Portland Bill Lighthouse
The red-and-white 41m lighthouse at the southern tip of Portland first shone in 1906; its visitor centre offers tours up 153 steps.
Learn more about Portland Bill Lighthouse on Google MapsRoof Repairs In Portland
Did a gale on the island shift something on your roof?
Leaks traced, and slates, ridges and flashings put back properly on Portland homes
Roof repairs on Portland are mostly the aftermath of wind. When Storm Eunice came through in February 2022, the Met Office logged a 90mph gust at its island station, and Storm Ciarán managed 72mph the following autumn. Days like those loosen slates on Tophill cottages at Easton and Weston, crack the mortar under ridges, and peel lead away from chimneys in Fortuneswell. Then the sideways winter rain finds the gaps. We repair the actual weak point rather than smearing sealant over a stain, and we fix things back so they cope with the next blow, which on this island is rarely far off.
Roof Repairs Quote In Portland
Tell us a little about the roof and we will call you back.
What a lasting roof repair on Portland involves
A repair here has to survive the same weather that caused the damage. These are the habits that make that likely.
01
We trace water to its source
A damp patch in a Castletown bedroom can start metres away, where a gust has driven rain under a slate further up. We follow the route back instead of patching the spot where it shows on your ceiling.
02
Slates refixed, not glued
A slipped slate goes back with a copper or stainless hook, or a fresh nail into sound batten. Adhesive and silicone break down quickly in Portland's sun and wind, and they make the next repair messier.
03
Ridges fixed mechanically
When a ridge needs rebedding we add mechanical fixings, as BS 5534 now expects. On an exposed Weston or Grove roof, a ridge held by mortar alone is often the first thing a winter gale takes.
04
Lead that stays down
Lifted flashings and aprons are the commonest way in that we find after a storm. We redress or renew the lead, clip its free edges and repoint the chases so wind can't get underneath it again.
05
Stone slate handled with care
Some older cottages still wear local stone slates. They're heavy and individually sized, so we lift them carefully, keep them in order and relay them, sourcing a reclaimed match if one has broken.
06
Photos before and after
You see the problem as we saw it and the finished repair. That's useful on Underhill houses, where most of your own roof can't be seen from the street or the garden.
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
Portland
Repairing roofs where the island catches the weather
Underhill and Tophill ask for different repairs. In Chiswell, Fortuneswell and Castletown the terraces step down a steep escarpment, so a roof often looks straight onto the one below and takes wind that rides up and over the slope. Repairs there tend to involve valleys, abutments against the neighbouring wall and the flashings where one house meets the next. Access is the hard part, so we work it out before we quote.
Up on Tophill, around Easton, Wakeham, Weston and the Grove, roofs face open ground and get the full weight of a gale. The usual jobs are slipped slates on the windward slope, ridge tiles lifted at the ends and verge mortar washed out. On the 1960s bungalows at Southwell and the Haylands houses at Weston it's more often cracked tiles, with tired felt showing through where they've gone.
If a survey shows your roof has had more repairs than it has life left, read about our roof replacement in Portland and how we re-roof for island exposure.
"On Portland the weather side of a roof tells the story. Most of the repair calls we get after a storm are for slates and ridges lifted on the south-west slope, with the sheltered side barely touched."
Step by step
Our roof repair process on Portland
- 1
Book a free look
Tell us what you've noticed: a drip, a slate in the garden, a stain that grows after every gale. We arrange a survey at a time that suits you and come out to see it.
- 2
Find the real fault
We get onto the roof, or use a camera pole where access is awkward, and work out where wind or water is actually getting in. The house's exposure and the direction it faces both feed into that.
- 3
Price it in writing
You get a fixed, itemised price for the repair and for any access, including stepped scaffold if the work needs it on a Fortuneswell pavement or road.
- 4
Make access safe
On steep Underhill streets that may mean a stepped scaffold. On a Southwell bungalow it's often just a tower or a roof ladder. We pick the lightest safe option for the job in hand.
- 5
Carry out the repair
Slates rehung, ridges rebedded with mechanical fixings, lead redressed or replaced. If the cause turns out to be old felt or rotten battens underneath, we stop and show you before going further.
- 6
Test our work
We check each repaired area and the roof around it, clear gutters and outlets, and where it's practical run water over the spot to prove the leak has stopped.
- 7
Report back
You get photos of the fault and the finished repair, plus a straight note on anything else up there that we think will want attention over the next few years.
