Roof leak repair in Oxford: traced to the source and fixed

I work back from where the water shows to where it gets in. In the loft I look for wet timber, stained felt and daylight, then on the roof I check everything above and uphill of that spot: tiles, flashings, valleys and the chimney. Water can run a long way along a rafter or the felt before it drips, so the stain is rarely under the fault.

Because heavy rain, especially with wind behind it, reaches gaps that light rain doesn't. Wind drives water up under tiles and behind flashings, and a downpour can overflow a partly blocked valley or gutter, so water spills sideways under the tiles. A hairline crack in flaunching may only show after a long, heavy spell. It's still worth fixing before it rots the battens.

Then I start again from the source, not from their repair. A repair that didn't work usually treated where the water showed, not where it got in. In January 2025, in OX3, a customer's chimney leak had come back after another roofer's repair: I found the cause, fixed it and gave a guarantee on the work. Photos of the earlier repair help, if you have them.