Asbestos Roofing Removal in Staines
Across Staines-upon-Thames the cement roofs are not just on garages. They cap extensions, outbuildings and lean-tos behind the larger houses, and they run as soffits along the interwar semis. We take those sheets down whole, TW18 and TW19.
Where the bigger cement roofs hide in Staines
Walk the streets behind the bus station, out along Kingston Road and Laleham Road, and the cement roofing in Staines goes well past the single lock-up. There are flat-roof extensions thrown up on the backs of the 1930s semis. There are outbuildings, workshops and lean-tos sat at the bottom of the longer suburban plots out towards Laleham and Egham Hythe. Some are bigger than a garage and a good deal higher off the ground. A few were put up by hand over a weekend in the 1960s or 70s and have not been touched since.
Then there are the soffits and gutters. The interwar semis around Ashford and Stanwell often carry cement board under the eaves and cement guttering along the verges, fitted when those rows first went up. None of it looks like much from the pavement. A grey sheet weathered down to a dull, chalky finish reads as ordinary old building material, which is exactly why it gets left in place and forgotten about. The Victorian and Edwardian terraces nearer the town centre and Church Street tend to have had their roofs redone over the years, but the back additions and yard buildings behind them can still hide a sheet or two.
Most of these roofs and boards predate the 1999 ban by decades. The corrugated sheets are bonded cement with asbestos fibre running through them for strength, which is why they were used on everything from cattle sheds to back kitchens. While the surface stays whole and sound, it sits there quietly and harms nobody. It is the weather, and the long run of years behind it, that slowly changes the picture.
Why a weathered roof is the higher risk
A cement sheet does not stay smooth forever. Decades of sun, frost and rain pull the cement matrix apart from the face down. The sheet goes brittle. The surface turns powdery, hairline cracks open along the corrugations, and moss works its way into the grooves. Once that happens the fibres are no longer locked safely away inside the cement. A gust, a falling branch, somebody walking a ladder up against it, and the surface starts to shed small amounts of dust.
This is the part homeowners in Staines tend to miss. The roof on a back extension or a tall outbuilding is out of sight and out of mind, so it weathers for forty years untouched while the garage gets the odd clean. By the time anyone looks at it properly the sheet is in far worse condition than the lock-up ever was. Higher up, more exposed to the south-westerly weather coming off the river, and often the most degraded asbestos on the whole property without anyone realising.
Soffits and fascia boards sit in the same boat. They take the run-off from the roof, they sit in the shade and stay damp for most of the year, and they soften and flake at the edges where the paint has long gone. Cement guttering cracks at the joints and splits along the lengths. A board you could once have safely left alone becomes one worth dealing with, because the material is already breaking down quietly at the edges where you cannot easily see it from the ground. The same goes for any pipe lagging tucked into the older properties down near the river, though that is a separate matter from the roof itself.
How we take the sheets down safely
The aim on every roof is to lift the sheets off whole. We do not smash or break cement roofing, because cutting and snapping is exactly what throws fibres up into the air. The fixings are eased out one by one, the sheets are lowered down intact, then double-wrapped and labelled for disposal through the proper licensed waste route. Soffits, fascia boards and cement guttering come off the same careful way, taken cleanly off the run rather than ripped or levered at.
Most lower extensions and outbuildings clear in a single visit. The taller and larger roofs behind the bigger houses need proper access set up and a bit more time, and we work to that rather than rushing the job to fit a day. The owner, Graham, runs the Staines jobs himself out of Chessington, a short run up the road, so the person who quotes your roof is the same person on site lifting the sheets. There is no handover to a crew you have never spoken to, and no subcontractor turning up in your driveway. You deal with one person from the first call to the last sheet coming off.
Once the asbestos roof is off you have a clean structure ready to recover. For an extension or outbuilding that usually means galvanised steel box-profile sheeting, a three-layer torch-on felt flat roof, a tiled or pitched roof if the structure suits it, or modern asbestos-free fibre cement that looks like the original without the fibre. Soffits and fascias go back in uPVC, which does not rot and does not flake away in the weather. You can have the asbestos taken off and leave the structure open, or have the new covering on the same day. Either way the old sheets leave the property properly, not stacked round the side to deal with later.
Booking a roof removal in Staines
If you are not certain whether a sheet contains asbestos, that gets settled before anyone climbs up onto it. A small piece comes off under controlled conditions and goes to a UKAS-accredited laboratory, with the result back in a few working days. You cannot tell a cement roof by eye, and a guess is no use to anyone, so on anything uncertain it is sampled first. That small step often saves both money and worry before a single sheet is moved.
Most extension, outbuilding and soffit work on a home is non-licensed, and we carry it out under controlled conditions with the right protective equipment and clean, documented disposal. Where a roof turns out to be higher-risk licensed material, the job is run to the full standard with nothing skipped: 14 days of written notice to the HSE before a hand is laid on it, the working area put under full enclosure, and four-stage clearance testing signed off by an independent analyst before the space is handed back to you. None of that changes simply because the asbestos happens to be up high on a roof rather than down in a garage.
Clearaway has worked across Staines and the wider TW18 and TW19 area for more than seven years, holding Spectra licence number 142305706. For a straight answer on a roof, a run of soffits or an outbuilding out towards Laleham, call Graham on 0800 024 6168.
Licensed Asbestos Removal, Weybridge
Weybridge, Surrey · Licensed Removal
View this project"Graham and his guys picked up some asbestos roof sheets from my property in Chessington. Would highly recommend this company to anyone. Really good service and very professional. Thank you"
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
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.
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.