Our guarantee
Ten years on a new roof, written down and signed
When we replace a roof in Portland, 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.
Repair, patch or replace on Portland?
On a roof this exposed, a quick patch rarely makes it through the next winter. The table sets out how the three options compare for an island home.
| Comparison point | Proper repair | Sealant or quick patch | Full roof replacement |
|---|---|---|---|
| How long it lasts | Years, often until the roof is due for replacement anyway | Weeks to a couple of seasons | Forty years or more, depending on material |
| Time on site | Half a day to two days | An hour or two | One to three weeks for a typical house |
| Typical cost | £150 to £1,500 for most jobs | Low, but often paid more than once | £7,000 upwards for a terrace or semi |
| Scaffolding | Often not needed | Rarely needed | Always needed |
| Effect on the rest of the roof | Surrounding area checked and left sound | Can trap water and hide rot beneath | Everything renewed down to the rafters |
| When it's the right call | Isolated faults on a roof with life left in it | Emergency holding measure only | Widespread slipping, failed felt, or repeat leaks |
What affects the cost of a roof repair on Portland
Most repairs on the island fall somewhere between £150 and £1,500. Where yours lands depends mainly on these four things.
Getting up there
On Portland's Underhill, the steep terraced streets of Fortuneswell and Castletown often need scaffold built on a slope, or stood on the pavement itself. A single-storey roof at Southwell may need nothing more than a ladder and a roof hook.
Slate, stone or tile
Replacing a few Welsh slates is straightforward. Finding reclaimed stone slates to match an old cottage roof in Wakeham or the Grove takes longer and costs more per piece, and relaying them correctly takes more time too.
How far the damage has spread
Wind damage often shows in one place but has loosened more around it. If the felt under a lifted slate has torn or the batten has rotted, the repair grows, and we price that openly before doing any of it.
Lead and chimney work
Redressing a single flashing is a small job. Renewing a chimney apron, back gutter and soakers in new lead is a bigger one, especially on a tall stone stack that stands full in the weather.
Roof Repairs in Portland: your questions
Why do Portland roofs suffer more wind damage than mainland ones?
Exposure. The Met Office station on the island averages 14.3 knots of wind, against 9.27 knots for the UK as a whole, and recorded a 90mph gust during Storm Eunice. Weymouth is partly sheltered by Chesil Beach, while Portland has nothing between it and the Channel. Slates, ridges and lead that would sit quietly for decades inland get worked loose much faster here.
Will a repair need consent if my house is in a conservation area?
Repairs in matching materials generally don't need planning permission, even inside Portland's four conservation areas: Underhill, Grove, Portland (Easton, Wakeham and Reforne) and Weston. Changing materials, for example swapping stone slates for concrete tiles, is a different matter, and Dorset Council would expect to be asked first. Listed buildings need listed building consent for work that affects their character, so we check before starting.
Can a slipped slate be refixed without replacing it?
Usually. If the slate is intact and only its nail has corroded or snapped, we refix it with a hook or a new fixing into the batten. If it's cracked or flaking we replace it with a matching slate. What we won't do is stick it back with adhesive, which doesn't last on an exposed roof.
My ceiling only gets damp in stormy weather. Is that the roof?
Very likely. Water that appears only when the wind is up usually gets in at a flashing, a verge or under a slate lap, where it's being driven sideways. It can also come through the stonework of a chimney. We look at the whole route, stack included, before deciding what to repair.
How long does a typical repair take?
Most small repairs, such as a few slates or a section of ridge, take a day or less once access is in place. Leadwork round a chimney or a valley repair can take two or three days. If scaffold is needed, we build it into the plan and give you the dates in advance.
What to do in Portland
Portland Castle
Henry VIII artillery fort built from Portland stone between 1539 and 1541 to guard Portland Roads.
Learn more about Portland Castle on Google Maps
Tout Quarry Sculpture Park
Disused quarry on Tophill turned sculpture park and nature reserve, with works carved into Portland stone since 1983.
Learn more about Tout Quarry Sculpture Park on Google MapsFind us working in Portland
Reviews
What customers around Portland 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 Portland when we come out to quote - seeing a finished roof on a house like yours tells you more than any star rating.
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Something come loose up there?
Tell us what you've spotted and whereabouts on Portland you live. We'll survey the roof free of charge and send a fixed, written price for putting it right.