Reading Roofing Company | Roofers in Reading ā Re-Roofing, Terraced & Slate Roofs, Flat & Commercial
Roof repairs, re-roofing and flat roofs across Reading and the Thames valley. Free surveys, fixed written quotes, tidy workmanship.
Reading Roofing Company are roofers working across Reading, Caversham, Tilehurst, Earley, Theale, Purley on Thames and up the Thames towards Goring and Henley. Re-roofing and new roofs, slate work, terraced and townhouse roofs, valley and parapet gutters, party-wall chimney stacks, and EPDM and GRP flat roofs on extensions.
Reading is a terrace town. Newtown, Katesgrove, east Reading and the streets behind Oxford Road are largely Victorian, and on a terrace the roof does not stop at your boundary. Valleys are shared, the chimney stack usually sits on the party wall, and the gutter behind a parapet can drain three houses. It is one roof with several owners, and pricing it as if it were a detached house is how people end up paying twice.
That shapes how we work here. Access is agreed before a number is written down, neighbours are told before a scaffold appears, and where the job touches a shared structure we say so at survey rather than discovering it once the roof is open.
Where most of our work sits
Re-Roofing & New Roofs
Full strip back to the rafters, breathable membrane, new treated battens and tile or slate fixed to BS 5534.
Flat Roofs: EPDM & GRP
Tired felt on the 1960sā80s estates replaced with a warm roof build-up over PIR insulation and OSB3.
Chimneys & Leadwork
Repointing, flaunching, code 4 lead and stack removal ā including the shared stacks that sit on every terrace party wall.
Roof Repairs
Slipped slates, split valleys and blocked parapet gutters, repaired in the same material as the rest of the roof.
Terraced and townhouse roofing in Reading
Victorian terrace roofs
The standard Reading terrace is a double-pitch front slope with a rear back-addition outrigger. Both were built as one continuous roof across several houses, so a repair at one end can only be done properly by understanding what is happening at the other.
Butterfly and London roofs
Many of the older terraces carry an M-shaped roof with a valley gutter running down the middle, hidden behind a front parapet. They are elegant and they are the single most common source of serious water ingress in this town.
Valley gutter renewal
A central valley gutter is usually lead or a lead-lined timber box, and it fails at the joints and at the outlet. Renewing it is a proper job with proper lead, not a coat of liquid rubber over the top of a split.
Parapet gutters and parapet walls
Parapets take weather on both faces and are frequently the thing that is actually leaking when a top-floor ceiling stains. Copings, back-gutters and the flashing behind them all get checked before anyone blames the slates.
Party-wall chimney stacks
A stack straddling the boundary belongs to both houses. Work that cuts into or rebuilds it is notifiable under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, and getting your neighbour's agreement in writing first is cheaper than getting it afterwards.
Shared and adjoining roof repairs
Where a defect crosses a boundary we are happy to price the whole run and let two households split it. One scaffold across three houses costs each of them far less than three scaffolds on three separate Saturdays.
Scaffold and access on narrow streets
Scaffolding onto a Reading pavement needs a licence from the highway authority, and reaching a rear outrigger often means access across next door's garden. Both get arranged before the quote is confirmed, not on the morning of the job.
Roof repairs matched to the street
On a terrace, a patch in the wrong colour slate is visible from the pavement for the next forty years. Salvaged and matched material goes on the elevations people can see.
Re-roofing and roof repairs across Reading
Re-roofing and new roofs
Stripped to the rafters, new breathable underlay and battens, re-covered in matching material. On a mid-terrace this is worth coordinating with a neighbour if they are close to needing the same, because the shared scaffold is a large slice of the cost.
Slate roofing
Welsh and Spanish slate across the Victorian stock. A slate roof shedding slates has usually lost its nails rather than its slates, so re-laying with salvaged material and new fixings is often both cheaper and more sympathetic than re-covering.
Roof repairs and slipped tiles
Individual slipped or cracked units, tired ridge lines, lifted flashings and split valleys ā the everyday work, quoted as a repair when a repair is what it needs.
Roof leak repair and leak tracing
On a terrace, water entering at a shared valley can appear two rooms away and one house along. We trace it back rather than sealing whatever is directly above the damp patch.
