instead.
Is Upton too far for a Weymouth roofer?
It's the eastern edge of our area, about 45 minutes away, and we won't dress that up. In practice it means surveys are booked ahead rather than dropped in on the same afternoon, and once a job starts we work full days on site. If you want someone round the corner for a very small job, a closer firm may suit you better, and we'll tell you if we think so.
My tiles look fine, so why does the loft leak?
On houses of Upton's age this is very common. Concrete tiles shrug off decades of weather, but the bitumen felt beneath them can split or perish, especially at the eaves where it dips into the gutter. Wind-driven rain gets past the tiles, as it always did, and the felt no longer catches it. A look from inside the loft usually shows the problem straight away.
Can you replace the felt on my flat-roofed garage?
Yes. Traditional felt typically lasts 15 to 20 years, so a garage built with the house may be on its second covering or overdue for one. We strip it, check the deck and relay it in a modern system such as high-performance felt, EPDM rubber or GRP. Flat roofs typically run from £1,200 to £6,000 depending on size and the state of the deck.
Areas we cover from Upton
- Roof Repairs Dorchester
- Roof Replacement Dorchester
- Roof Repairs Portland
- Roof Replacement Portland
- Roof Repairs Chickerell
- Roof Replacement Chickerell
- Roof Repairs Bridport
- Roof Replacement Bridport
- Roof Repairs Wareham
- Roof Replacement Wareham
- Roof Repairs Wool
- Roof Replacement Wool
- Roof Repairs Swanage
- Roof Replacement Swanage
- Roof Repairs Upton
- Roof Replacement Upton
Book a survey for your Upton roof
Tell us roughly where you are - Upton, Lytchett Minster or the Poole side of the boundary - and what you've noticed. We'll arrange a visit, look properly and send a fixed written quote you can take your time over.