10 Signs Your Roof Needs Repair

The clearest signs your roof needs repair are slipped or missing tiles, damp patches on upstairs ceilings, sagging along the ridge line, granules collecting in the gutters, and daylight visible through the loft. If you can see any of these from ground level or from inside the house, the roof needs looking at properly — because what is visible from the pavement is almost always the smaller half of the problem.

Roofs rarely fail overnight. Almost every serious roof problem we deal with in Brighton and Hove started as something small and visible months or years earlier. Here are the ten signs worth acting on.

1. Slipped, cracked or missing tiles and slates

The most obvious sign and the most commonly ignored. On Brighton's Victorian terraces, one or two slipped Welsh slates is usually nail-sickness — the iron nails have corroded through while the slate itself is still sound. That distinction matters enormously, because it is the difference between a patch repair and a strip-and-relay.

2. Damp patches or staining on upstairs ceilings

A brown ring on a bedroom ceiling means water has been getting in for a while. Crucially, the leak is rarely directly above the stain — water tracks along rafters and purlins before it drops. This is exactly why guessing at the repair wastes money.

3. Granules from tiles collecting in gutters

Concrete and mineral-surfaced tiles shed their surface as they age. A layer of coarse grit in the gutter means the tiles are losing their weather surface and are near the end of their working life.

4. A sagging or wavy ridge line

Stand across the street and sight along the ridge. It should be straight. A dip or bow suggests structural movement in the rafters, a failed purlin, or rot at the wall plate — the most serious item on this list and the one that needs professional assessment fastest.

5. Damaged or missing lead flashing

Chimney flashing is the single most common leak source we find on Brighton properties. Salt air corrodes the fixings, storm uplift peels the lead back, and old mortar-only detailing simply washes out. Look for gaps, lifted edges or dark staining down the stack.

6. Heavy moss growth

On north-facing pitches in Withdean, Woodingdean and Preston Park, moss holds moisture against the tile surface. In winter that water freezes, expands and spalls the tile face. Moss is not just cosmetic on a Sussex roof.

7. Blocked, sagging or overflowing gutters

Water pouring over the front edge in heavy rain soaks the fascia, rots the timber and eventually gets behind the wall. Herring gull nesting material blocks hoppers and valleys across central Brighton every single spring.

8. Daylight visible in the loft

Go into the loft on a bright day with the light off. Pinpoints of daylight mean a gap in the covering. While you are up there, check for damp felt, water staining on rafters, and any smell of mustiness.

9. Cracked pointing or leaning chimney stacks

Exposed Brighton stacks take the full force of Channel weather. Failed pointing lets water into the brickwork, which then freezes and pushes the stack out of plumb. Left long enough, a stack becomes a genuine safety issue over a public footpath.

10. Rising energy bills with no other explanation

Wet loft insulation loses most of its thermal performance. If the house is suddenly harder to heat and nothing else has changed, water ingress is a realistic suspect.

When to call a roofer

Act immediately on a sagging ridge, an active leak, or a leaning stack. Book an inspection within the month for slipped tiles, damaged flashing or blocked valleys. Everything else can wait for a routine annual check — but do actually book it, ideally in early autumn before the first Channel storms arrive.

Never climb up to check yourself. Falls from domestic ladders are one of the most common serious home injuries in the UK, and a Brighton terrace roof usually sits directly above a public pavement.