Emergency roof repairs
Storm damage, lifted ridges and live leaks made safe and covered the same visit where we can, with photographs taken before anything is disturbed.
Concrete and clay tile roofs
Tilehurst, Woodley and the later suburbs are largely interlocking concrete tile. The tile still has decades in it long after the felt beneath has perished, which is why these roofs leak while looking sound.
Roof cleaning and moss removal
The tree-lined roads through Caversham and Emmer Green grow moss quickly. It comes off by hand ā a pressure washer forces water up under the laps and shortens the life of the covering.
Roof surveys and condition reports
An independent written opinion on the state of a roof, with pictures and a priced list of what it needs and when. Useful when buying, selling, settling an estate, or deciding whether this is a this-year problem or a five-year one.
Loft ventilation and condensation
A cold, sealed loft in a terrace can produce enough condensation to look exactly like a leak. Airflow at eaves and ridge fixes it; more sealant makes it worse.
Flat roofs on Reading extensions and garages
EPDM rubber flat roofing
One sheet of rubber across the field of the roof with no seams to open up. It is our default on rear extensions and garages, and it goes down cold, which matters when you are working over a hundred-year-old timber deck.
GRP fibreglass flat roofing
Cured in place so it forms upstands, kerbs and outlets as one piece. Better than a sheet system where a small roof is full of pipes, rooflights and awkward junctions.
Back-addition and outrigger roofs
The rear addition on a Reading terrace often has a small flat or lean-to roof squeezed against the neighbour. Cramped, unloved, and the source of a great many kitchen ceiling stains.
Flat roof replacement on extensions
Kitchen and bathroom extensions added decades ago are mostly still carrying their original bitumen build-up, and it has generally had its day. Stripping and re-covering is typically a day or two, and you keep using the room throughout.
Garage roof replacement
Rear and side garages, often reached down a shared alley with no vehicle access at all. Where an old cement-sheet roof turns out to contain asbestos we tell you before quoting and price its lawful removal separately.
Flat roof skylights and lanterns
A lantern sitting proud of a rear extension needs a kerb tall enough that standing water can never reach the seal, and a membrane taken right up under the frame. Retro-fitted units on terrace extensions are where we see this done cheaply and regretted quickly.
Warm deck and insulation upgrades
Renewing a flat roof is the natural point to improve its thermal performance, but the order matters. Pack insulation under an existing deck and close off the air path and you will condense moisture onto the underside of the boards and rot them quietly.
Chimneys, leadwork and roofline
Chimney repairs and repointing
Repointing, rebuilding above roof level, new flaunching and pot work. On a terrace this is scaffold work by definition ā the stack is usually in the middle of a roof slope with nothing to lean a ladder against.
Chimney stack removal
Taking a disused stack down and weathering the roof over the gap removes a structure that will otherwise need maintaining forever. Where the stack sits on a party wall it is shared, so this is a conversation with your neighbour before it is a job.
Lead flashings and soakers
Stepped flashings cut into the brickwork and wedged, with soakers under each course. Mastic smeared along a stack is a temporary measure being sold as a repair.
Lead valleys and box gutters
Laid in lengths that let the lead move with temperature, dressed over proper substrate. Lead run too long in a single piece will split, and no amount of skill in the dressing prevents it.
Fascias, soffits and bargeboards
The timber comes off rather than being capped over. Cladding a rotten fascia hides the rot and guarantees the gutter drops again in a few years.
Guttering and rainwater goods
Renewal in the matching profile, re-bracketed and set to fall properly. On terraces we check the shared downpipes and hopper heads at the same time, because on a run of houses that is where the actual blockage usually turns out to be.
Roof drainage on parapets and hidden gutters
Concealed drainage has no margin for error. A single blocked outlet behind a parapet will put water into the building rather than over the edge of it, which is why these want clearing on a schedule.
Commercial roofing in Reading
Commercial flat roof replacement
Offices, shops, units and community buildings across Reading and the Thames Valley corridor. The largest roofs we price, and the ones where the disruption of getting it wrong dwarfs the cost of the covering.
