Lyngford House
Listed Grade II in May 1985, so check the consent route before its roof changes.
Roofers in Priorswood
Lyngford House, Tudor Cottages and a Catholic church nearby
Priorswood is a suburb on the north-east side of Taunton, with four listed entries within 500 metres of its centre. You see photographs of the roof before any figure.
Listed names around Priorswood
Tudor and Manor Cottages
An outbuilding there has been listed Grade II since July 1975, and its roof is covered by that listing.
St Teresa of Lisieux church
The Roman Catholic church and its attached presbytery are listed Grade II, with a consent route of their own.
Street map of Priorswood with Lyngford, Cheddon Fitzpaine, Rowbarton, Halcon marked around it, and Taunton.
Between Lyngford, Rowbarton and Bathpool
Lyngford lies a short way to the south-west of Priorswood and Rowbarton to the west, with Cheddon Fitzpaine to the north-east, while Bathpool and Monkton Heathfield lie east.
About 2 miles north-east of Taunton, Somerset Council (unitary).
Four checks on the Tone side of Taunton
Reading a Priorswood roof, from the drains to the party wall
Four checks for a suburban house or garage in Priorswood, each with its reasoning and the factors that move the price.
Check 1 of 4Rain, drains and Flood Zone 3
Where roof water goes next
Land within about 250 metres of Priorswood falls in Flood Zone 3 on the Environment Agency's Flood Map for Planning. The layer is drawn for land, so it cannot speak for any single house; for that, put your postcode into the GOV.UK page for long-term flood risk. A roof cannot hold back floodwater, but it can shift rain off the house and into the drains without delay, which matters more on soft ground.
Why does the gutter overflow at one corner?
Spill at a single point usually traces back to a choked outlet, an opened joint or a length hung off level. Brett Martin, a guttering manufacturer, gives 1mm of fall for every 600mm of gutter, so a single bracket that has slipped can let water pool. Behind the gutter is the fascia board it is fixed to, with the soffit boxing in the overhang underneath. Overflow that has soaked the fascia for a few winters softens the timber until the brackets pull out of it, and the whole run then sags further.
Is it only the gutter, or the downpipe too?
Either can be at fault. A downpipe discharging beside the house wets the brickwork even when the gutter above is sound, and a gully choked with leaves sends water back up the pipe. On a suburban house we follow the water from the roof edge right down to the drain, so mending the gutter does not simply shift the problem to the ground. We also look at whether the fascia behind a leaking joint has gone soft, since that decides whether a repair will hold.
Our gutters, soffits and fascias page covers the materials and repair options.
From the ground
- Watch where water spills in a downpour
- Look for green marks under joints
- Make sure every downpipe ends at a clear gully
- Note damp patches on the wall below
Leave to a roofer
- Lifting sagging gutter lengths back to line
- Cutting out a soft fascia board
- Clearing an outlet you cannot reach
- Re-seating joints that have opened
Check 2 of 4Lyngford House and a Catholic church
Church roof edge and rainwater goodsTwo buildings, two consent routes
Four listed entries sit within 500 metres of the centre of Priorswood, and between them they show how far consent routes can differ. Lyngford House was listed Grade II in May 1985. An outbuilding belonging to Tudor and Manor Farm Cottages has been Grade II since July 1975. For both, Somerset Council is the planning authority, and any job touching a listed building's character, a change of covering included, waits for listed building consent.
Look for
- Slates of different ages
- Lead gutters or valleys
- Stone or clay ridge caps
- Gaps where roof meets wall
Does a Roman Catholic church follow the same route?
It does not. The Church of St Teresa of Lisieux, with its attached presbytery, is listed Grade II. Under the ecclesiastical exemption, a Roman Catholic church that is still used for worship answers to the Catholic Church's own approval system, not to the council. The parish can confirm how that applies to the church building today. A presbytery is a house rather than a place of worship, so ask about it separately and do not assume it follows the church.
Where is the nearest conservation area?
Within about 2.5 km of Priorswood the national dataset shows several conservation areas, Cheddon Fitzpaine and the Taunton areas of Fons George and of Castle Green and Bath Place among them. Somerset Council's planning team confirms whether any boundary takes in your address. If your road is close to one of them, we check its boundary before we write the price, because a conservation area changes what you can do to a roof without making an application first.
Our survey notes the covering on each slope of the roof, so that any application begins from what is really up there rather than from a guess. We also record the condition of the lead, the ridge and the rainwater goods, since all three show how much of the original roof survives. Where a listed roof has had repairs on top of repairs, we say which patches should stay and which have outlived their use, and we flag any slope that could be put back to its original pattern.
Check 3 of 4Flat roofs on garages and extensions
Is it the covering or the fall?
