Bristol winters aren’t Siberian, but they’re wet, windy and punctuated by Atlantic storms — exactly the weather that turns small roof weaknesses into indoor water features. An hour of checking in autumn routinely saves a January emergency callout. Here’s the checklist, ground-level only.
1. Walk the street and look up
From the pavement (binoculars help): slipped, cracked or missing tiles; gaps along the ridge line; anything sitting on the roof that shouldn’t be. On slate roofs, look for slates hanging at odd angles — the classic sign of failing fixings. One slipped tile now is a £150-ish repair; the same tile gone in a February storm can mean soaked insulation and a ceiling down.
2. Clear the gutters — or have them cleared
Autumn leaves plus the first storm equals overflowing gutters, and overflowing gutters soak walls. A professional clear costs £60–£120; damp remediation inside costs a great deal more. While the gutters are being done, joints, brackets and downpipes get a once-over too — see our roofline page.
3. Check the flashings
Look at where the roof meets anything vertical: chimney, adjoining walls, dormers. Lifting, wrinkled or visibly gapped lead is the most common winter failure point we’re called to. Catch it in October and it’s a planned repair in decent weather.
4. Ten minutes in the loft
Pick a rainy autumn day and go up with a torch: damp patches or staining on timbers, daylight where daylight shouldn’t be, wet or slumped insulation, condensation on the underside of the membrane. The loft reveals slow leaks months before they reach a ceiling.
5. Flat roofs: clear and inspect
Flat roofs over extensions and garages collect leaves and silt that block outlets. Standing water (“ponding”) through a freeze-thaw winter finds every weakness. Clear the outlets, and if the surface is blistered, cracked or pooling, get it assessed — our flat roofing page covers repair vs replacement.
6. Trim what overhangs
Branches over the roof drop debris into gutters, scrape coverings in wind, and shade slopes into growing moss. Cutting back before winter is cheaper than the consequences.
If you find something
Autumn is the best time of year to book roof work: weather windows still decent, diaries not yet storm-swamped. Get in touch for a free inspection and written quote — and have winter arrive to find your roof boring and watertight.