There is no doubt that the UK has had some of its most prolonged periods of wet weather on record. Even by the standards of the UK, the inclement conditions have been tough to endure for anyone whose vocabulary extends beyond the word “quack”.
While some headlines have focused on the impact on this year’s likely agricultural output, others have noted how hard it has been to do any work on residential properties. The National Home Building Council has just revealed significant year-on-year drops in registrations and completions of new homes in the first quarter, partly thanks to the weather.
Just as it will have been hard to carry out work on building new homes afresh, so the weather may have hampered repair work. That will have been all the more galling for anyone needing conservatory leak repairs, not least as the reminders that these were necessary will have been delivered time and again, requiring lots of mopping and carefully placed buckets.
Hopefully, the weather will soon start playing ball and staying drier as Britain moves into summer. But hot conditions can also bring heavy thunderstorms, which can show flaws in the condition of many a roof.
Indeed, a huge cloudburst over Manchester on May 12th highlighted ongoing issues with perhaps the most notoriously leaky roof in Britain, that of Old Trafford Football Ground. The deluge that found its way through every weakness led to cascades of water onto seats, down the steps, and even into one of the dressing rooms.
Of course, a problem on that scale is much greater than most people’s homes will ever face. That is, after all, a huge stadium, and the roof is just one of many shortcomings that have led to suggestions that the whole edifice may be rebuilt or replaced with a new one next door.
That is way beyond what you would want to have done with your home. But it does beg a question; whatever was done to the stadium roof to tackle a long-standing problem was clearly not adequate. Could your conservatory similarly, albeit on a smaller scale, suffer the same, with repairs coping with a bit of rain but not a heavy storm?
The answer lies in having the most skilled, experienced professionals carry out the task. Leaky spots need to be sealed effectively. Drainage that siphons water away needs to be sufficient for heavy rain, which is why keeping gutters clear is so important.
A claim made at Old Trafford was that the drainage system was simply overwhelmed by the volume of rain, with more falling in one storm than in the whole of May last year. But if a changing climate means storms like this – and rainfall levels in general – are going to be more common and more severe, excuses won’t cut it.
That means your repair work should not just be a mere patching-up job, but something that can add extra drainage and resilience to help your conservatory cope. That way, it will withstand lots more wet weather next winter and beyond.
Indeed, it could be that the repairs will be sufficiently robust and enduring to still be keeping your conservatory dry by the time Manchester United finally sort out their stadium – and even build a team worthy of playing in it.