Coating farm buildings on the Mendip and Levels edge
Wells sits between the Mendip grazing above and the Somerset Levels below, and the farming around it is dairy and livestock on often wet ground. That setting tells you a lot about the roofs. Damp air, wet ground and housed stock all keep moisture working against the metal, so corrosion here gets a steady push from both sides. The building stock is the regional norm: cubicle housing, parlours, fodder and general sheds, mostly profiled steel with older fibre cement still in service on plenty of holdings.
Coating these buildings well around Wells starts with understanding that the wet is constant, so the survey and preparation carry as much weight as the coating product itself. A roof on the Levels edge rarely gets a long dry spell to recover between downpours, and that steady damp is what turns a small patch of surface rust into a sheet that needs replacing.
Survey first: what we assess
We never quote a coating without walking the roof, because the substrate decides everything. A price guessed from the yard is worth nothing if the sheet underneath is corroded through where you cannot see it. On the wet ground around Wells the things we look at hardest are the places moisture collects and corrosion bites.
- Corrosion at laps, fixings and gutter lines
- Internal moisture from housed stock driving rust from below
- Moss and growth on shaded slopes needing clean-down before coating
- Older fibre cement that must be assessed before any decision
Working around the dairy and grazing year
A dairy does not stop, and a parlour roof cannot be taken out of use for long. So we phase the work, treating buildings that can be emptied first and timing the application for when stock are out at grass and the housing stands empty. The Somerset weather then has the final say, because a coating needs a dry settled spell to cure properly. Surveying well ahead means the work is ready to go the moment a good window opens rather than slipping to another year. On a holding with more than one building, we will usually plan the programme across a couple of seasons so the operation keeps running while the roofs are dealt with in turn.
Some roofs are past coating
On wet ground, plenty of roofs reach the point where coating no longer makes sense, and we will tell you when yours has. A steel sheet corroded through, or a fibre cement roof gone brittle and porous, needs repair or replacement rather than a coating that fails quickly. There is no value in spending on a system the roof cannot hold, and we would rather lose the quote than set you up for that. Older fibre cement also calls for care: it may contain asbestos, work on it is regulated and requires a proper assessment, and overcoating is never something we assume. We will not invent a warranty length to win a quote, and we will not coat a roof that should be replaced.
Booking a survey near Wells
If your dairy or livestock buildings around Wells are showing rust and tired coatings, the honest first step is a survey, not a phone price. We will judge what the wet has done, tell you whether coating is worthwhile, and plan the work around milking, turnout and the weather. Better to know now whether a roof has years left in it or is heading for replacement than to find out when it starts letting water into the cubicles. Send the details through the quote form and we will arrange a visit.
