Birds Farmhouse
Listed Grade II on 8 May 2002, so changes to its roof covering or chimneys need consent thinking first.
Roofers in Bathpool
Birds Farmhouse, the New Cut and the canal side of Taunton
Bathpool is a village-suburb on the A38 by the River Tone and the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal. We survey each roof and show you photos before pricing.
Canal, cut and farmhouse at Bathpool
The New Cut
A channel on the 1888 Ordnance Survey map but not the 1839 tithe map, probably engineered with the railway.
Creech Castle lime kiln
A medieval lime kiln was recorded at Creech Castle, Bathpool, on the south side of the settlement.
Street map of Bathpool with Monkton Heathfield, Halcon, Blackbrook, Priorswood marked around it, and Taunton.
Between Monkton Heathfield, Halcon and Priorswood
Monkton Heathfield lies just north of Bathpool and Halcon to the south-west, with Priorswood to the west, Ruishton to the south-east and Blackbrook to the south.
About 2 miles north-east of Taunton, Somerset Council (unitary).
Work we carry out around Bathpool
Four checks by the river
Reading a Bathpool roof, from the farmhouse listing to the garage
Four checks for a house, porch or garage in Bathpool, from consent to small metal roofs and what the flood map does and does not say.
Check 1 of 4Birds Farmhouse and nearby designations
Who needs to agree to your roof work
Birds Farmhouse, listed Grade II on 8 May 2002, is the listed building the national register names closest to the middle of Bathpool, and two entries in all lie within 500 metres of it. The nearest conservation areas on the national dataset, within about 2.5 km, are Cheddon Fitzpaine, Hestercombe, Mount Street and Vivary Park, St Mary and St James, South Road and West Monkton. Hestercombe was designated on 12 November 1998 and West Monkton on 21 April 1993. St Mary and St James and South Road both date from 15 January 1975 and were revised on 26 April 2007.
Does a listed farmhouse lose its right to re-roof?
No. It keeps the ordinary right to re-roof, but any work that would change the features it was listed for also needs listed building consent from Somerset Council. We treat matching repairs as the easy case. A different tile, a new ridge detail, a roof window cut into the front slope or an altered chimney is where consent comes in.
Does an Article 4 listing nearby matter?
Somerset Council's list of Article 4 directions includes one for Cheddon Fitzpaine, confirmed in 1977. Check with the planning team what it covers and whether it reaches your address. Our guide to planning permission for roof work explains what such a direction does in general.
On a farmhouse with a long history, the roof usually shows repairs from several eras. We map them on the survey photographs so that a consent officer, a buyer or a later owner can tell the old from the new. None of the nearby conservation areas covers Bathpool's own centre on the dataset, but we check your address against the council's maps before a price goes out, since a boundary can follow a hedge or a lane rather than a village limit.
Look for
- Tile colours that do not match
- Cement used on stone or brick
- Roof windows in the front slope
- Lowered or capped chimney stacks
Check 2 of 4Lead and zinc on porches and bays
Little roofs that carry big water
Suburban houses are full of small roofs that are not tile or slate: the flat top of a bay window, a porch canopy, the cheek of a dormer. They are often covered in lead or zinc, laid in sheets with rolled or folded joints that let the metal move as it warms and cools. Because the area is small, a failure here shows quickly as a stain on the ceiling below. Water sits on a flat porch top longer than on a slope, so a hairline split that a pitched roof would shrug off can let in a surprising amount over a wet winter, and the damage is hidden in the timbers beneath.
Sound or needs work
- Sound: smooth lead, joints rolled and tight
- Needs work: split seams, ripples, dents
What decides the price
- Area and number of small roofs
- Lead code or zinc gauge needed
- Whether the deck beneath is sound
- Reach to a bay or porch top
How long should lead last, and how long zinc?
MyJobQuote's guide to lead flashing says it can last for over 80 years, which is a lower bound. VM Zinc, citing the BRE Environmental Product Declaration for zinc, gives 100 years. Neither figure is a guarantee, and both assume the metal is laid correctly, ventilated where it needs to be and kept clear of debris. A small bay roof with a blocked outlet will fail long before the metal wears out.
Which lead code does a bay roof need?
Lead is sold in numbered codes by thickness and weight. Royston Lead's brochure lists code 5 for flashings, pitched valley gutters, box gutters and dormers, and code 6 and above for heavier positions, with code 4 for soakers and lighter flashings. The right code depends on the span, the exposure and what the metal has to do. One note of caution: BS 6229 covers flexible membranes on flat roofs, not lead, so do not borrow its falls for a lead bay.
Our lead work page explains what we repair and replace. At the survey we photograph each seam from close up, so you can see splits and ripples for yourself, and we tell you whether a patch is worth the cost or whether the sheet has had its day.
Check 3 of 4Flood Zone 2 and your roof
Is the water from above or below?
