Most of the roofing emergencies we attend on the South Coast were visible months earlier from the pavement. You do not need to climb anything to spot them. A ten minute walk around the outside of your house, ideally on a bright day with binoculars if you have them, catches the majority of problems while they are still small.
1. Slipped, cracked or missing tiles
Look along the roof line for gaps, tiles sitting lower than their neighbours, or fragments of tile in the garden and gutters. One missing tile is not usually urgent, but it lets water onto the felt below, and felt that stays wet does not last.
2. Sagging or overflowing gutters
On the next heavy shower, look for water spilling over the front edge of the gutter or running down the wall. Overflow usually means a blockage or a run that has dropped out of level. Left alone through a coastal winter it causes damp inside the wall.
3. Green or dark staining down the brickwork
A vertical stain below a gutter joint or downpipe is water that has been running down the wall for some time. It is one of the clearest outside signs of a guttering fault.
4. Loose mortar around the chimney
Look at the stack and at the flashing where it meets the roof. Crumbling mortar joints, gaps at the lead, or a stack that looks like it is leaning all need proper inspection. Chimneys are the most exposed part of the roof and they weather first.
5. Ridge tiles that look uneven
The ridge runs along the very top of the roof. If any of those tiles look tilted, or you can see mortar missing between them, the wind can get underneath. On exposed coastal properties that is how a small fault becomes a large one overnight.
6. Damp patches or daylight in the loft
Go up into the loft with a torch on a dry day. Look for dark staining on the timbers, damp felt, or pinpricks of daylight through the roof covering. Then check again during heavy rain and see if anything is actively dripping.
What to do next
If any of those apply, get it looked at before the weather turns. We survey roofs across Brighton, Worthing, Chichester, Portsmouth and the surrounding towns and give you a written quote within 48 hours, free and with no obligation.