Doorstep roofers in Stroud: spotting scams and saying no

The caller is friendly, local-sounding and has a story ready. They were working on a roof nearby, they noticed a slipped tile or a gap at your chimney, and they thought they would do you a favour by saying so. Some show a photograph on a phone, which could be of any roof on any street. Others offer to go up and have a look while you wait.

The giveaway is not the story itself, because roofs do slip, but where the conversation goes next. A genuine roofer who sees a problem tells you and leaves a card. A cold caller turns the problem into a decision you have to make now. If you have not asked anyone to come, you are under no duty to let them near the house, the ladder or your roof.

You do not need to argue the point. You can say you have a roofer already, or that you will arrange your own survey, and shut the door. Nothing you are being asked to do needs to happen in the next ten minutes.

Urgency is the main tool. You may hear that rain is coming, that a tile could fall on someone, that materials are on the van and the price is only good today, or that they can fit you in because another job has been cancelled. Real emergencies exist, and water coming through a ceiling deserves quick attention, but a leak is something you notice from the inside: a stain on a ceiling, drips in the loft, a damp wall. A stranger spotting a tile from the street does not make your roof an emergency.

Payment is the next marker. Be suspicious of a demand for cash up front, a lift to the bank to withdraw it, or a price that falls sharply if you say yes at once. Be suspicious too of a figure that changes once they are on the roof. A genuine firm prices the job from the survey and writes it down. Our page on whether a roofer should ask for a deposit is worth reading, because the rule for doorstep callers is simpler still: no payment, no start, no commitment.

The faults named are almost always ones you cannot check yourself. Moss on a slope, a hairline crack in the mortar, a bit of discolouration or a small gap in the ridge can all be described in alarming terms and cost a fortune to remedy. Some of them need nothing more than a look and a small repair. Some are not faults at all.

Another common move is to offer a cheap fix that creates work later: a coat of sealant brushed over tiles, a bucket of mortar at the ridge or a roll of felt slapped onto the lead. These can hide a leak for a month or two while the underlying fault gets worse, and then you have a bigger bill and no one to ring.

It also helps to know what roofs of your type look like. A thatched cottage, a Cotswold stone slate roof and a 1960s flat roof fail in quite different ways. If you are unsure which you have, the page on the main roof shapes on UK homes can help you describe it, and a proper survey, with pictures taken up on the slopes, is the sensible next step.

Older residents are often targeted because they are at home during the day, may find it hard to check a roof themselves and are polite. If you have a parent or neighbour in a Stroud valley village or on a quiet lane, it is worth a conversation before anyone calls.

• Agree a simple script: "I don't buy at the door. Please leave a card."
• Put a note by the phone with the name of a firm you have checked and the number of someone family can reach.
• Ask them to wait before agreeing to anything and to ring you first, however small the job sounds.
• Check any recent work. A cold caller who did a 'small repair' and was paid in cash may come back with a bigger problem and a bigger price.

If a relative has paid and you are worried, take photographs of the work, write down whatever you can remember of the person, the van and the day, and keep any paperwork. Local Trading Standards and Citizens Advice can both tell you where you stand, and if you think a crime has been committed, report it to the police.

If the caller has made you think about the roof, you may as well find out its true condition. Do that on your terms. Pick a firm you have found yourself, ask for a survey and wait for a written quote. Compare it with the national cost ranges published in the guides, such as MyBuilder's 2026 figure of £150 to £500 for a roof inspection, so you know whether a price is in the usual region.

Run your own checks as well. Our short checklist on how to check a roofer is genuine sets out what to look up before you pay anyone. For VAT on repairs and re-roofing, which should be on the quote, see VAT on roof repairs and new roofs.

You are never rude by saying no. If you do want help, Supreme Roofing Stroud works from a survey you have asked for, then sends a written quote with pictures from your slopes.