Roofing in Leamington Spa

Roofing on Leamington Spa housing

The Regency and early Victorian terraces that define Leamington Spa, around the Parade, Clarendon Square and the streets north of the river, have shallow slate roofs concealed behind parapet walls, with lead-lined parapet gutters and valleys that carry all the water off a big roof through a narrow route. When those gutters fail, and after two centuries they do, the water goes into the top-floor ceilings and the parapet walls before anyone sees a slipped slate.

The work there is leadwork first: parapet gutters, valleys, secret gutters and flashings, then the slates re-laid with new fixings on sound battens. Most of this is in the conservation area and a change of material is checked with Warwick District Council; listed buildings need consent even for like-for-like work.

South of the river, the Victorian terraces of the old town have conventional pitched slate roofs with chimneys and valleys between properties, and the work is more like Birmingham than Bath: shared valleys, party walls, tall stacks. On the newer housing at Warwick Gates, Whitnash and the developments toward the edges, the roofs are concrete tile on trussed rafters and the job is a straightforward re-cover when the tiles and felt are done. Access and parking in the centre are planned and priced.