Portishead Roofing Company
Local roofers for Portishead, from the Victorian streets around the High Street to Redcliffe Bay and the Marina. Repairs, re-roofs, flat roofs and leadwork, backed by a 20 year written guarantee.
Roofing for a town built on a slope above the estuary
Portishead climbs from the waterfront up a ridge, and its roofs face very different conditions depending on which side of that ridge they sit. Nore Road and Redcliffe Bay look north-west over the water towards Wales; the newer streets of the Marina and the Village Quarter sit low on former dock and power-station land; and the Georgian and Victorian streets of Woodhill and West Hill include two of the town’s four conservation areas.
We are a service-area business covering Portishead and the surrounding areas, including Clevedon, Nailsea, Pill and the Gordano villages. You ring us, you talk to a roofer, and you get a written quote after someone has actually been up and looked.
Most of what we do is ordinary, careful work: replacing slipped slates and tiles, renewing tired flashings, sorting ridge and verge details, and putting flat roofs right. When a roof is genuinely worn out we will tell you, and when it is not we will tell you that too.
More about usWhat you actually get
20 year written guarantee
A written document, not a verbal promise, setting out what is covered on the work we carry out. Read how it works.
A local roofer on the phone
Calls go to the people who do the work. You describe the problem once, to someone who can tell you what it is likely to be.
20 years in the trade
Two decades of slate, tile, lead and flat-roof work, from Victorian chimney stacks to modern block roofs.
Straight answers
Photos of what we find, an explanation in plain English, and a repair where a repair will do.
Roofing work we carry out
Roof Repairs
Slipped slates and tiles, leaks at chimneys and abutments, failed ridge and verge mortar. Diagnosed and fixed.
Read more ›Re-Roofing
Full strip and re-cover when a roof has reached the end of its life, with new membrane, battens and fixings.
Read more ›Flat Roofs & EPDM
Single-ply EPDM and other flat-roof systems for extensions, dormers, garages and balconies.
Read more ›Leadwork
Chimney flashings, soakers, valleys and bay roofs, worked to the Lead Sheet Association guidance.
Read more ›Guttering, Fascias & Soffits
Blocked and leaking gutters cleared or replaced, rotten timber fascias renewed in uPVC or timber.
Read more ›Emergency Callouts
Storm damage and active leaks made safe and watertight as quickly as we can reach you.
Read more ›Three details worth knowing
Portishead and the surrounding areas
Not sure if we cover you? Ring 0800 494 7291. Area guides: Redcliffe Bay & Nore Road, Woodhill & West Hill, the Marina & Village Quarter.
Roofing in Portishead: what shapes the work
A town of very different eras
Portishead grew as a Victorian dock and seaside town, spread up its hillsides after the war, and then grew sharply again in the early 2000s on the site of the old power stations. North Somerset’s character statement for the town traces that sequence street by street, and it matters on a roof: a Georgian terrace on Woodhill Road, a 1970s house off Brampton Way and a four-storey block on the Marina need different materials, different access and different detailing.
Exposure on the seaward slopes
The Met Office describes south-west England as one of the more exposed parts of the UK, with the strongest winds nearly always coming from between south and north-west. Along the Bristol Channel the wind is also funnelled along the estuary. Houses on the hillside facing the water take the brunt; it shows up first as lifted ridge tiles, loose verges and slates slipping where nails have corroded.
Wet winters
The Met Office puts annual rainfall in the Bath and Bristol area at around 800 to 900mm, with Atlantic depressions at their most vigorous in autumn and winter. That is when gutters overflow, valleys back up and tired flashings start letting water in. A check before the autumn is far cheaper than a ceiling repair after it.
Conservation areas and listed buildings
Portishead has four conservation areas: Court Farm Environs, West Hill and Welly Bottom, Woodhill Road, and East Wood. The town also has 38 listed buildings. Work on these roofs, especially changes of material, can need consent, and we will tell you when we think it does before anything is ordered.
Slate, concrete tile and pantile
The character statement records pitched roofs in slate or concrete tile across most of the town, with concrete pantiles common in the Victorian streets and red pantiles on much of the newer housing. Matching a profile matters: the wrong replacement tile will not lap properly and lets water track under it.
Flat roofs on the newer blocks
The Marina’s waterfront buildings have flat roofs, and flat-roofed extensions and dormers are common across the older streets. Ponding, failed upstands and blocked outlets are the usual causes of trouble. See our flat roofs page.
Chimneys
Tall chimney stacks and ornate Victorian pots are noted in Woodhill, Slade Road and around the High Street. Stacks catch the weather, and the lead flashings where they meet the roof are among the most common sources of leaks we see. See leadwork.
Sources: Portishead Community Character Statement and Locally Valued Heritage Assets in Portishead (Portishead Neighbourhood Plan, hosted by North Somerset Council); Met Office, South West England climate; planning.data.gov.uk conservation area records.
Got a roof problem in Portishead? Let us take a look.
Free site visit, a written quote, and a straight answer on whether it needs a repair or something more.