Swanley Park
About 60 acres of parkland on the former New Barn Farm, with a boating lake and boats for hire. A miniature railway also runs round part of the grounds.
Learn more about Swanley Park on Google MapsRoofers In Swanley
Is your Swanley roof starting to show its age?
Roof repairs, replacements and guttering for Swanley's estates, its older lanes and the village
We're roofers covering Swanley from our base in west Dartford, about 4.6 miles and eleven minutes away. Most homes in Swanley went up between the end of the war and the late 1980s, and nearly all of them are low-rise. That gives the town its own kind of roof work. On estates like Newlands, St Georges and High Firs, plenty of roofs are now somewhere between forty and eighty years old. Where the first felt, battens and ridge mortar are still in place, they tend to reach the end of their working life at roughly the same time as the neighbours'. Then there are the older houses on Swanley Lane and Birchwood Park Avenue, and the conservation area at Swanley Village. The survey is free and the price comes in writing.
Free Roofing Quote In Swanley
A roofer rings you back to arrange a visit.
About Swanley
A postwar town on the Green Belt edge
Swanley has about 17,800 people, or around 23,500 if you count Hextable and Crockenhill. It sits on the M25 at junction 3, where the A20 heads out of London, and it's surrounded by Green Belt. Sevenoaks District, which Swanley belongs to, is 93% Green Belt. Swanley Town Council was created in 1974. Most of the housing is post-war through to the late 1980s and stays under three storeys, so a tall roof is a rare sight here. The M25 and A20 bring heavy traffic past the town, and Jessamine Terrace and London Road have both been flagged locally as air-quality concern spots.
The town splits fairly neatly by estate. St Mary's and White Oak are the main social housing estates, mostly owned by West Kent Housing Association. Newlands to the north, St Georges to the east and High Firs to the south are the main private ones. Older pockets survive as well: late Victorian and Edwardian houses on Swanley Lane and Birchwood Park Avenue, and a Georgian row of semis on Goldsel Road. Then there's Swanley Village, a conservation area since 1972 that lies wholly inside the Green Belt.
1,000+
Roofs repaired, renewed and rebuilt
10 yrs
Written guarantee on every re-roof
5★
The only rating anyone has left us
£0
For the survey and the written quote
Roofing work we take on in Swanley
Roof Repairs
Cracked ridge mortar, slipped tiles and tired flashings are the usual faults on Swanley's postwar estates. We trace the leak, repair the cause and send photos so you know what you paid for.
Learn more about roof repairs in Swanley →
Re-Roofing
Lots of Swanley roofs are running out of years. We'll tell you honestly whether yours is one of them, then strip, re-batten and re-cover it with materials that suit the house.
Learn more about re-roofing in Swanley →
Guttering, Fascias & Soffits
On low-rise homes the roofline is often the first thing to go. Overflowing gutters soak walls and rot fascia boards. We repair or replace gutters, fascias and soffits together as one job where that makes sense.
Learn more about guttering, fascias & soffits in Swanley →Why people in Swanley pick us as their roofer
Swanley roofs don't take the river wind that Thames-side towns get. They wear out from age, frost and the slow failure of older materials.
We know estate roofs
Postwar and later estate houses were often built in batches to one design. When one roof on a row starts to fail, the others usually aren't far behind. We'll tell you what we see on your roof and what that might mean for the next few years.
Frost damage caught early
East Malling, the inland Met Office station further into Kent, records about 39 days of air frost a year. Water soaked into an old tile or a crumbling mortar joint freezes, expands and splits it. We look for flaking tiles and loose mortar before they let water through. A cracked tile in March is often a winter's frost catching up.
Lower roofs, lower access costs
Most homes in Swanley are under three storeys, so a lot of repairs can be done from ladders or a small tower. When scaffold genuinely isn't needed, you won't pay for it. That saving comes straight off your quote. On a bungalow, a lot of the roof can be reached safely from a tower.
Straight answers on who's responsible
If you rent from West Kent or another housing association, roof repairs are normally the landlord's job, so report it to them first. If you bought your house, the roof is yours. Own a flat on a lease? Check the lease, because the roof often belongs to the freeholder.
Sevenoaks rules, not Dartford's
Swanley falls under Sevenoaks District Council, which has its own planning team and 41 conservation areas across the district. We'll point you to the right office and say if your job is likely to need their approval. The same goes for building control on a full re-roof.
Itemised quotes
You'll see each part of the job on its own line: tiles, ridges, flashings, guttering, access, waste and VAT. Nothing is bundled into one figure you can't question. If you want to drop an item, cross it out. Questions about any line are welcome before you sign.
"On Swanley's postwar estates we often find the ridge mortar has given up long before the tiles themselves, so a ridge repair can buy a roof several more years."
10
Years' cover on a new roof
1,000+
Roofing jobs finished
Paperwork in your hand on the last day. Not posted out "in due course".
The guarantee
What the 10 year guarantee on a re-roof actually covers
Re-roof a house in Swanley with us and you get 10 years of cover on the workmanship. It's a written document. It has your address on it, lists what was done, and is dated the day the roof is signed off. If water gets in because something was fitted wrong - a batten, a fixing, a lap, a flashing - a roofer comes back and puts it right. You don't pay for that.
Why are we happy to promise ten years? Because of how the roof goes on. Every tile or slate is mechanically fixed to BS 5534, the current British Standard. Ridges and hips are fixed too, not just sat in mortar. A breathable membrane goes down first. Where a roof meets a wall, a chimney or the house next door, it gets proper lead or a tested dry system. Shortcuts there are what make a guarantee expensive, so we don't take them.
