Asbestos Roofing Removal in Brighton
Behind Brighton's bay-fronted semis and converted Victorian houses sit cement roofs that the sea air has worn thin. On extensions, outbuildings and old lean-tos, those sheets crack and shed. We take them down whole and leave the roof watertight.
What the sea air does to a cement roof
Brighton roofs do not age the way inland ones do. Salt coming off the Channel gets into the surface of old cement sheeting and works at it year after year, so a roof that might have lasted decades elsewhere starts to break up sooner here. You see it on the flat-roof extensions tacked onto the back of Hanover terraces, on the outbuildings behind the bigger houses around Preston Park, and on the lean-tos and sheds that fill the gardens climbing the hills.
The sheets that come out of the early postwar period often contained asbestos. While they sit there sound and painted, they are usually low risk. The problem is the weathering. Once a sheet cracks, splits or starts to powder at the edges, fibres can be released by wind and rain, and a roof that is actively breaking down is the higher risk version of the same material. That is the point at which it wants dealing with properly, not patching.
It is also the kind of work where a short drive matters less than doing the job right. We are based in Chessington, around fifty miles up the road, so we are honest that we are not the local firm here. We come to Brighton for the larger house and flat roofs, the full strip-outs and the commercial work, where a proper licence and controlled removal count for more than being round the corner.
Extensions, outbuildings and the larger roofs
This is broader than a single garage roof. A lot of the Brighton work is the cement roof on a rear extension, a workshop or a run of outbuildings behind a larger property, and on the converted houses split into flats it can be a shared roof over a shared structure. Older lean-tos and sheds in the long gardens off the Hanover and Hollingdean streets are common too, and many have not been touched since they went up.
The method is the same whether it is a small outbuilding or a bigger pitched roof. The sheets come off whole rather than being broken up, because snapping or drilling old cement is what puts fibres into the air. They are lowered down, wrapped and double-bagged, and taken away as the controlled waste they are. Working at any height, the access and the edge protection get set up first, which is more involved on a two-storey extension or a tall outbuilding than on a low shed.
With the roof off, you are usually left needing a new one. We can fit galvanised steel box-profile sheeting, which is the straightforward like-for-like swap, or a torch-on felt system for a flat extension roof. A tiled or fibre cement finish is an option where the look matters, and the new fibre cement contains no asbestos. We will talk through what suits the building and how it sits against the neighbours before anything comes down.
Soffits, gutters and fascia on the bay-fronted semis
Not all of it is the roof covering itself. On the interwar and bay-fronted semis pushing north towards Patcham and Moulsecoomb, asbestos cement often turns up in the soffits, the fascia boards and sometimes the gutters and downpipes. It is the flat grey board tucked up under the eaves, easy to miss until a roofline job or new guttering brings it to light.
These boards are awkward because they are usually fixed high up and run the length of the roofline, so any work means working off the gutter line or a tower. They are also brittle with age, and the temptation to just rip them off and bin them is exactly what spreads fibres around a garden where people live. The right way is to release each board carefully, keep it intact, and bag it as it comes down.
You cannot always tell asbestos cement soffits from later replacements by looking, and on a converted house the records rarely survive. Where there is doubt, a small sample goes to a UKAS-accredited laboratory and the results come back in a few working days, so you know what you are dealing with before anyone starts pulling at the eaves. For straightforward soffit and fascia removal the work is often non-licensed, but the controls and the disposal are no less careful for it.
How we run a Brighton roofing job
Most roofing removals here are non-licensed, which means controlled removal and proper disposal rather than the full enclosure regime. For the higher-risk licensed jobs, the kind that come up on larger flat conversions or commercial buildings, the rules are stricter. That means 14 days notice to the HSE before work starts, a full sealed enclosure around the area, and four-stage clearance testing signed off by an independent analyst before the space is handed back.
Whatever the tier, the order is the same. We look at the roof, confirm what the material is by sample if there is any question, agree the access and the replacement roof, then remove the old sheets whole and take the waste away under the right paperwork. Because we are coming down from Surrey, we plan the day so the job runs in one visit wherever the size allows, and we keep the drive and road clear for the household and the neighbours.
Clearaway holds Spectra licence number 142305706, and the owner Graham still runs the jobs himself rather than handing them to a crew you have never met. We have spent more than seven years working across the area on roofs of every size, from a single outbuilding to a full strip-out. If you have a Brighton extension, outbuilding or roofline with old cement that is cracking or shedding, call us on 0800 024 6168 and we will tell you honestly what it needs.
Full Asbestos Garage Demolition, Surrey
Surrey · Garage Demolition
View this project"I used Clearaway Asbestos recently for an asbestos garage removal in my home. The staff were really friendly and professional and put me at ease the whole time they were working. I would recommend Clearaway Asbestos to anyone who needs asbestos removal services!"
Why Choose Clearaway
Specialist Crew
Asbestos work is all we do, every day, across the South East.
Fully Licensed
Licensed asbestos removal contractor (Licence No. 142305706). Full public liability insurance on every job.
Local & Fast
Surrey-based. Most domestic jobs are booked in and finished within a week.
Our Own Team
We never subcontract. The people who quote your job are the people who do it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Our Removal Process
From first call to final certificate, every job follows the same clear four-step process.
Survey
We inspect the property and confirm the material. Sampling available if required.
Quote
Fixed written price covering removal, disposal and any replacement work.
Removal
Material is removed safely, double-wrapped and taken to a licensed disposal facility.
Certificate
You receive a waste consignment note and disposal certificate confirming legal handling.
Get in Touch
Send a few details about your project and we will come back the same working day with a fixed price. We cover Surrey, London and the South East, including Esher, Cobham, Kingston, Richmond, Epsom, Guildford, Woking and Croydon.