Asbestos Roofing Removal in Chessington, KT9
Chessington is our home patch. The cement roofs on its 1930s and postwar semis, on the extensions, sheds and lean-tos behind them, were never built to last forever. We take those roofs off safely across KT9.
The Roofs Behind Chessington's Semis
Walk the streets off the Leatherhead Road or the A243 and the houses are mostly 1930s and postwar semis, with detached places, older cottages and a few newer estates filling the gaps. Look past the front of the house and the asbestos tends to be round the back. A flat-roof extension over a kitchen or a back room. A lean-to against the rear wall. A timber shed or a larger outbuilding behind one of the bigger detached plots towards Malden Rushett. A lot of these were roofed in corrugated cement sheet, the grey ridged material that was cheap, light and went up fast when these homes were being extended.
It is not only the roof itself. The same cement turns up as soffits, gutters and fascia boards tucked under the eaves of the semis right across Chessington, Hook and North Chessington. People paint over them for decades without ever knowing what they are. None of it can be identified by eye, which is why a small sample goes to a UKAS-accredited laboratory before anyone lifts a single sheet.
This is the difference between us and a firm driving in from miles away. We are based in KT9, so this is the housing stock we see week in, week out, and we know how these extensions and outbuildings were put together because we have been on roofs exactly like yours up and down these roads. The owner, Graham, quotes and runs the local jobs himself, and a survey here is booked for the same week rather than slotted in between long-distance jobs in other counties. You get a straight answer about what is up there, not a salesman who has never set foot in Chessington.
Why An Old Roof Is The Bigger Risk
A cement roof that is doing its job and sitting undisturbed is not the urgent problem. The trouble starts when it gets old, and most of these roofs are now 50 to 70 years past the day they went up. Decades of Surrey frost, rain and summer heat work on the surface. The sheets go brittle. Hairline cracks open across the ridges, corners snap, and the weathered top layer starts to break down and shed fibres. A roof in that state is far more likely to release asbestos than one that was left alone, and every storm that rattles it makes things worse.
That is the case for dealing with it properly rather than poking at it. Pressure washing a cement roof, scraping moss off it, or trying to drill or cut a sheet to patch a leak are some of the worst things you can do, because they throw dry fibres straight into the air you are standing in. Even snapping one cracked sheet to get it off the extension can put a cloud of dust across a back garden.
The safe method is to take each sheet down whole. We lift the fixings, ease the full sheet off without breaking it, and keep it damped down so nothing goes airborne. The sheets are double-wrapped in heavy-gauge plastic, labelled as asbestos waste, and sent to a licensed disposal site, not left stacked by the back fence for the bin men. On most domestic roofs there is no skip parked outside, so the road and the drive stay clear for the neighbours. The same care applies to the soffits, gutters and fascia runs under the eaves. Those boards are screwed and nailed in tight, and the temptation is to lever them off in a hurry, but done like that they crack and crumble and you are back to dry fibre in the air. We bring them down in full lengths, keep them wet, and bag them the same way as the roof sheets.
How A Roofing Removal Runs In KT9
Most jobs start with that lab result confirming what the material is. From there a straightforward extension roof or a shed roof is often a single day on site. A run of 12 to 15 corrugated sheets over a back extension comes down inside a few hours once the area is set up and access is sorted. Soffits, gutters and fascia boards take longer per metre because they sit higher and have to be brought down piece by piece without snapping, so a full run around a semi is closer to a full day.
The bigger or higher roofs ask for more. A large detached outbuilding, a double-depth extension, or a steeper pitch behind one of the houses near Chessington South means proper edge protection, a tower or scaffold, and a couple of people working to a method rather than one person on a ladder. We work out the access and the sheet count before we start, so the price and the timing are settled up front with no surprises halfway through.
Once the old roof is off, the structure rarely wants to be left open. We can fit a replacement in the same visit. Galvanised steel box-profile is the common swap for a shed or garage-style roof because it is light and quick. A three-layer torch-on felt or a new flat roof suits a kitchen extension, a tiled pitch works where it needs to match the house, and asbestos-free fibre cement is there when you want the original look without the original risk. Soffits and fascias go back in modern uPVC.
The Licensed Standard And Booking The Work
Most domestic cement roofing is non-licensed work, which is what keeps a single extension or shed roof to a day and a sensible price. Some materials are higher risk and fall under the licensed standard, and the rules there are not optional. That work needs 14 days of notice to the HSE before it begins, a full enclosure built around the area, and four-stage clearance testing signed off by an independent analyst before the space is handed back. We tell you which side of that line your roof falls on once the sample comes back, rather than guessing on the day.
Because Chessington is the patch we work from, you are not waiting on a long-distance schedule or a quote built around travel time. A look at the roof, a sample if it is needed, a clear written price, then the work itself, all run by the same local team that knows these streets and this housing stock first-hand.
Clearaway is fully licensed by Spectra under licence number 142305706, and we have spent more than seven years working across Chessington and the surrounding KT postcodes on exactly this kind of roof. If there is cement sheet on an extension, a shed, a lean-to or an outbuilding at your place, or you are not sure what those soffits and gutters are made of, call us on 0800 024 6168 and we will sort it.
Asbestos Soil Fragments Clearance, Chessington
Chessington, Surrey · Soil Clearance
View this project"Clearaway Asbestos did a brilliant job coming out to survey our old garage roof for asbestos. They were professional and we were impressed with the job they did replacing the garage roof"
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why Choose Clearaway
On Our Home Patch
We work out of Chessington, right on the edge of the KT postcodes, so a same-week survey here is the norm, not the exception.
The Owner On The Job
On local work Graham quotes and runs the job himself. You deal with the person doing the work from first call to final certificate.
Fully Licensed
Licensed asbestos removal contractor (Licence No. 142305706). Full public liability insurance on every job.
Our Own Team
We never subcontract. The people who quote your job are the people who do it.
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.