Roofers in Whitstable

Roofers covering Whitstable, Tankerton and Seasalter. Slate and tile work, fibreglass flat roofs, repairs and leadwork on tight coastal cottages.

Looking for roofing services in Whitstable?

Whitstable is one of the more interesting places we work. The old town is tight, characterful and genuinely awkward to roof — narrow alleys, weatherboarded cottages packed close together, roofs that run into each other, and very little room to get a scaffold up.

It's also right on the water. Whitstable takes the weather straight off the estuary, and the salt gets into everything.

We cover the town, Tankerton and out towards Seasalter, and we're used to the access problems that come with it.

Roofing in Whitstable

Access is the first thing we assess here, not the last. Around Island Wall, the harbour and the alleys off Harbour Street, properties sit shoulder to shoulder with no side access and sometimes no vehicle access at all. Materials get carried in. Scaffolding needs planning and occasionally a licence. Any roofer who quotes a Whitstable old-town job without seeing it is guessing.

The buildings themselves are a mix of weatherboarded fishermen's cottages, Victorian terraces and later infill. Roofs tend to be small, steep and full of junctions where one property meets the next — shared valleys, party-wall flashings and secret gutters between neighbouring roofs. These are the leaks we're called to most often, and they're rarely straightforward, because the water can travel a long way from where it gets in to where it shows up.

Being on the coast, salt does its usual work on nails, flashings and fixings. Weatherboarding adds another wrinkle: where a roof meets timber cladding, the detailing has to be right or water runs behind the boards and rots them from the back.

Up on Tankerton and out at Seasalter it opens out considerably — larger detached and semi-detached houses, better access, and the flat-roofed extensions and garages that we fit fibreglass to across the whole coast.


Roofing in Whitstable

Access is the first thing we assess here, not the last. Around Island Wall, the harbour and the alleys off Harbour Street, properties sit shoulder to shoulder with no side access and sometimes no vehicle access at all. Materials get carried in. Scaffolding needs planning and occasionally a licence. Any roofer who quotes a Whitstable old-town job without seeing it is guessing.

The buildings themselves are a mix of weatherboarded fishermen's cottages, Victorian terraces and later infill. Roofs tend to be small, steep and full of junctions where one property meets the next — shared valleys, party-wall flashings and secret gutters between neighbouring roofs. These are the leaks we're called to most often, and they're rarely straightforward, because the water can travel a long way from where it gets in to where it shows up.

Being on the coast, salt does its usual work on nails, flashings and fixings. Weatherboarding adds another wrinkle: where a roof meets timber cladding, the detailing has to be right or water runs behind the boards and rots them from the back.

Up on Tankerton and out at Seasalter it opens out considerably — larger detached and semi-detached houses, better access, and the flat-roofed extensions and garages that we fit fibreglass to across the whole coast.


What we do in Whitstable


Nearby towns to Whitstable

Featured project

The kind of work we bring to Whitstable

Our published case studies are mostly Thanet-side rather than Whitstable, and we'd rather say so than pretend otherwise.

The most relevant is probably our write-up on refurbishing a roof valley — the junction where two roof planes meet, which is exactly the detail that causes most of the trouble on Whitstable's tightly packed cottages. It's demanding work: the valley carries a lot of water, and if the lead or the tiling either side isn't right, it will find its way in.

For anyone with a flat-roofed extension in Tankerton or Seasalter, our flat roofing projects along the coast are a better guide to what we'd do.

TESTIMONIALS

What our customers think

We're rated 5.0 out of 5 from over 100 Google reviews and were a Nextdoor Neighbourhood Faves winner in 2023.

On the tight old-town roofs we'd always rather come and look before quoting. It's the only way to price it properly.

GET IN TOUCH

Get a free roof survey in Whitstable

If access is tricky we'll work it out — that's part of the job here. Give us a ring and we'll come and see it properly before we put a price to anything.

Frampton Roofing Ltd
Call Colin on 07771 269291
Email info@framptonroofing.uk
Broadstairs, Kent

Frequently Asked Questions

Questions we get asked in Whitstable

Here are a few frequently asked questions we get from customers in Whitstable. If you have another question in mind, please do get in touch and let us know, we'll do our best to answer!

There's no access down the side of my cottage. Can you still work on it?

Almost always, yes — it just needs planning rather than improvising on the day. In the old town we're used to carrying materials in, working out where a scaffold can physically stand, and arranging a licence where the scaffold has to go on the pavement or the highway. What we won't do is quote it blind. We'll come and look first so the price reflects the actual access.

The leak is coming from where my roof meets next door's. Whose is it?

That depends on the boundary and your deeds, and it's worth checking before anyone starts. Practically speaking, shared valleys and party-wall flashings between two cottages have to be repaired as one piece of work — fixing your half and leaving theirs rarely holds. We're happy to talk to both parties and quote it so the cost can be split sensibly.

My cottage is weatherboarded. Does that change the roofing?

It changes the detailing where the roof meets the cladding. If that junction isn't formed properly, water runs behind the boards and rots them from the back — and you won't see it until the timber is soft. It's a detail worth getting right rather than sealing over.

How do you inspect roofs in the old town where access is tight?

Often, yes. Where the roofs are steep, small and packed together with no safe ladder position, we have other ways to get a proper look without putting up a scaffold just to find out what's wrong.

Still have a question?

Roofing services in kent

Our Areas of Service

Along with Whitstable, we work across many different areas of Kent. If your area isn't listed here, please drop us a line.

Broadstairs

Margate

Ramsgate

Thanet

Canterbury