Roofers in North London: repairs, re-roofs and flat roofs

Roofers in North London, up and down the M1 and the A1

North London is a long way across, but two roads join it to our Dunstable office. The M1 and the A41 are the North West London corridor: they take us into Edgware, Harrow, Pinner and Wembley. The A1, the A1000 and the M25 are the northern corridor to Barnet, Whetstone, Finchley, Potters Bar and Enfield. Both start at the same door: 59 Union Street, Dunstable, about 22 to 31 miles away.

That distance is the reason a Doyle Homes survey is a proper visit with a surveyor on your roof, not a phone estimate. The family business has over 25 years' experience, we are fully insured, and every job starts with a risk assessment.

Where we work and what the roofs are made of

The roofs change from one London postcode to the next. This is the picture we see across the patch.

Welsh slate, clay tile and flat extensions: London housing stock

Victorian and Edwardian terraces are the bulk of London's older housing, and most of them are roofed in Welsh slate laid on lead valleys, with lead-lined party-wall flashings and chimney stacks shared between neighbours. The iron nails rust, slates slip and the valley lead splits. We lay natural slate back as natural slate.

The inter-war Metroland semis in Harrow, Pinner, Edgware and Wembley have clay or concrete tiles on hipped roofs with bay-window covers. Ridge and hip mortar fails after ninety years, felt perishes, and the lead soakers corrode. Many houses also have an extension: a flat-roofed kitchen at the back, a dormer in the loft or a garage along the side. Those flat roofs are where the leaks start.

Wind off the hills and winter rain

North London is built on ridges: Muswell Hill, Barnet Hill, Harrow on the Hill, Mill Hill and Stanmore Hill all stand well above the Thames valley. Gales that do little harm in the centre of the city lift ridge tiles on those slopes and drive rain under flashings. Roofers in North London are busiest after every storm, and we fit dry ridge and verge systems where the old mortar has gone.

Between storms the work is steady: flat roofs that pond in October, gutters that overflow in November and slates that slip in the frost. Book a free inspection before the winter and the problem is found in dry weather.

Muswell Hill, Finchley and Mill Hill: the hills

The hills of North London take the weather. Muswell Hill N10 rises above 100 metres, and its architecture is mostly Edwardian: terraces and parades set out in the early 20th century after Alexandra Palace opened in 1873 and the villa gardens filled with streets. Finchley N2, N3 and N12 grew along the Northern line, and Mill Hill NW7 sits on The Ridgeway with Green Belt either side.

High ground means wind-driven rain, lifted ridge tiles, slipped slates and overflowing gutters. See our Barnet page for Finchley, Mill Hill, Hendon and Whetstone in detail. For roofers in North London's Muswell Hill, the same survey, the same photographs and the same written price apply.

Flat roofs, dormers and rear extensions across North London

Flat roofs are the single biggest source of leaks in North London homes. Loft dormers, kitchen extensions, side returns, porches and garages all end in a flat or low-pitch roof, and each joint with the main wall is a place for water to get in. A split felt, a blocked outlet or a lifted upstand is enough.

We repair what can be repaired and replace what cannot, in felt, EPDM rubber or fibreglass, with a new deck where the boards have softened. The full range is on our flat roofing page, and the London-specific detail is on flat roofing in London.

What we do for North London homeowners

Every one of them carries a written quote and the 20 year written guarantee. If you are not sure what the roof needs, book a free inspection and we will tell you.

• Roof repairs: leaks traced to the cause, slipped tiles and slates, ridges and hips
• New roofs: strip, membrane, battens and slate or tile
• Chimney repairs and lead work: stacks, flashings and valleys
• Emergency roof repairs: storm damage, leaks and make-safe scaffold
• Fascias, soffits and guttering: the roofline, in uPVC
• Commercial roofing: parades, units and blocks

A survey on a London terrace, step by step

Roof repairs in North London turn on the detail, and the detail is what you see in the photographs. If your neighbours share a stack or a wall with you, we tell them when we are on site and leave the street clean.

• We assess every slope, ridge, valley and chimney and talk you through what we find
• We check the party-wall flashings and shared stacks that neighbours depend on
• We look at gutters, fascias and soffits from the ladder or the scaffold
• We probe flat roofs for soft decking and ponding
• You receive a written quote split between materials and labour, with a timetable

Our North London area pages

Each page covers the streets, the roof types and the rules of its area. For the two jobs that Londoners ask about most, go straight to roof repairs in London or flat roofing in London.

• Roofers in Harrow: Harrow on the Hill, Stanmore and the Metroland semis
• Roofers in Barnet: Finchley, Mill Hill, Hendon and Whetstone
• Roofers in Enfield: Enfield Town, Southgate and Winchmore Hill
• Roofers in Edgware: Burnt Oak, Canons Park and the Watling Estate
• Roofers in Wembley: Wembley Park, Barn Hill and Sudbury
• Roofers in Pinner: Pinner village, Hatch End and Northwood
• Roofers in Potters Bar: Borehamwood and Radlett

Conservation areas, Article 4 directions and consent

A large share of North London is protected. Harrow has conservation areas from Harrow on the Hill to Stanmore, Barnet has Hampstead Garden Suburb, Mill Hill and Totteridge, Enfield has Bush Hill Park, Southgate Green and Winchmore Hill, and Brent has Barn Hill and Sudbury Court Estate. Many of those carry Article 4 directions, so work that would be routine elsewhere needs permission. Roofers in North London need to know which rule applies to which road.

We tell you at the survey which rules apply to your road, quote in matching materials and keep the proportions of the original roof. That protects the look of the house, and a like-for-like roof lasts the full 20 years of the guarantee.

Parking, permits and scaffold licences in London

London adds paperwork to a roof job. Scaffold on a pavement needs a highway licence from the borough, skips on the road need a permit and controlled parking zones mean permits for the van. Any third party charges are listed in your written quote, so none of it arrives as a surprise.

Terraces with a shared stack or party wall also mean neighbours. We tell them what is happening and when, and we leave pavements and drives clean. This is the part of roofers in North London that homeowners never see until it goes wrong, and it is why we plan access before we price.

Proof you can check

Doyle Homes holds 4.91 from 62 reviews on TrustATrader, 4.7 from 23 on Google and 9.63 from 73 on Checkatrade. Read the reviews in full, see the 20 year written guarantee, then get your free quote. Our Hertfordshire pages cover the towns on the way in, including Watford and St Albans, and the county page at roofers in Hertfordshire ties them together.