Brislington roofs take a particular kind of punishment. A lot of the housing here went up between the wars and again in the post-war push, which means a great many roofs are now hitting the age where the original tiles, felt and mortar all start giving up at roughly the same time.
We're Multiform Roofing, based in Yate, and we've been working on Brislington roofs for years. Repairs, full re-roofs, flat roofs over extensions, chimney work and guttering. This page covers what we typically find on roofs in BS4, what it usually costs to put right, and how to get a straight answer about yours.
Much of Brislington's housing stock is 1930s semis and post-war estate development. Concrete tiles from that era last roughly 40 to 60 years, so a lot of them are now well past it. The tell-tale signs are surface flaking, moss taking hold in the pits, and tiles that crack when anyone walks the roof. Once you're replacing tiles regularly, a full re-tile usually works out cheaper than another five years of patching.
The original bedding mortar on roofs of this age is often crumbling. You'll see it as gaps along the ridge line, or mortar fragments in the gutters. Left alone, a windy night takes ridge tiles off. We re-bed traditionally or fit a dry ridge system depending on the roof.
Brislington has a lot of rear kitchen and bathroom extensions with flat roofs, most originally finished in felt. Felt splits and pools water as it ages. We replace these with Firestone EPDM rubber membrane, which has no joints to fail and a life expectancy of around 40 years.
Plenty of houses here still have their original stacks, many now unused since central heating went in. Unused stacks get neglected and are a very common source of leaks — failed flashing, cracked haunching, perished pointing. Chimney repairs and rebuilds are among the jobs we do most often in this area.
Older Brislington properties often still have original cast iron guttering, and where it has been replaced it is frequently early plastic that has gone brittle. Either way, water ends up running down the wall rather than away from it. We fit new guttering, fascias and soffits in UPVC that needs no maintenance.
Worth knowing about Brislington specifically: the A4 Bath Road corridor and the older streets off it include some properties that predate the interwar development, with natural slate rather than concrete tile. Slate is a different job entirely and needs a roofer who works with it regularly. We do — see our slate roofing page — but plenty of firms will quote you for a concrete tile job and only discover the difference once the scaffolding is up.
Brislington sits on the south-eastern edge of the city, so we come in via the ring road rather than through the centre. For urgent work we can usually be with you the same day. If water is coming into the house, call 0117 905 9012 rather than filling in a form — we run a 24 hour emergency service and it's faster to talk to someone.
We'll come out, look at the roof properly and tell you what it needs. If that turns out to be less than you feared, we'll say so. If a repair will only buy you two years, we'll say that too, and let you decide.
Not keen on scaffolding just to find out what's wrong? We offer drone roof inspections, which give you clear photographs of the actual problem before you commit to spending anything.
Every quote is free and there's no obligation. All our work carries insurance-backed guarantees of up to 20 years through the Confederation of Roofing Contractors, so your deposit is protected and the guarantee stands even if we're not around to honour it.
Tell us your postcode and what's happening, and we'll arrange a time to come and look.
Call 0117 905 9012 Request a Free QuoteNot necessarily. Age alone isn't the deciding factor — condition is. Plenty of 60-year-old roofs have years left if the tiles are sound and the mortar has been maintained. What matters is whether individual repairs are still holding. If you're calling someone out every winter, that's the signal.
Yes, and we do it regularly in Brislington. The join at the party wall needs doing properly with new flashing, otherwise you create a leak where there wasn't one. It's worth mentioning to your neighbour, as doing both at once is usually cheaper per house because of shared scaffolding.
For a typical Brislington semi re-roof, usually four to seven days depending on weather and the size of the roof. We arrange the scaffolding, it goes up before we start, and it comes down as soon as we're finished.
Yes, both domestic and commercial. Flat roofs on maisonette blocks are a common job for us. If you're part of a freeholder or management arrangement we're happy to quote in a format that works for that.
For a like-for-like replacement, generally not. If you're changing the material, altering the roof line, or the property is listed or in a conservation area, you may do. We'll flag it if we think it applies — but check with Bristol City Council to be certain.
We also cover Kingswood, Fishponds and Keynsham, along with Knowle, Totterdown, Hengrove, St Anne's, Hanham and Longwell Green. See the full list on our areas we cover page, or read more about our roofing services across Bristol.
