Asbestos Roofing Removal in Richmond
Behind the bigger houses around Richmond Hill and out towards East Sheen sit extensions, outbuildings and lean-tos with old cement roofs. Years of rain have left many of them cracked and shedding fibres, which is where careful roofing removal starts.
The roofs that age first in Richmond
Stand in a back garden anywhere from Petersham up to Kew and you tend to find the same thing once you look past the house itself. A flat-roof extension off the kitchen. A workshop or store at the end of the plot. A lean-to against a boundary wall, a covered side return, an outbuilding tucked behind one of the larger Edwardian villas. Plenty of these were roofed in corrugated cement, and a fair number of the interwar semis reaching out towards East Sheen and Kew still carry cement soffits, gutters and fascia boards under the eaves. The grand brick fronts get the attention. The roofs out the back are where the older material tends to hide.
This is the part of a property that quietly takes the worst of the weather. The house gets repainted and repointed, the extension roof gets ignored. Cement sheets that went on decades ago sit through every winter, and over time they soften, lift at the fixings and crack along the ridges. Moss builds up in the corrugations and holds the damp. Older corrugated cement of that age can contain asbestos, and the only way to know for certain is to have a sample tested rather than guess from the ground.
That is the work this page is about. Not the lock-up garage at the front, which we handle separately, but the larger and higher roofs around the back: extensions, outbuildings, lean-tos, and the cement soffits and gutters that run along the eaves of the semis. These are the awkward runs you cannot reach off a stepladder, and they are the ones most likely to have been left alone the longest.
Why a tired roof is the bigger risk
An asbestos cement sheet that is whole and painted is fairly stable. The fibres are bound into the cement and stay put. The problem is what the weather does to a roof over thirty or forty years. Frost gets into hairline cracks and opens them. Moss holds water against the surface. Sun bakes the top layer until it goes chalky and starts to break down. Once a sheet is cracked, flaking or crumbling at the edges, loose fibres can come away, and a roof in that state is a far greater concern than one still sound.
This is why a deteriorating roof should be dealt with properly rather than patched or, worse, broken up by hand. Snapping old sheets or jet-washing them is exactly what releases fibres into the garden and the gardens either side. The safe approach is the opposite of that. We take sheets down whole wherever the fixings allow, keep them damp so nothing becomes airborne, lower them by hand rather than drop them, and wrap them before they go anywhere. The waste is double-bagged, labelled and taken off site, not piled up on the lawn.
Height changes the method too. A single-storey extension or an outbuilding roof is reachable from a tower or a short scaffold, but a higher roof, or a long soffit and gutter run along the back of a semi, needs proper access set up first. Around here that access has to be planned before anyone climbs up, because of where these houses sit, how little room there is between them, and what surrounds them. The same applies to older properties where pipe lagging in a cellar turns up alongside the roof work and has to be dealt with under the same controls.
Conservation areas, listed houses and access
Large parts of Richmond are conservation areas, and many of the Georgian terraces around Richmond Green and the houses climbing Richmond Hill towards the protected river view are listed. That changes how a roof job runs before a single sheet is touched. Scaffold and access have to be planned around the restrictions. Parking and skip permits take longer to arrange. Some streets need notification before work starts, and original fabric such as cornices, joinery and panelling has to be protected while we work around it.
On a roof that is in public view, or on a listed property, the asbestos removal rarely happens on its own. It sits inside a wider project, often with listed building consent or conservation-area conditions attached. We plan our part around that so the cement roof comes off cleanly without holding up the rest of the job or putting the protected parts of the building at risk. The removal itself is our responsibility. Fitting it sensibly into everything else going on is just as much a part of the work.
There is a practical side as well. A narrow street behind Richmond Green leaves little room for a skip or a wagon, so we work to keep the road and the neighbours' frontages clear. Sheets are wrapped, labelled and taken off site to a licensed facility rather than left stacked in the road. On the streets that need notification before work begins, that goes in early, so the day we turn up to strip the roof there are no surprises and no stop-start.
Removal, replacement and what comes after
Most domestic cement roofs are non-licensed work, which means we can deal with them directly without HSE notice, working under controlled conditions and double-bagging the waste. Some materials sit in the higher-risk, licensed category, and asbestos insulating board found around a boiler or in a conversion behind one of these houses is a common example. Where the licensed rules apply they are firmer: 14 days notice to the HSE, a full enclosure 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 before we start, not after, because it sets the timeline.
Once the old roof is off, the structure rarely wants to be left open. There are several ways to recover it. Galvanised steel box-profile is a hard-wearing like-for-like swap on an outbuilding or workshop. Three-layer torch-on felt suits a flat extension roof. A pitched roof can go back tiled to match the house, which matters on a property where the look has to sit right with its neighbours, and asbestos-free fibre cement is there where you want the original profile without the original material. We can also box out old soffits and fascias in a safe board so the eaves read correctly from the street and the front of the house keeps its line.
Samples go to a UKAS-accredited laboratory, and any sign-off testing is done by an independent analyst, so the paperwork stands up if a surveyor or buyer asks for it later. Clearaway is based just down the road in Chessington under licence number 142305706, and Graham has run roofing jobs across Richmond and the surrounding areas for more than seven years. If you have an extension, outbuilding or soffit you are unsure about, call 0800 024 6168 and we will talk it through.
Asbestos Roof Removal and Steel Box Profile Renewal, Putney
Putney, South West London · Roof Removal & Renewal
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"
Why Choose Clearaway
HSE Licensed Removal
Higher-risk material handled under full enclosure, with the 14 days of HSE notice the law requires and independent clearance testing.
Planning Aware
Used to conservation areas and listed buildings: scaffold and access planned around the restrictions, original fabric protected.
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.
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.