Bungalow Roofing Guide

Looking After a Bungalow Roof: A Plain Guide for Older Homeowners

By Select Roofing Services — Family roofers in Formby, Merseyside — 30+ years on the tools — Updated August 2026

This guide is written for people who have owned their bungalow for a long time, may not be able to get up a ladder any more, and would rather understand their roof than be told about it by a stranger at the door. It is deliberately plain. If you look after someone in that position, it is written for you too.

First: the doorstep rule

Bungalow estates are worked by doorstep roofers because the owners are older and the roofs are low enough to climb without scaffold. The approach is always the same: “We’re working on a house nearby and noticed you’ve got a tile slipped / some ridges loose.” Sometimes there is a tile slipped. Very often there is not, and there certainly is once they have been up.

The rule is simple and it has no exceptions: nobody goes on the roof who was not asked to come. Thank them, close the door, and if you are worried, ring a roofer you have chosen yourself. A genuine firm has a landline, an address you can visit, reviews you can read and no interest in being paid in cash today. Trading Standards in Sefton and Lancashire will tell you the same.

What you can check yourself, from the ground

You do not need to climb anything. Once or twice a year, and after a big storm, walk round the house and look up.

• The ridge line. It should be straight with every ridge tile sitting flat. A ridge tile up at an angle, or a gap you can see sky through, needs attention.
• The verges. On a gable bungalow, the sloping edges of the roof. Look for missing mortar and tiles sitting out of line.
• The tiles. A slipped tile shows as a darker rectangle where the one below is exposed. Broken pieces of tile in the garden or gutter tell you the same.
• The gutters. Grass or moss growing in them, water overflowing in rain, or a gutter pulling away from the fascia.
• The chimney. Plants growing from it, a cracked or crumbling cap, or a pot leaning.
• The dormer, if you have one. Staining on the cheeks, or lifting felt visible at the edge of the top.
• Inside. Any new stain on a ceiling, and a quick look in the loft on a cold morning with a torch: drips on the underside of the felt mean condensation, not necessarily a leak.

What to leave alone

Moss on the roof looks untidy but rarely matters on its own; leave it unless it is thick enough to block the gutters. Lichen spots are harmless. A single slipped tile is not an emergency — note it and get it done with the next visit. Do not let anyone pressure-wash the roof or paint it with a “sealant”; both do more harm than good and neither is roofing.

What a proper annual check looks like

A roofer comes once a year, at a time you agree, goes up with a camera, photographs the ridge, verges, tiles, flashings, gutters, chimney and dormer, clears the gutters, refixes anything minor on the spot, and leaves you a short written note with the photos. You see what they saw. Small things get done while they are small, and you never have to rely on a stranger’s word about a roof you cannot see. Our annual roof maintenance plan is exactly that, and it is priced with the pensioner discount already applied.

If something does need doing

Get it in writing. A proper quote says what is wrong, what will be done, what it costs and what the guarantee is. It does not need to be paid in cash and it does not need to start today. If you would like a second opinion, our free inspection is exactly that — photos and a straight answer, whether or not you use us for the work. Family members are welcome to be there; we would rather that than not.

Questions we get asked

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