Roof Leak Repair in Basingstoke
Roof repairs, new roofs and roofline work across north Hampshire. Free surveys, fixed written quotes, tidy workmanship.
Basingstoke Roofing Company finds and fixes roof leaks across Basingstoke — the brown ring on a bedroom ceiling, the drip that only comes with wind from one direction, the damp patch beside a chimney breast. The leak gets traced first and priced second, because a repair aimed at the wrong place is an expensive guess.
There is a specific reason leaks are hard to place on the town's estate housing. The bitumen felt under those tiles was the second line of defence, and after fifty-odd years it is brittle and split. Water getting past a tile no longer lands on a sound sheet — it goes through the first crack it finds, metres from where it entered.
The order we check things in
We start inside, because the inside tells you when rather than where. A stain that appears minutes after rain starts suggests a direct route — a hole, a missing tile, a split flashing. One that takes hours suggests water travelling along a rafter or over failed underlay. A patch that only wets in wind-driven rain from the south-west points at a vertical surface: a chimney, an abutment, a verge.
Then the loft, in daylight with the lights off, looking up. Pinholes of light through the felt, dark staining on rafters and tide marks on the boarding map the water's path better than anything visible from outside. Then the roof, and then a hose test in stages from the lowest suspect point upward, one area at a time, with somebody watching inside. Testing everything at once tells you nothing.
Where the water is usually getting in
Chimney and abutment flashings
The most common single source. Cement fillets crack, thin lead splits along the fold, and the mortar joint holding the upstand lets go.
Cracked or slipped tiles
Obvious when a tile is missing, less so when it is cracked across the head and looks fine from the pavement.
Valleys
L-plan semis collect leaves and moss in the valley. Once it blocks, water backs up over the lining and into the roof.
Verge and gable edges
Failed verge mortar lets rain track under the tiles and down the inside face of the gable wall.
Perished underlay
Not an entry point, but the reason a small entry becomes a visible leak. Local repairs work; repeated ones do not.
Soil vent and flat-to-pitch junctions
Perished rubber collars on vent pipes and badly detailed junctions where a flat extension roof meets the main slope.
Leak repairs by cause
| Cause | How we confirm it | Repair cost |
|---|---|---|
| Cracked or missing tile | Visual from roof level, photographed | £150 – £420 |
| Failed chimney flashing | Hose test at the stack, watched from inside | £350 – £1,100 |
| Blocked or split valley | Inspection plus a flood test of the valley | £220 – £1,200 |
| Verge mortar failure | Loose tiles and tracking on the gable wall | £350 – £900 |
| Local underlay failure at eaves | Daylight through the felt from the loft | £320 – £850 |
| Perished vent pipe collar | Staining around the pipe in the loft | £140 – £320 |
| Widespread underlay failure | Felt crumbling across multiple bays | Re-roof — see the cost page |
2026 guide figures. Tracing is part of the free survey, not an extra. If the roof is at the end of its life we say so rather than sell a repair.
Not everything wet is a leak
Two things get reported as roof leaks that are not. The first is condensation — a cold loft with blocked or absent eaves ventilation, extractor fans venting into the roof space, and moist air rising through gaps in the ceiling. It shows as damp insulation and water on the underside of the felt across the whole roof, worst in still cold weather rather than during rain. Ventilation fixes it; roofing does not.
The second is a flue sealed at both ends, pushing moisture out through the chimney breast. If a stain sits on the breast and barely changes in dry weather, look there before the tiles. Both cost less to fix than a roof repair, which is why we check for them before quoting one.
Water coming in now
Same-day make-safe, then a permanent fix.
Repairs in general
Tiles, ridges, valleys and flashings priced.
Frequently asked questions
Ready for a free, no-obligation quote?
Call 01256 438323