- Sound: water running off to the gutter
- Needs work: pools staying after rain
On a suburban plot a flat roof usually belongs to a garage, a kitchen extension or a porch. It is rarely flat in the strict sense, because it is laid to a gentle slope so that water runs off. BS 6229:2025 sets a minimum finished fall of 1:80, and IKO advises designing for 1:40, leaving headroom so the completed surface keeps shedding water. A pool still lying there a day after rain usually means one of three faults: the slope has been lost, the outlet is blocked or the deck underneath has dropped. Each has a different cure, which is why we look before we price.
What decides the price
- Size of roof and how many upstands
- Which covering the deck can take
- Whether the timber underneath is sound
- How the roof is reached
Should I patch it or replace the covering?
Patching suits a single split or a lifted seam on an otherwise sound roof. Once water has reached the deck underneath, a patch only hides the damage. Less puts the life of felt at 20 years for a good job, with a poorly laid one finished in less than 10. Less gives EPDM, a rubber sheet that is laid in one piece, 30 to 50 years, while GreenSpec says 20 to 30, so we never promise a figure. GRP, glass fibre bonded with resin on the deck, is put at 25 to 40 years by Less.
What decides which covering suits?
The roof's size, how it is reached and whether the boards underneath are sound. A deck that has been wet for a long time can be soft to walk on, and a soft deck must be replaced before any covering goes over it. A small garage is quick work in felt or GRP, while a larger roof with several upstands, the short walls where the covering turns up, may suit one EPDM sheet. When we replace a covering we look at the insulation too, because the thermal rules apply when a flat roof membrane is replaced. Our flat roofing page compares the options.
Check 4 of 4Shared walls, chimneys and neighbours
A roof that touches next door
Houses in a suburb often share a wall and a roofline with next door, and that changes a few things about a job. A ridge may run across both properties, a gutter may serve two roofs and a chimney stack may stand on the dividing wall. Where this applies to your house, we tell you before work starts what touches your neighbour, so nobody is surprised by a ladder in the next garden. It is also worth knowing who owns what: a shared valley or gutter is usually a joint matter, and a repair there is easier to agree when both owners have seen the photos.
What decides the price
- How many roofs the work touches
- Whether scaffold must go on the highway
- Whether a chimney is coming down
- How long access takes to arrange
What if I want a shared chimney taken down?
A chimney breast is structural, so removing one brings in Building Regulations approval every time, according to the Planning Portal. When the breast juts from a party wall, the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 lets you cut it back, provided your neighbour was served a party structure notice a full two months beforehand. GOV.UK warns that a lack of reply cannot be read as consent, and an unresolved dispute goes to an appointed surveyor. Party wall questions go to a party wall surveyor, not to building control, and our party wall and roof work page explains the steps.
Who deals with the scaffold licence?
Scaffold that obstructs a pavement or carriageway needs a licence under section 169 of the Highways Act 1980. Somerset Council grants them to accredited contractors alone, and whichever contractor is appointed submits the application, so the paperwork stays off your table. Its charge is £124.60 for each 28-day period (April 2026), and it wants 10 working days' notice or more. Scaffold kept on your own drive is off the highway.
Our roof inspections page describes the survey itself. Afterwards you receive photos of your own roof with the weak points marked, plus one total price in writing. Send the Priorswood address and a visit is arranged.
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.
Priorswood roofs, from the gutters to St Teresa's
Who approves roof repairs at the Catholic church of St Teresa in Priorswood?
The church is listed Grade II with its attached presbytery. If it is in use as a Roman Catholic church, the denomination's own approval system applies, under the ecclesiastical exemption, in place of the council's listed building process. Which route fits depends on its present use, so the parish should confirm before a roofer starts. The presbytery needs its own enquiry.
Where can I check whether my Priorswood address is at risk of flooding?
Use the GOV.UK page for long-term flood risk, and its Check for flooding service for current warnings. Flood Zone 3 comes within about 250 metres of Priorswood on the Environment Agency's planning flood map, but that map covers land. It cannot say whether a particular house or its roof drainage is affected.
What must I tell a neighbour before a shared chimney comes down in Priorswood?
Where the breast is built into a party wall, the neighbour needs a party structure notice a minimum of two months in advance. No answer is not a yes, and any disagreement passes to an appointed surveyor. Removing the breast also needs Building Regulations approval, so a building control body is involved too.
How long should a felt garage roof near Lyngford last?
Less gives a well laid felt roof up to 20 years, and a badly laid one less than 10. Age is only part of it. A roof whose fall has gone and where water stands will wear out sooner. We check the deck and the outlet at the survey, then say if mending it or re-covering it is the better buy.
Taunton suburbs and villages close to Priorswood
Book your Priorswood survey
Tell us your Priorswood street and the symptom, and a visit gets arranged.