St Mary Magdalene's Church
Grade II* listed parish church dating from 1343, set in its churchyard in the older part of Longfield. A timber-clad belfry sits on top of the tower.
Learn more about St Mary Magdalene's Church on Google MapsWe're roofers covering Longfield and New Barn, about 14 minutes down the road from our base in west Dartford. It's a different job out here from the town. There's open farmland around the village, which gives the wind more ground to build up over before it hits your roof. That shows in what we're called for: lifted verges, ridge tiles on the lawn after a gale, flashings peeled back at the stack. We also see plenty of flat roofs on extensions and garages that have simply reached the end of their life. Whatever the problem, we start with a free survey, go up and look, and give you a written price. And if someone has just knocked on your door about your roof, read the FAQ below before you say yes to anything.
A roofer rings you back to arrange a visit.
Longfield is an old village with a newer, larger neighbour. The original settlement runs along Main Road and Station Road, and on Station Road several oast houses have been converted into homes. Its parish church, St Mary Magdalene, dates from 1343 and is listed Grade II*. New Barn grew up on the former New Barn Estate. It's now the bigger of the two, purely residential, and was once split between three parishes: Southfleet, Longfield and Northfleet. Today a single parish council, Longfield & New Barn, covers both, with around 5,360 people between them.
The planning history is a little unusual. Longfield sat in Sevenoaks District until 1987, when it moved across to Dartford, so older paperwork on your house may well mention Sevenoaks rather than Dartford. Building here has gone on for a long time. Dartford Rural District Council bought land at Hoselands Hill in 1930 for 16 council houses, and a lot more has been built since. Within a short walk you can pass roofs from very different decades, each wearing out in its own way. Part of our job is knowing which problems belong to which era.
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
Storm-lifted verges, missing ridge tiles, a leak round the chimney or a rooflight. We trace it, fix it, and photograph both the fault and the repair so you can see the work for yourself.
Learn more about roof repairs in Longfield →
For roofs where the felt has perished and repairs keep multiplying. A full strip, new membrane and battens, upgraded insulation and a fresh covering, with a 10 year guarantee on the work.
Learn more about re-roofing in Longfield →
Extensions, garages and dormers often hide a flat roof that's quietly failing. We replace tired felt with EPDM rubber or GRP, laid to proper falls so the water actually drains away.
Learn more about flat roofing in Longfield →Village roofs take more weather than people think. These are the things we pay attention to on jobs in Longfield and New Barn.
On a roof that faces fields, the gable end and verge take the gusts first. We look closely at the verges, the bargeboards and the last row of tiles on that side, because that's where storm damage usually begins. The sheltered side can look perfect while the other is quietly coming apart.
Inland Kent gets more frost than people expect. East Malling, the nearest inland Met Office station, records around 39 air-frost days a year. Water gets into porous or cracked tiles, freezes, and the damage spreads. We replace those tiles, not just the obvious broken ones.
The converted oasts on Station Road have roofs that don't behave like an ordinary pitch. If yours needs work, we'll tell you honestly whether it's within our scope or a job for a heritage specialist, before anyone climbs up.
A flat roof needs a slight fall, good edge trims and a sound deck. Most failures we see on extensions come down to one of those being skimped. We fix that first. Then the covering. Putting new felt on a rotten deck just hides the problem for a year or two.
Kent Police reported a cold caller in nearby New Ash Green who claimed a tile was loose, pulled tiles off, and pressured a pensioner into paying £1,500. Pick your roofer yourself. Ask for photos. Get the quote in writing, and never pay for work up front at the door.
You'll know what we're doing, with which materials and for how much, before work starts. If we find something unexpected, we stop and show you before it's added. You decide whether it gets done now or later. No rounding up on the day, and no cash discounts for skipping the paperwork.
"In Longfield, the slope facing open ground is nearly always where we find the storm damage."
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".
Re-roof a house in Longfield 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.
Call 01322 946667 or send the form with a few words, plus a photo if you have one. We'll agree a survey time that suits you, any day from Monday to Saturday. Evenings are tricky; Saturdays usually aren't.
