Getting a roof ready for winter
In short
An autumn visit to clear the gutters and valleys and deal with anything already loose, before the weather that will find it. On the exposed ground east of the town this is the single most useful thing that can be done to a roof in a year.
Also called: Winter roof check · Autumn gutter clearance · Storm proofing a roof · Pre-winter roof maintenance
Signs you need this
- Gutters not cleared since last year
- Trees overhanging the roof
- An exposed property on the high ground
- Known loose or slipped material still on the roof
- Cracked ridge or verge mortar noticed over the summer
- A hard winter forecast and no idea what state the roof is in
Storm damage is rarely random. A gale takes off what was already loose — a ridge tile whose bedding had cracked in August, a verge that had lost its mortar, a slate that had slipped an inch. The wind is the trigger, not the cause, and almost all of it was visible to somebody who looked in October.
That is what a pre-winter visit is for. Clear the gutters, valleys and outlets, which are full of the summer's moss and the autumn's leaves. Check the ridge, hips and verges for cracked bedding and loose units. Look at the chimney flaunching and flashings. Deal with the slipped slate now, rather than in a February emergency at a February emergency's price and availability.
Blocked gutters are the biggest single item. A gutter full of debris going into a wet season means water down the wall for months, and where it goes backwards rather than forwards it rots the fascia and the rafter feet. Clearing it in October is an hour's work; the joinery it prevents is not.
Exposure decides how much this matters and there is a real gradient across this patch. Temperature falls roughly half a degree per hundred metres, and the Met Office records substantially more air frost on the high ground than on the Cheshire plain — Buxton averages 51.5 air-frost days a year against 40.0 at low-lying Woodford. Kerridge Hill is 313 metres, Tegg's Nose 380, Shutlingsloe 506. A roof up there gets more freeze-thaw cycles, more wind loading and more driven rain than the same roof in the town, and it is where a pre-winter check earns its money.
Trees are the other variable. A roof under mature trees fills its gutters and its valleys every autumn without fail, and the timing matters — too early and the leaves are still coming down, too late and the first heavy rain has already backed everything up. Late autumn, once most of the leaf fall is done, is the window.
The practical benefit beyond the roof itself is availability. Every roofer in Cheshire is booked out within an hour of a serious gale, and an emergency call-out in January costs more and waits longer than the same work booked in October. Getting it done before the weather is partly about the roof and partly about not being in the queue.
What the job covers
- Gutters, valleys, outlets and gullies cleared
- Ridge, hips and verges checked for loose or cracked bedding
- Chimney flaunching and flashings inspected
- Slipped or loose material refixed before the weather finds it
- Photographs and a note of anything needing follow-up
- Priority given to exposed properties on the high ground
What it costs
We don't publish a price for this yet, because a number pulled out of the air is worse than no number at all — your roofer has to honour it. On roofing it would also be close to meaningless: access is often the biggest single factor, and it varies enormously house to house. You'll get a firm price for your actual job when they ring you back, before any work starts. The quote itself is free and there's no obligation either way.
Common questions
When should this be done?
Late autumn, once most of the leaf fall is over but before the wet and windy weather sets in properly. Too early and the gutters fill again; too late and the first storms have already found whatever was loose.
Does it really prevent storm damage?
It prevents a good deal of it. Gales take off what was already loose — cracked ridge bedding, a lost verge, a slipped slate — rather than lifting sound material. Dealing with those in October removes most of what February would have found.
I am up the hill. Does that change things?
It makes it matter more. The high ground east of Macclesfield gets substantially more air frost than the Cheshire plain and considerably more wind loading — Kerridge Hill is 313 metres, Shutlingsloe 506. Freeze-thaw is what cracks mortar bedding, and more of it means faster failure. Exposed roofs are where a pre-winter check pays best.
Is it cheaper than an emergency call-out?
Considerably, and not only in price. After a serious gale every roofer in the county is booked out within the hour, so a January emergency means waiting as well as paying. Work booked in October happens when it suits you.
Need this doing in Macclesfield?
Tell us the job and it goes straight to our local roofer — one call back, usually the same day. Free quote, no obligation.