On the Environment Agency's Flood Map for Planning, the point at the middle of Bathpool falls in Flood Zone 2. A map like that describes land and the chance of flooding in a general way, and it says nothing about your roof or your house in particular. For your own address, use the GOV.UK long-term flood risk checker, and its Check for flooding page for what is happening now.
Wet at the top of a wall points to the roof; wet at the bottom usually points elsewhere.
From the ground
- Look for spilling gutters
- Check for stains high on walls
- Watch for slipped slates or tiles
- Photograph anything you find
Leave to a roofer
- Inspecting the loft with a torch
- Testing timbers and insulation for damp
- Tracing a stain to a joint
- Clearing gutter outlets safely
Is a damp wall a roof problem?
Not always, and a roofer who says it is should show you why. Damp that starts at the foot of a wall is a ground and drainage matter. Damp that begins high, at the top of an outside wall or on a ceiling below the roof, is where a roofer can help. Brown stains that grow after rain, drips at the wall plate and wet insulation point upward. Mould at skirting level points the other way.
What can I check after heavy rain?
From the ground, look for water pouring over a gutter or running down the face of a wall, and for slates or tiles hanging out of line. From the loft, with a torch, look for damp timber, wet insulation and light coming through. Take dated photographs of anything you find, because they help us and anyone else you consult. If the stain is directly under a valley, a chimney or a roof window, that is a strong hint about where to look first, and we start there at the survey. Water often travels some way down the timber before it falls, so the wet patch is not always below the hole.
Gutters and downpipes carry a roof's water away, and our gutters, soffits and fascias page covers the repairs. Whatever the map shows for the land, a sound roof and clear drains give rain nowhere to settle against the house.
Check 4 of 4Garage roofs, sheet and felt
Repair, test or replace the lot
A garage roof is the roof most owners look at least, and it often goes longest between visits. Many garages built before 2000 have corrugated sheet roofs that could be asbestos cement. HSE tells owners to presume asbestos in any building from before 2000, and to treat every asbestos cement roof as fragile. Others have felt on a flat deck, or a pitched roof with a tile or sheet covering. Felt has its own working life: Less puts torch-on felt at 10 to 20 years.
What decides the price
- Size of the roof and its covering
- Whether the sheets are tested first
- Over-roofing or full removal
- Disposal and waste paperwork
What does a garage roof cost?
MyJobQuote's guide (Oct 2026) puts a garage roof at between £750 and £3,500, with an average of £1,500, as a typical UK range. For asbestos, the same site gives an average of around £2,750 for removing an asbestos roof, and a typical asbestos survey at £325 (Sep 2026). Size, access and the covering move all of these, which is why the survey comes first.
Can I just put a new roof over the old sheets?
Sometimes, and it can be the careful choice, because leaving intact sheets alone avoids disturbing them. It depends on the state of the sheets and the frame below. Careful removal of intact asbestos cement sheeting is non-licensed work. If the sheets will be broken up, it becomes notifiable non-licensed work. Waste is double-wrapped and goes on a consignment note.
Our garage and asbestos roofs page covers each route. Once the survey is done you receive photographs of your own roof and one total price in writing for the whole job, with the chosen route explained. Send us your Bathpool address and tell us what covers the garage, if you know.
Walked the roof?
- 1 read
- 2 not read yet
- 3 not read yet
- 4 not read yet
When you have read the checks, we walk the roof and show you the photos.
Bathpool roofs, from the farmhouse to the garage
What changes when a Bathpool house such as Birds Farmhouse is listed Grade II?
Birds Farmhouse has been listed since 8 May 2002. A listed house keeps its right to re-roof, but works affecting the features it was listed for also need listed building consent. Matching repairs are the simple case. Ask Somerset Council's planning team before changing a covering, ridge, roof window or chimney.
Is lead or zinc the better covering for a small Bathpool porch roof?
Neither wins outright. Lead can last for over 80 years, and VM Zinc cites 100 years for zinc from the BRE declaration. The better choice depends on the shape, exposure and finish you want. Both need correct falls, clear outlets and well-made joints, and we recommend after seeing the roof.
Does Flood Zone 2 on the map mean my Bathpool roof is at risk?
No. The Environment Agency's Flood Map for Planning shows the mapped centre point of Bathpool in Zone 2, but it maps land and not roofs. For your own house, use the GOV.UK long-term flood risk checker. A roof's job is to shed rain, and sound gutters and clear drains help it do that.
Should I have a Bathpool garage roof tested for asbestos before replacing it?
If the garage was built or refurbished before 2000, HSE says to assume asbestos is present. A test settles the question. MyJobQuote gives a typical asbestos survey at £325 (Sep 2026). Careful removal of intact asbestos cement is non-licensed work, and broken-up sheets make it notifiable. We never skip the test.
Suburbs and villages around Bathpool
Get a Bathpool roof survey booked
Send the address and what you have seen from the ground, and we will arrange the visit.