Single-ply and liquid-applied overlay
Single-ply on large clear spans; a liquid overlay where the deck and insulation are sound and the building has to stay open. We quote both so the saving on the overlay is visible rather than assumed.
Roofs over shops with flats above
Common on the Oxford Road and in Caversham centre, and awkward: a commercial ground floor, residential above, and often more than one owner. Sequencing and access matter as much as the roofing.
Condition surveys and dilapidations
Written, photographed assessments of a commercial roof with costs attached to each defect. Landlords and tenants both use these at lease events, where the argument is usually about what is fair wear and what is disrepair.
Planned maintenance and gutter clearance
Commercial roofs overwhelmingly fail at blocked outlets rather than at the membrane. Scheduled clearing is the cheapest roofing money any building budget spends.
What roofing work costs in Reading
Numbers first, sales second. These are the ranges Reading jobs land in during 2026, with scaffold or tower access included where the job needs it. Slate roofs sit at the top of each range and concrete tile at the bottom.
| Job | Typical cost | Time on site |
|---|---|---|
| Slipped slates or tiles replaced (1ā6) | Ā£160 ā Ā£450 | Same day |
| Chimney stack repointed and re-flaunched | Ā£550 ā Ā£1,400 | 1ā2 days |
| Parapet or box gutter re-lined in lead | Ā£700 ā Ā£1,900 | 1ā2 days |
| Garage or extension roof re-covered in EPDM | Ā£1,500 ā Ā£2,900 | 1ā2 days |
| Re-roof, 2-bed Victorian terrace | Ā£5,500 ā Ā£8,500 | 5ā8 days |
2026 guide ranges for Reading. Every job gets a free survey and a fixed price in writing before any work starts ā condition, access and material choice decide where in the range you land.
How we run a roofing job on a Reading terrace
Terraced roofing has an extra stage that detached roofing does not: agreeing access and shared responsibility before anybody prices anything.
Step 1 ā Surveying the roof and the shared structures
On a terrace the survey deliberately goes beyond your own roof slope. The party-wall stack, the shared valley, the parapet behind the front elevation and the state of next door's covering all affect what your roof needs and what it will cost, so all of them get looked at.
Step 2 ā Access, scaffold licences and neighbour notice
Reaching a rear outrigger often means crossing a neighbour's garden, and scaffolding onto the pavement needs a licence from the highway authority. Where work touches a shared structure, notice under the Party Wall etc. Act may be required. All of it is settled before a date is confirmed.
Step 3 ā The written quotation
One fixed price with scaffold, licences and disposal inside it. Where a defect runs across a boundary we are happy to price the whole run so two households can share one scaffold ā it is substantially cheaper for both than doing it twice.
Step 4 ā Stripping, salvage and re-covering
Sound slate is set aside and re-laid on the elevations that face the street, with new material going where nobody will ever compare it. Valleys, parapets and hidden gutters are renewed properly in lead rather than coated over.
Step 5 ā Completion, clearing and guarantees
Neighbours are told before the scaffold goes up and again before it comes down. We clear the street frontage rather than leaving it for the council, take completion photographs from height, and issue written workmanship and manufacturer guarantees.
Who we work for across Reading
Terrace and townhouse owners
The core of what we do. Victorian and Edwardian terraces through Newtown, Katesgrove, east Reading and Caversham, where the roof is shared whether the deeds say so or not.
Student and HMO landlords
Reading has a large rented sector, and let property needs work turned round quickly and documented properly. We can coordinate access with tenants directly.
Managing agents and freeholders
Roof repairs and replacements across managed blocks and freehold portfolios, with condition reports and costed schedules for service-charge budgeting.
Shops with flats above
Common along the Oxford Road and in Caversham centre, and genuinely awkward ā commercial below, residential above, and frequently more than one owner to satisfy before anything can start.
Buyers and sellers
Independent photographed reports with costs, used to settle what a purchase survey raised and, often, to agree a price adjustment on the strength of it.
Commercial premises
Flat roof replacement and overlay on offices, units and community buildings across Reading and the Thames Valley corridor.
Frequently asked questions
Ready for a free, no-obligation quote?
Call 0118 230 9278