First there came Dudley, immediately followed by Eunice, and as if that wasn’t enough, then there was Franklin!
In February 2022, three storms battered the UK in less than a week, reaching wind speeds of 81 mph in-land and there was a lot of wind damaged roofs in our surrounding areas of Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire, and Gloucestershire.
When I returned to work after the storms, I had 99 phone messages about damage caused to roofs. Once I had responded to these, I also had 70 emails about ongoing projects that also needed my attention. I have finally managed to catch up and the quotes have now all gone out to our very many new potential clients.
Wind damaged roofs
Most of the wind damage was to roof ridge tiles that had blown off, mostly on relatively modern houses. The reason for this is most likely to be the wrong mortar was used by the original roofers. On many new-build sites there is a silo of pre-mixed mortar for use by the builders for brick work.
Unfortunately, the roofers on these sites often go with the “one size fits all” approach to roofing and use this very same mortar. This mortar isn’t designed for use on roofing tiles, it’s too weak and is liable to fail. Changes to BS5534 in 2015 were designed to prevent this happening, but properties built before this time are the most vulnerable.
Quality roofing craftsmanship
We feel justified in the pride we take at our quality craftsmanship, with so many of our roofs surviving unscathed in the face of these three consecutive storms. We don’t usually work on new build houses, with our specialist area being historical properties. However, as roofers we offer a service and when people call us about their wind damage roofs, we will of course respond.
Back in January 1990, Cyclone Daria hit the UK. It was an extremely violent storm with winds speeds recorded between 70 and 75 mph. After this storm the team at West Country Tiling carried out over 550 repairs to wind damaged roofs, compared to the 80 repairs this time around.
This goes to show that the roofing industry has improved dramatically over the past 30 years, with the methods and materials used being of better quality.
Why use West Country Tiling
If you have a storm damaged roof that needs to be repaired by our highly experienced roofers, please get in touch on 01373462224 or by emailing us at info@westcountrytiling.com.