Hemel Hempstead
Roofing in Hemel Hempstead
A new town built quickly in the 1950s and 60s, which produced a very particular set of roofing problems, all arriving at once.
New town housing, reaching the same age together
Hemel Hempstead was designated a new town in 1947 and built out at pace through the 1950s and 60s. That produced large areas of housing of near-identical age and construction, and it means roofs across whole neighbourhoods reach the end of their service life within a few years of each other.
Two features of that era dominate our work here. The first is shallow-pitched and mono-pitch roofs, which are far less forgiving of a failed underlay than a steep pitch is. The second is the sheer quantity of flat roof (on garages, canopies, porches and rear projections), much of it originally built as cold deck, which is why condensation problems are so common.
Where a flat roof is being replaced entirely, moving to a warm deck build-up puts the insulation above the deck and the vapour control layer on the correct side. It resolves the condensation rather than covering it over, and on this housing stock it is usually the right answer.
Common work in Hemel Hempstead
- Flat roof replacement, including cold deck to warm deck upgrades
- Shallow pitch and mono-pitch roof re-covering
- Garage, canopy and porch roofs
- Re-roofing 1950s and 60s housing
- Loft condensation and roof ventilation problems
Postcodes covered
HP1 · HP2 · HP3
Nearby areas
Watford · St Albans · Harpenden · Dunstable · All areas we cover
Services in Hemel Hempstead
What we are usually called out for
Questions
Hemel Hempstead questions
Frequently not. On this housing stock it is usually ventilation. Warm moist air rises into a cold loft, meets a cold surface and condenses, which soaks the insulation and can look exactly like a roof leak. The fix is ventilation and airflow, not a new covering.
A warm deck places the insulation above the deck so the structure stays warm and the vapour control layer sits on the correct side. On the flat roofs common here, originally built as cold decks, it removes the condensation problem at source. When a flat roof is being replaced entirely it is usually the right specification.
It is a fair signal on estates of uniform age, but not a diagnosis. We survey your roof and tell you what condition it is actually in. If it has years left, we will say so.
Request a survey
We look at the job before we price it
Someone comes out, looks at the work properly (getting on the roof where it is safe to do so) and photographs what they find. You get those photographs and a fixed, itemised quotation.
- 01 SurveyWe look at the job properly and photograph what is actually there.
- 02 QuoteA fixed, itemised figure with those photographs attached.
- 03 ScheduleA written start date, and one named contact throughout.
- 04 FinishSwept daily, signed off with you, guaranteed in writing.
Written workmanship guarantee issued on completion, with evidence of insurance on request.