Nut Tree Farmhouse
Listed Grade II on 21 April 1983; no other list entry sits within 500 metres of the centre.
Roofers in Winscombe
A village on the edge of the Mendip Hills National Landscape
Winscombe sits on the edge of the Mendip Hills National Landscape, with the Banwell and Churchill conservation areas close by. We look before we price.
One listed farmhouse and a protected hillside edge
Banwell and Churchill conservation areas
The planning dataset places both within about 2.5 km of Winscombe, so houses towards either side are worth checking.
Edge of the Mendip Hills
54 per cent of the 1.5 km area round the centre lies inside it, so check your side.
Street map of Winscombe with Sandford, Axbridge, Cheddar, Hutton marked around it, and Taunton.
Sandford, Axbridge and Cheddar within reach
Sandford lies just north of Winscombe, with Axbridge to the south and Cheddar beyond it to the south-east, while Hutton and Bleadon lie west.
About 24 miles north-east of Taunton, North Somerset Council (unitary).
Winscombe checks on the Mendip edge
Reading a Winscombe roof, from the landscape line to the garage
Protected edges, asbestos cement garages, buyers' surveys and rooflines: where we look on a Winscombe house, and how each point can change the total.
Check 1 of 4Which side of the Mendip line?
Check the boundary before you plan the loft
Only one entry on the National Heritage List falls within 500 metres of the centre, Nut Tree Farmhouse, listed Grade II on 21 April 1983. That tells you about the centre, not about every address in the parish, so a house beyond it may still be listed. The designation that matters more here is the Mendip Hills National Landscape, because 54 per cent of the 1.5 km area measured round the centre falls inside it, so the boundary is a live question for houses here.
What decides the price
- Time for a planning decision
- Size and number of roof windows
- Scaffold, or a tower, to reach the slope
- State of the rafters in the loft
Why does the boundary matter to a roofer?
Because a protected landscape is one of the things a planning officer weighs when a roof is altered, and a loft room with new windows is the usual case. Planning decisions here belong to North Somerset Council, whose team can say whether your plot lies inside the National Landscape and what follows from that. We ask at the survey where the house stands, because the answer shapes the whole plan for the loft.
What does the name change mean?
All Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty were renamed National Landscapes on 22 November 2023, including the Mendip Hills. The new name carries no legal force, so the statutes still speak of an area of outstanding natural beauty.
Is a nearby conservation area relevant?
The planning dataset places the Banwell and Churchill conservation areas within about 2.5 km of Winscombe. A house towards either edge of the parish is worth asking about, because a conservation area changes how the council treats a change of covering.
We note where the house stands, which slope faces the road and what the loft looks like, because those three things decide what can sensibly be offered. A rear slope hidden from the street can be a more straightforward place for a roof window than a front one, though the council makes that judgement, not us. The survey photos let you take a clear question to the planning team and get a clear answer back.
Look for
- Loft windows for a front slope
- A dormer planned for the loft
- A change of covering planned
- Chimney taken down or capped
Check 2 of 4The asbestos cement garage roof
Corrugated sheets, careful hands
Garages, sheds and farm outbuildings from before 2000 may be roofed in asbestos cement sheeting. HSE's guidance for anything built or refurbished before 2000 is to presume asbestos until shown otherwise. HSE adds that these roofs are always fragile: no walking on them, and no ladder leaned against the sheets.
From the ground
- Corrugated sheets with grey weathering
- Moss thick along the lower courses
- Hairline cracks near the fixings
Leave to a roofer
- Testing a sample for asbestos
- Lifting whole sheets without breaking them
- Wrapping and labelling the waste
Is asbestos cement removal licensable work?
Under HSE's guidance, sheets of asbestos cement lifted off carefully and kept whole are non-licensed work. Once the sheets will be broken up or badly damaged, say by dropping them, it becomes notifiable non-licensed work, and the health records must be kept for 40 years. Asbestos insulating board (AIB) is another matter: HSE's risk assessment rules often make the removal of AIB soffits licensed work, so we establish that before anything else.
Where does the waste go?
HSE's EM9 guidance says to double-wrap and label asbestos waste, and it then moves on a consignment note to a site licensed to take it, never into a household skip. MyJobQuote's typical UK range for a garage roof is £750 to £3,500 (Oct 2026); removing an asbestos roof averages around £2,750, with a survey typically £325 (Sep 2026).
A garage roof that leaks onto stored belongings deserves a quick look, even if the answer is only to cover it temporarily while the replacement is planned.
Should an old garage roof be repaired or replaced?
Sheets that are cracked along their length, have lost their fixings or carry heavy growth are candidates for replacement. Sheets that are sound and stable can sometimes be left alone and watched. Replacing them with a new lightweight sheet is a common route, with the frame beneath checked for rot first, and the test result and the condition of that frame settle which course makes sense.
Our garage and asbestos roofs page explains the steps, and we arrange a sample test before anyone prices the removal.
