Every Cornerstone roofing project carries a 10-year insurance-backed warranty, alongside the relevant material guarantee from the manufacturer.
Reliable, high-quality work before, during, and after the scaffold comes down.
Sayers Common is a Low Weald village on the old London to Brighton road, west of Burgess Hill and a short way north of Hurstpierpoint, near Hickstead. Since the A23 was routed past it the village has grown, with newer housing added around a core of much older cottages, so local roofs range from traditional clay tile and slate to modern concrete tile. Cornerstone Roofing has worked on roofs across Sayers Common for 35+ years, and every job carries our 10-year insurance-backed warranty.
We cover the full range of roofing across Sayers Common: pitched and flat roofs, roof repairs, fascias and soffits, guttering, leadwork and chimney work. The old cottages at the village heart tend to carry clay tile and natural slate, while the newer housing runs concrete tile, so a lot of local work is matched repair and re-cover. Out on the open farmland plots, wind and weather drive their share of the work too. Site visits to look over a roof are free and come with no obligation.
Almost every roof in Sayers Common is pitched. The older cottages carry clay tile and natural slate, while the newer houses run concrete interlocking tile, and on the open plots along the road these roofs take plenty of wind. Our pitched roofing specialists spec each roof around its existing covering, and where original slate or handmade tile can be reclaimed we re-lay it on new battens with breathable underlay and fresh lead flashings.
Shingles are an overlapping, single-thickness covering laid in courses across a sound deck. They depend on the underlay, the deck condition, and a ventilated batten cavity behind the visible covering. Get any of those wrong and the lifespan drops sharply.
Natural slate is a generational roof covering. Properly laid on fresh battens, with a breathable underlay and sound lead flashings, a slate roof will outlast most owners. We cover slate repairs, slate replacement, and full re-slate work across Mid Sussex.
Stone is a heavy traditional roof covering. The slates are graded by size and laid in diminishing courses (largest at the eaves, smallest at the ridge), which loads the supporting timbers significantly more than a tiled equivalent. Any stone-roofed enquiry calls for a structural survey of the deck and timbers before a quote.
Tile is the most common pitched covering across Sussex. Clay tile (handmade or machine-made) and concrete tile (interlocking or profile) both feature widely on the local stock. Tile lifespan is generally longer than the underlay beneath it, which means a roof can still look sound from the street while the underlay has reached the end of its life. We cover tile repairs, re-bedding of ridges, tile replacement, and full re-covers across Mid Sussex.
Flat roofs around Sayers Common usually turn up on extensions, garages, outbuildings and porches. On exposed roadside and farmland plots a flat roof has to cope with wind, driven rain and standing water, so we specify for drainage and durability first. Our flat roofing installers fit EPDM, GRP, single-ply, built-up felt and liquid membrane systems, choosing the one that suits the span, the foot traffic and the setting.
Modern reinforced multi-layer torch-on felt is a long way from the single-layer felt that gave the material its older reputation. Properly specified, with metal trims and drips at every edge, it gives a watertight finish well into 20-year territory. Felt remains the most economical like-for-like replacement for an existing felt flat roof.
EPDM is a synthetic rubber membrane sold by the roll and laid as a single sheet across most domestic flat roofs. One sheet means no overlaps and no welded joints to fail later. Lifespan comfortably reaches 25 years and beyond on a properly prepared deck.
Green roofs turn a flat surface into planting, additional thermal insulation, and drainage attenuation. They need a sound waterproof base underneath (typically EPDM or a bituminous build-up), proper drainage outlets, and a structural assessment of the supporting joists or deck because the loaded weight is significantly higher than a standard flat finish.
GRP (glass-reinforced plastic, often called fibreglass roofing) is laid wet over a sound deck and cures into a single seamless skin. It’s strong enough to be walked on and available in a range of finishes. Lifespan typically reaches 25 years and beyond on a properly prepared substrate.
Liquid coatings give a continuous, joint-free skin across complex roof details, including parapet cappings, roof-light or vent penetrations, and abutments where a flat meets a pitched tile. They can also be applied as a recoat over an existing failing membrane that’s otherwise structurally sound, which extends the roof’s life without a full strip-out. Most modern liquid systems are vapour-permeable and UV-stable.
Single-ply membrane comes as factory-made synthetic sheets, fixed mechanically, fully bonded, or held in place by ballast, with joints heat-welded on site. Long sheet widths reduce the number of seams on larger flat areas. Lifespan is comparable to EPDM when properly installed.
The roof repairs we are called to most in Sayers Common are slipped or cracked tiles, slate slip on the older cottages, worn lead flashings around chimneys, and ridge or hip tiles loosened by wind on the more open plots. We survey honestly before quoting, and where the timbers and battens are sound, a targeted roof repair service is almost always better value than a re-cover. An active leak is made safe first to protect the inside, then a scheduled return for the proper fix, all under our 10-year insurance-backed warranty.
Alongside main roof work we take care of leadwork (chimney flashings, valleys and parapet details), guttering renewal, fascia and soffit replacement, and chimney repointing or rebuilds. On the older cottages at the village core the lead and chimneys are often the first things to need attention, and that is frequently what prompts a wider look at the roof. While the scaffold is up we will point out anything else worth doing, because handling it in one visit costs less than coming back later.
Sayers Common’s older cottages and its more exposed roadside and farmland plots both reward a roofer who matches what is there and builds for the weather it takes. Cornerstone brings 35+ years across Mid Sussex, a UK Roofing Awards 2025 Finalist project, and a 10-year insurance-backed warranty on every roof. We survey honestly and quote you straight.
Sayers Common is a Low Weald village on the old London to Brighton road, west of Burgess Hill and just north of Hurstpierpoint, close to Hickstead. It grew around a core of old cottages, with newer housing added since the main A23 was routed past the village, so its roofs come in a wide mix of tiles, slates and ages. The open farmland around it leaves many of them more exposed to wind and weather than roofs in the nearby towns.
