Wingrove lies about two miles west of the city centre, between Westgate Road and the open ground of Nuns Moor. It takes its name from Wingrove House, a Victorian villa built around 1847 and later owned by the shipbuilder John Wigham Richardson. The house was demolished around 1903, and house building in the streets that now carry its name went on until about 1920.
Today that means long rows of brick terraces and Tyneside flats, with back lanes, rear offshoots and plenty of attic dormers. These are robust buildings, but after more than a century their roofs need regular care. Newcastle Roofs repairs slate and tile roofs, flat roofs and chimneys throughout Wingrove, with free quotes, no call-out charge and a 24/7 emergency line.
From villa grounds to terraced streets
The Fenham Estates Company developed much of this side of the city, and building in the Wingrove streets carried on until around 1920. The tram network made it possible: a tram depot at Wingrove was operating by about 1900, and lines along Barrack Road linked the new streets with the centre.
Just to the east, the older terraces of Arthur's Hill were in place by 1890. They're recorded as two storeys plus attics, with dormer windows, brick walls, slate roofs, brick chimneys and sandstone quoins, and some are Tyneside flats rather than single houses. Many streets in this corner of the West End follow a similar pattern, which is why slate work and dormer repairs make up so much of the roofing here.
Looking after an old slate roof
Natural slate lasts a long time, but the nails holding each slate do not. Over the decades they corrode, and slates start to slide out of place one by one, often after a windy night. You might find a slate in the back lane, or notice a lighter patch where the batten shows through.
Individual slates can be refixed using a discreet metal clip, and broken ones swapped for matching slates. When so many slates are slipping that the roof needs attention every winter, it's a sign the fixings have reached the end of their life. At that point, stripping the roof, fitting new breathable membrane and battens, and relaying it with sound original slates topped up with new ones usually makes better sense than another round of patches.
We avoid fixing slates with sealant or coating over a slate roof. Those quick fixes trap moisture and make proper repairs harder later.
Who owns the roof on a Tyneside flat?
A Tyneside flat looks like a terraced house from the street, but behind its two front doors are two separate homes, one upstairs and one down. Usually the roof sits directly over the upper flat, yet a leak can still affect the flat below through walls and pipes.
Responsibility for the roof depends on the deeds or lease. In some cases the upstairs owner is responsible, in others the cost is shared. It's worth finding out before you need a repair, not after. If you're a landlord with tenants in one or both flats, we can arrange access with them and send the photos and written quote straight to you.
Where both flats are owned by the same person, it's often sensible to deal with the main roof, the offshoot and the gutters together, so the whole building is sound.
Back lanes, offshoots and dormers
Most of the trouble on these terraces is at the back. Rear offshoots, the narrower wings that hold kitchens and bathrooms, often have their own low-pitched or flat roofs. Old felt on these is a regular source of leaks, especially where the offshoot meets the main wall and where the gutter runs into a hopper.
Flat sections can be re-covered in EPDM rubber or GRP fibreglass, both well suited to small roofs with awkward upstands. Attic dormers have their own weak points: tired lead on the cheeks, rotten timber facings and felt tops that have blistered. We repair or rebuild dormer roofs and replace lead where it has split.
Back lanes help with access, but scaffold in a lane or on the front pavement may need a council licence, and bins, cars and neighbours all have to be planned around. We look at all of that on our first visit.
Chimneys in a terrace row
In a terrace, stacks usually straddle the party walls, serving two neighbouring homes. Water getting in through one stack can show up as a damp patch on either side, which can make leaks confusing to trace.
Repointing, renewing lead flashings and re-bedding loose pots are the most common chimney repairs. If neither household uses the fireplaces, ventilated caps will keep rain out while letting the flues breathe. Any bigger job on a shared stack should be agreed with the neighbour first.
While the scaffold is up for chimney work, it is usually worth having the slates around the stack, the gutters and the lead at the back checked as well. Doing it in one go saves paying for access twice.
