We started 2021 in yet another COVID-19 induced lockdown, but this didn’t impact those of us in the roofing trade. Although there were many government rules around keeping our employees safe from contracting the virus, we were working full pelt throughout 2021.
2021 Roundup
We started the year working on several churches, including St Mary’s in Dorset, St John the Baptist in Wiltshire, Church of St James in Somerset and All Saint’s in Berkshire.
We also carried out work on The Swan at Bibury, a picturesque 17th century hotel and restaurant located in Gloucestershire.
Alongside our ecclesiastical and hotel work, we have carried out many roofing projects on private homes. These range from small repairs to complex refurbishments of roofs on historically significant homes. Because we are committed to respecting our client’s privacy, we do not share details of the work we carry out on private homes on our blog that could lead to them being identified by our readers, so apologies for that.
St John’s The Baptist Church, Foxham 
Church of St James, Milton Clevedon 
St Mary’s, Long Crichel
Sustainability
The importance of sustainability across all industries has come to the forefront in 2021. We are already aware of our need to be sustainable, and where possible we recast lead, reuse tiles, conserve historical items and are using more innovative sustainable products.
We worked on a historical house in 2021 that used the Steico flex insulation system, made from recycled woodchip. This is a three-part system with below, between and above rafter sections. The above rafter is a tongue and groove board with a water repellent surface, the between rafter is a flexible batt and the below is another tongue and groove board that can have lime plaster directly applied to it. This produces an eco-friendly fully breathable warm roof that achieves compliance with Part L of the Building Regulations.
Silver linings
Although 2020 and 2021 have been challenging, with the pandemic, lockdowns, the rising prices of raw materials, material shortages and long wait times of basic roofing supplies, there is a silver lining.
The shortages of materials led to longer lead times from ordering to order completion, this has resulted in us becoming much more organised and has seen a vast improvement in our planning and scheduling skills.
Looking forward to 2022
2022 is already looking very promising.
We are ready to proceed with work on Quarr Abbey on the Isle of White.
We are currently quoting on three new ecclesiastical projects and have a series of smaller residential projects booked it. The work is out there, but in the form of much smaller project then the monster re-roofs we’re used to. In previous years our projects took on average from 3-6 months, now it’s more like 4-7 weeks on-site, before we must complete the roof and move on to the next project.
Why choose West Country Tiling
Our master roofers have gained vast experience over the past 30 years, giving us the expertise needed for historical roof restorations.
If you need an expert roofing team to restore your roof, please get in touch on 01373 462 224 or by emailing us on info@westcountrytiling.com.