Tiles, slates and membranes also carry the maker's own warranty. Those vary by product, and your paperwork tells you which ones apply. If a job is too unusual to guarantee in the normal way, you'll hear that at quote stage.
How it works
From first call to finished roof in Swanley
- 1
Get in touch
Phone 01322 946667 or fill in the form with your address and a quick note about the problem. It helps to know which estate you're on and roughly when the house was built, if you happen to know. A rough idea of the problem is enough. You don't need to know any roofing terms.
- 2
A visit from a roofer
We come to the house, look at the roof from every side and get up on it where it's safe. We check the loft as well, looking for daylight, damp timber and stains on the old felt. If the roof isn't safe to walk on, we'll say so and inspect it another way.
- 3
A written price
After the visit you get a quote setting out the fault, the fix and the cost of each part. If we've spotted something that's fine for now but worth watching, it goes on a separate line. The quote is yours to keep and compare with anyone else's.
- 4
Planning checks
If you're in Swanley Village or your house is listed, we'll flag that the work may need Sevenoaks District Council's say-so. For a full re-roof we'll also explain the Building Regulations side.
- 5
On site
We set up whatever ladders, tower or scaffold the job needs, protect your paths and plants, and get started. On a bungalow or a two-storey house that setup is usually quick. Paths and borders are covered before any tiles come off.
- 6
The roof itself
Damaged tiles, ridge mortar or flashings come out and the cause is put right. New work is fixed to current standards, so a 1960s roof repaired today isn't relying on 1960s methods. Clips, nails and dry-fix ridges take over from the old reliance on mortar where it makes sense.
- 7
Clear away and report
Debris goes, gutters are cleared of anything from the job, and you get a set of photos showing the work. If anything else on the roof needs watching, we'll tell you what and roughly when. Most owners file the photos away and forget about them until they sell.
Things to do in Swanley
Lullingstone Roman Villa
English Heritage site in the Darent valley near Eynsford, about four miles south of Swanley. The remains are under cover, including a mosaic floor showing Europa being carried off by Jupiter in the form of a bull.
Learn more about Lullingstone Roman Villa on Google Maps
Lullingstone Castle & The World Garden
Family-owned manor house a little further along the Darent from the Roman villa, entered through a brick Tudor gatehouse. Its World Garden is laid out in the shape of a world map and planted with species from each continent.
Learn more about Lullingstone Castle & The World Garden on Google MapsWhere we work in Swanley
Reviews
Reviews from Swanley homeowners
Every review left for us so far has been five stars. We're adding them here as they come in.
Reviews only tell you so much anyway. When a roofer comes out to Swanley, ask to see photos of a recent job on a house like yours. A good roofer will have plenty and won't mind you asking.
Roofing prices in Swanley
Swanley's low-rise housing keeps access costs down, which helps on smaller jobs. A tile refix usually costs £180 to £450 and a ridge re-bed £450 to £1,200. Re-roofing a terrace generally runs £8,000 to £14,500, a semi £10,500 to £16,000 and a detached house from about £14,000 upwards. A bungalow can cost more than people expect, because the roof is large for the size of the house. Older homes on Swanley Lane or Goldsel Road can cost more if matching the original materials matters to you.
Questions from Swanley homeowners
Do I need planning permission for roof work in Swanley?
Swanley is in Sevenoaks District, so planning goes to Sevenoaks District Council, not Dartford Borough Council. For most houses in the town, replacing a roof with similar materials doesn't need planning permission. It's different in the Swanley Village conservation area, which sits entirely within the Green Belt, and for any listed building. There, changing the roofing material, adding rooflights or altering the roofline may need consent. Building Regulations apply either way to a full re-roof, and we'll explain that part when we quote.
My house is on the St Mary's or White Oak estate. Can you repair the roof?
If you rent from West Kent Housing Association or another landlord, the roof is usually their responsibility, so report the problem to them and keep a record of when you did. If you're unsure, the tenancy agreement or the association's repairs line will tell you. If you bought the house, the roof is yours to look after and we're happy to survey it. Owners of flats should check their lease first, because the roof normally belongs to whoever holds the freehold.
Why do so many roofs on my estate seem to fail at once?
Houses on Swanley's postwar estates were often built at the same time, with the same materials and the same details. They've had the same weather ever since. So it's no great surprise when ridges, felt and flashings wear out within a few years of each other along a row. If your neighbours are re-roofing, it's worth getting yours looked at. A look now costs nothing and could save a bigger bill.
Does Swanley get much storm damage?
Less than the riverside towns, but it happens. Kent and Greater London were among the worst-hit areas in the Great Storm of October 1987, when Sevenoaks famously lost six of its seven oaks. Storms on that scale are rare. More often the damage we see comes from steady wear plus the odd strong gust, as in Storm Eunice in February 2022, when a red warning covered the South East. Roofs that are already weak are the ones that lose tiles.
Areas we cover from Swanley
- Roof Repairs Crayford
- Re-Roofing Crayford
- Roof Repairs Wilmington
- Re-Roofing Wilmington
- Roof Repairs Joyden's Wood
- Re-Roofing Joyden's Wood
- Roof Repairs Bexley
- Re-Roofing Bexley
- Roof Repairs Stone
- Re-Roofing Stone
- Roof Repairs Greenhithe
- Re-Roofing Greenhithe
- Roof Repairs Erith
- Re-Roofing Erith
- Roof Repairs Swanscombe
- Re-Roofing Swanscombe
- Roof Repairs Swanley
- Re-Roofing Swanley
- Roof Repairs Longfield
- Re-Roofing Longfield
Get a Swanley roofer round
Tell us your address and what's going on with the roof. We'll survey it, photograph it and put a price in writing. There's nothing to pay for the visit. Swanley is around eleven minutes from our base, so getting to you is never a problem.