Houses do need a lot of maintenance if they’re to stay upright and keep us safe and warm for many years. There are the usual things like checking the guttering, soffits and fascias – these which of course are at roof level, need extra care and attention because running water, caused by a blockage in the flow of rain water, when it comes down the house itself, can start ot eat in to the fabric of the building and cause a massive problem later. The same goes for chimney stacks and the waterproof roofing material that is laid down around the base of the stack when the roof tiles are hung. These flashings need to be kept in good repair otherwise water ingress into the roof underneath the pantiles or red roof tiles will cause havoc later on if not found and checked immediately. I had a problem a few years ago when some cheeky lads offered to clean my upstairs windows – they shinned up the garage roof and ran across the tiles – cracking several of them. They should have put a walking board across to withstand the weight of their ladder.