Check 3 of 4Roof flagged in a buyer's report
Repair, replace or negotiate the price
A surveyor's note saying the roof is at the end of its life can stall a sale. It does not tell you whether the roof needs a patch, a re-roof or nothing at all. The useful question is how old the covering is and what condition it is in, and published lifespans help only as a rough guide. A surveyor's wording is cautious by habit, so a roof described as near the end of its life may still have years left if the fixings and battens are sound.
A flagged roof is a question, and the survey is how you get the answer.
What decides the price
- How old and how worn the covering is
- Soundness of the battens
- Shape and size of the roof
- Scaffold and access to every slope
What do published lifespans say?
CORC puts well-kept slate at 100+ years. Marley cites 60 years as a BRE minimum for clay tiles only. Its estimate for concrete tiles is also around 60 years, flagged by Marley as no guarantee. Read these as ranges: a young roof can fail at the fixings while an old one stays sound.
What does a roof inspection show?
We photograph every slope, ridge, valley and flashing, check the loft for damp and daylight, and give you a written account of what each part needs. A typical UK range for a roof survey averages around £300, and a drone survey costs £200 to £350 (MyJobQuote, Oct 2026).
Sellers have their own reasons to look first. A roof inspection before a house goes on the market lets you fix a small defect on your terms and show buyers the photos. Buyers can use the same report to ask for a repair before exchange or to agree an adjustment, and an honest picture of the roof makes either conversation easier.
What would a new roof cost?
The sources disagree. MyJobQuote gives an average of around £5,250 for a new roof (Oct 2026), while HomeBuilding's figure for a three-bedroom semi roofed in plain concrete tiles is £10,000 to £15,000, covering labour, scaffolding and insulation (Sep 2025). Our roof checks when buying a house guide helps you weigh a repair against a replacement.
Check 4 of 4Roofline, soffits and the single price
Fascia, soffit, gutter and one total
Roofline is the trade's word for the edge detail where roof meets wall: the fascia board, the soffit under the overhang, and the gutter fixed to them. When it fails, water runs down the wall and rot spreads behind the boards. A retailer that sells uPVC fascia says it lasts between 20 and 40 years, an interested party's figure, not a promise. MyJobQuote puts capping fascias and soffits at around £800 (Sep 2026).
Look for
- Peeling paint on fascia boards
- Soffit boards with staining or holes
- Gutter sagging between brackets
Is the soffit safe to touch?
External soffits are among the places HSE says AIB can be found, and it cautions that the board looks much like a non-asbestos one. HSE's risk assessment rules often make removal licensed work, so we identify the board before anyone cuts it. Soffit boards that look sound from the ground can be soft where they meet the wall, which is why we check them from the ladder, not the lawn. Our gutters, soffits and fascias page covers the options.
Why bother with the roofline at all?
Because water that gets behind the boards stays there. Gutters that overflow soak the fascia, and a soaked fascia lets damp reach the rafter ends. Putting the gutter right while the timber is sound usually costs less than the carpentry needed after several wet winters.
Does scaffold on the road need a licence?
If the scaffold will stand on the highway, it is the highway authority that licenses it, and your roofer should tell you who applies and when. Scaffold kept within your own boundary falls outside that rule: that ground is private, not highway. Our side is to agree the licence with the scaffolder and allow for its notice in the start date.
After surveying we send pictures of the roof and one total, written down, for the lot. Give us the Winscombe address and say which part of the roofline is troubling you, then we can fix a day.
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.
Winscombe roof questions, from the landscape edge to the garage
Can a Winscombe house in the Mendip Hills National Landscape have a dormer?
Ask North Somerset Council before any drawings are made. The National Landscape boundary runs through the village, so the first question is whether your plot lies inside it, and the council's planners decide what a dormer there needs. Our planning page explains the options, and we look at the loft before anything is designed.
How should an old asbestos cement garage roof be dealt with in Winscombe?
Begin with a sample test. HSE counts lifting asbestos cement sheets off whole as non-licensed work; once they are broken up it turns notifiable. Waste goes out double-wrapped and labelled, on a consignment note, and never into a household skip. Keep off the roof meanwhile, because HSE calls these roofs always fragile.
A buyer's report calls my Winscombe roof tired. What happens next?
Ask for a roof inspection that photographs every slope, so you see what the surveyor saw. A flagged note can mean a repair to the ridge, the valleys or a few slipped tiles, or it can mean a full re-roof, and only a look at the covering, the battens and the loft tells you which.
Does a Winscombe roofline repair mean replacing the gutters as well?
No. A sound fascia with a sagging gutter only needs the gutter re-aligned and re-fixed. Where the fascia has rotted behind the brackets, the gutter must be lifted off so the board can be changed. We photograph the boards before and after so you see what was rotten and what was kept.
Get a Winscombe roof looked over
Tell us whether it is the garage, the roofline or a buyer's report, and we will arrange a visit.