We look at the whole roof, not just the problem area: verges on the exposed side, the stack, any flat-roof sections and the gutters. We go into the loft too, if there's access.
It sets out the fault, what we'll do about it, the materials and the price. If scaffolding or a tower is needed, that's included, so the number on the page is the number you pay. Compare it with other quotes if you like. We'd encourage it.
We give you a date and explain what happens on the day: where materials will be stored, what we need access to, and roughly how long the job should take.
We repair the roof to the standard its exposure needs, using mechanical fixings instead of relying on mortar wherever that's the better option, and keep the site tidy as we go. Your garden and drive are left as we found them.
Before packing up we go over the repair, look at the surrounding area once more, and make sure the gutters and downpipes are clear of anything that fell during the job. A blocked downpipe can undo a good repair.
Photos, a written note of what was done and, for re-roofs, the guarantee paperwork. If other parts of the roof are worth keeping an eye on, we'll tell you which, and roughly when.
Grade II* listed parish church dating from 1343, set in its churchyard in the older part of Longfield. A timber-clad belfry sits on top of the tower.
Learn more about St Mary Magdalene's Church on Google Maps
Forty acres of 18th-century parkland near Meopham, about three miles east of Longfield, once the grounds of Camer House. The council bought it in 1967 and opened it to the public in 1971.
Learn more about Camer Country Park on Google Maps
Motor racing circuit at West Kingsdown, around six miles south-west of Longfield. It hosted the British Grand Prix twelve times between 1964 and 1986, and the 2012 Paralympic road cycling events.
Learn more about Brands Hatch on Google MapsEvery 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 Longfield, 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.
Longfield prices follow the same bands as the rest of our area, though a few things push them around. Access varies a lot from road to road, and exposed gable ends often need verge work alongside a ridge. As a guide: £180 to £450 to refix slipped tiles, £450 to £1,200 for a ridge, and £1,300 to £2,400 for a garage roof in EPDM. Full re-roofs run from about £10,500 to £16,000 for a semi, and £14,000 to £24,000 or more for a detached house.
For like-for-like repairs and re-roofing, usually not. Work that doesn't materially change how the house looks generally sits outside planning control. Longfield and New Barn come under Dartford Borough Council, not Sevenoaks, which looked after the village until 1987. We're not aware of any conservation area covering Longfield on Dartford's list, but listed buildings, including the Grade II* church, need consent. If you live in a converted oast and aren't sure whether it's listed, check before anything changes. Historic England's online list is the quickest place to look.
Verges sit at the very edge of the roof, where wind can get underneath. Older verges are bedded in mortar, which cracks and lets go over time, and once one tile lifts the next goes more easily. Houses facing open land catch the gusts with little in the way. Replacing mortar verges with a mechanically fixed dry verge system usually ends the problem. It's a modest job compared with chasing the same tiles back on after every gale.
Be wary. Kent County Council says doorstep criminals often offer bogus roofing and guttering work. After the February 2022 storms, Kent's community wardens warned through Ash Parish Council about an elderly man charged over £3,000 for poor roof repairs, and Kent Police have reported a similar scam in New Ash Green. Their advice: never assume, never believe, always confirm. Say no, then get a roofer you've chosen to take a look. A genuine roofer won't mind you shutting the door and checking them out. Kent's Trading Standards Checked scheme lists vetted local traders.
Yes. Most failed flat roofs we see are old felt that has blistered, split or pulled away at the edges. Often the inside gives it away first, with a brown ring on the extension ceiling after heavy rain. We strip it back, check the deck, replace any soft boards, and lay EPDM rubber or GRP with new trims. If you'd like a rooflight added while it's open, that can usually go in under permitted development, as long as it stays within the size limits. It's a cheap way to bring light into a dark extension, and the best time to do it is while the old roof is off.
Ring 01322 946667 or use the form. Free survey, written quote, photos of anything we find. If it only needs a small repair, that's all we'll price.