Asbestos Roofing Removal in Putney
Asbestos roofing removal in Putney, from cement sheets on outbuildings and flat-roof extensions to the soffits and rainwater goods running along the Edwardian terraces. Free site visit, whole-sheet removal, and a clean replacement roof with the paperwork to prove it.
Roofs and Rooflines Behind the Terraces
Putney faces the river as a tight grid of Victorian and Edwardian terraces, but the asbestos roofing work tends to happen out of sight, behind the house. Walk the streets between the Lower Richmond Road and Putney Heath and most front rooflines are slate or tile. It is round the back that the older material survives, on the flat-roof extension added to a terrace, the lean-to off a side return, and the outbuildings sitting at the end of longer gardens towards West Hill and the Ashburton estate. Much of it went up, or was patched, long before asbestos was banned in the UK in 1999, when corrugated cement was the cheap and obvious way to cover an extension or a garden building.
The other place it shows on these streets is the roofline itself. The Edwardian terraces around Putney Bridge and along the Upper Richmond Road carried cement soffits, fascia boards and rainwater goods as standard, and a good number still do, tucked up under the eaves where nobody looks until a gutter starts to fail. The bigger period houses towards West Hill often have more of it again, across larger and higher roofs that a homeowner has no safe way to reach.
None of it is a problem while it is sound and left alone. The trouble starts when it cracks, when a builder rips it off during a reroof, or when someone decides to clear an old outbuilding over a weekend without knowing what the roof is made of. By then a job that could have been planned and done safely has already put fibres into the air, and the bigger or higher the roof, the more there is to put right.
Why an Old Roof Is the Bigger Risk
A garage roof under cover ages slowly. A roof out in the open does not. Decades of Putney rain, frost and sun break down the surface of an old cement sheet, and the binder that holds the fibres in place starts to give way. The sheet goes brittle, the surface powders, and moss and weather work into the cracks. That is the point where a roof stops being low risk and becomes the kind of material you do not want anyone walking on or breaking up.
The danger is in the fibres, not the sheet sitting still. Cut, drilled, snapped or smashed, asbestos cement releases fibres into the air that cause asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma, often decades after the exposure. A weathered roof on an exposed extension or a tumbledown outbuilding is more likely to shed those fibres than an intact one indoors, which is why a deteriorating roof is worth dealing with sooner rather than putting it off another winter.
It is also why a roof cannot be judged by eye. A grey cement sheet and an asbestos-free fibre cement sheet can look identical from the ground, and the only honest answer to what a roof is made of comes from a sample, not a guess. Anything we suspect is sampled and sent to a UKAS-accredited laboratory before work begins, with results normally back within a few working days. On a larger or higher roof, or a property about to be reroofed or extended, a survey first is the sensible route, so a builder is not the one who finds the asbestos halfway through the job.
Taking Sheets Down Whole in SW15
The aim on every Putney roof is to take the material down in one piece. Whole sheets keep the fibres locked in, which matters on terraced streets where there is rarely a driveway and the work is happening over a shared boundary or a neighbour's garden. We lift each sheet off intact rather than cutting or breaking it, lower it down by hand rather than dropping it, wrap it, and run it straight to a licensed disposal facility. Soffits, fascia boards and the old cement gutters along the roofline come away the same careful way, eased off in lengths instead of being snapped to fit a bin bag.
A roof also keeps the work off the ground, so access is half the job on these streets. We set up safe working at height, plan the route the sheets take out to the road before anything comes off, and keep the powder and broken edges of a weathered sheet from spreading across the garden or the pavement. There is usually no need for a skip, which keeps the road clear on streets where parking is tight enough already.
Most domestic roofing jobs in SW15 are finished within a day, though a larger outbuilding or a run of extension and lean-to roofs can take longer depending on access and how far the sheets have to be carried out. Where the law calls for licensed work, the standard is stricter. We give the HSE the 14 days of notice it requires, work under full enclosure with air monitoring throughout, and finish with four-stage clearance testing by an independent analyst before the area is signed off.
A New Roof to Replace What Comes Off
Stripping the old material is only half the job. A flat-roof extension or an outbuilding behind a Putney house still needs a roof over it, so we replace what comes off in the same visit wherever the work allows, rather than leaving a structure open to the next downpour. The usual choices are galvanised steel box-profile, three-layer torch-on felt for a flat finish, a flat or tiled roof, or asbestos-free fibre cement that does the job of the old sheet without the risk. The right pick depends on the building and the roof pitch, so we talk it through on the site visit rather than deciding it for you. Where soffits and fascia boards come down with a roofline, we can box out and reinstate the run so the terrace looks right from the street.
Having one firm handle the survey, the removal and the new roof keeps the job moving and the responsibility in one pair of hands, rather than leaving a builder to inherit a half-cleared roof or a homeowner to chase two trades. It also means the new roof goes straight back on once the old material is gone and the air has tested clean, so the extension or outbuilding is watertight again the same day. Every job ends with the certificates that prove the material was removed and disposed of legally, which is worth keeping for a sale or for a managing agent later on.
We hold Spectra licence number 142305706, we have worked across Putney and the wider south-west London and Surrey area for more than seven years, and we treat a weathered roof on an extension or outbuilding as a job to plan properly rather than rush. To book a free site visit, call us on 0800 024 6168.
Asbestos Roof Removal and Steel Box Profile Renewal, Putney
Putney, South West London · Roof Removal & Renewal
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!"
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.
Why Choose Clearaway
Landlord Compliant
Survey reports and waste consignment notes that satisfy managing agents, lenders and a tenant's right to a safe home.
UKAS Accredited Testing
Every suspect material sampled and confirmed by a UKAS-accredited laboratory before any removal begins.
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.