What's behind Cardiff's roofs
Coal first
Lymington colliery opened around 1882 and South Wallsend, later renamed Cardiff, around 1884. Eight small pits worked through the 1930s Depression, and an opencut ran until 1947.
A workshops town
The Cardiff Railway Workshops opened in 1928, employed 1,915 people at their 1947 peak and closed on 7 January 1994. The industrial estate followed from the 1970s.
Built in waves
Cardiff had 145 homes in 1911, 313 in 1921, 881 in 1933 and 1,160 in 1947. Any home built before 1990 probably contains some asbestos, so fibro on a house from those decades is worth testing before work starts.
Winding Creek in a downpour
The creek runs through town to Cockle Creek and the lake, and heavy rain floods parts of Cardiff, the business district included. In the June 2007 storm, 164.6 mm fell on Newcastle in six hours. Rain like that shows up blocked gutters and undersized downpipes fast.
Mostly houses, many rented
At the 2021 Census, 82.7% of Cardiff's occupied homes were separate houses and 30.7% were rented.
The jobs that come up most in Cardiff
Leaks in heavy rain only. If it drips in a downpour but not in steady rain, the cause is often an overflowing gutter, a blocked valley or a tired flashing rather than the roof covering.
See gutter replacement in Newcastle.
Asbestos checks before renovating. Fibro eaves and sheeting on older homes should be tested before anyone drills. See is my roof asbestos?
Where we'd start in Cardiff
If water only gets in during heavy rain, we'd start with the gutters, downpipes and valleys before paying for roof work. On an older house, we'd have any fibro tested before a roofer drills into it.
Want a roofer to take a look?
Tell us the job and your postcode. We match it with a Find My Roofer certified roofer who specialises in that kind of work, and they call you to quote. Your number goes to them alone.