Frequently Asked Questions

This is one of the most common leak patterns and it can be misleading. It usually means water is only getting past the roof covering when rainfall is heavy or wind-driven enough to force it through a small gap — a slightly lifted tile, a hairline crack in flashing — that doesn't leak in light rain. The stain fading between wet spells doesn't mean the problem has gone away; it means the fault is still there, just not always active. It's worth having it looked at rather than waiting to see if it "comes back".

An active leak can often be traced while it's happening — sometimes it's actually easier to see or hear exactly where water is getting in. A full, permanent repair usually needs the affected area to be reasonably dry to be done properly, but a temporary weatherproofing measure can often be put in place regardless of conditions to stop the situation getting worse while a proper repair is arranged.

Move anything valuable away from the affected area and use a bucket or container to catch dripping water, checking it periodically so it doesn't overflow. If a ceiling is bulging with trapped water, carefully piercing it from below into a bucket can relieve the pressure before it collapses on its own — only do this if you can do so safely. Treat any water near electrics as a hazard, and never go up into the loft or onto the roof yourself in the dark or in poor weather.

Water very rarely drips straight down from where it enters the roof. It tends to track sideways along a rafter or batten, or run along a layer of felt or underlay, before it finally finds a gap and drips through — often a noticeable distance from the actual fault. That's why a proper repair traces the water back to its real source in the loft, rather than just treating the spot where the stain shows on the ceiling.

It's not always an active emergency, but it shouldn't be left indefinitely either. A slipped or missing tile is a genuine gap in the roof's covering, and the fixing failure that caused it is often present in nearby tiles too — the window between "no leak yet" and "active leak" can close quickly in the next spell of wind or rain. The free triage tool on this site can help you judge how quickly to act.

This is a repair-first site, and most roofs enquired about genuinely are repairable, but a roofer will always tell you honestly if a roof has reached the point where repeated repairs are no longer the sensible option. The free Repair or Replace guide on this site walks through the key signals, though only an on-roof inspection can give a definite answer.

No — never access a roof yourself, especially in the dark, in wet or windy conditions, or without the right training and access equipment. It's genuinely dangerous, and it also risks damaging tiles or slates that were otherwise sound. Photograph what you can safely see from the ground or a window instead.

This site covers 42 areas across Hampshire — see the full coverage area for the complete list of towns.

Get in touch and your enquiry will be passed to a local roofer covering your area, who will arrange a no-obligation visit to properly assess the roof, trace any leak to its actual source, and give you an honest answer on what it needs — whether that's a straightforward repair or, in the genuine minority of cases, something bigger. There's no pressure and no obligation to go ahead.

Every roof and every repair is different, so a roofer won't quote a figure without actually seeing the problem — anything else would be a guess. Book a free, no-obligation survey and the roofer will give you an honest quote once they know what's actually needed. The free cost-factors guide on this site can also give you a general sense of what typically drives repair costs.

Be cautious of anyone who turns up unannounced claiming to have "noticed a problem from the road", pressures you to decide today, or asks for cash upfront with nothing in writing. The free rogue-roofer checklist on this site covers the warning signs and the exact questions worth asking before you let anyone near your roof.

Always ask for a written, itemised quote before agreeing to anything, ask who will actually be doing the work, and ask what happens if the work reveals something unexpected once they're up there. The free rogue-roofer checklist on this site has a fuller list of questions worth asking any roofer.