Scaffolding in Leigh-on-Sea

Leigh south of the railway was largely built out in the Edwardian and inter-war years. Close to the Broadway the streets are tight and mostly terraced. Further out the stock loosens into semis and detached houses on the Marine Estate to the west, the Highlands Estate to the north and the Chalkwell Hall Estate to the east. North Leigh is a mix of terraces, semis and bungalows with some council-built estates.

That is the work: Edwardian bays and parapets, loft conversions and re-roofs on the inter-war semis, and rear extensions on both.

The Edwardian terraces climbing the streets around Leigh Road and the Broadway have two-storey bays, slate or tiled roofs and, often, no rear access except through the house. A front lift lands on a short forecourt or straight on the pavement. The rear is reached over a side return or a neighbour's garden. On the survey we walk both, measure the bays, and decide whether the back needs a full independent scaffold or a hop-up over the rear addition. Decorators and renderers get full elevations at working height; roofers get edge protection they can work behind. See painting and rendering scaffolding and roofing scaffolding.

Old Leigh sits at the foot of the cliff, cut off from the rest of Leigh by the railway. The High Street is narrow and cobbled, the buildings are weatherboarded cottages, boatyards and cockle sheds, and access for a lorry is limited. Above it, Leigh Hill and the roads down the cliff are steep, so base plates, sole boards and the first lift have to be set to the slope, not the level. Both are conservation areas. Four of the council's conservation areas are in Leigh: Leigh Old Town, Leigh Cliff, Chapmanslord off Marine Parade, and one simply called Leigh, covering the streets north of the railway up Leigh Hill.

The Chalkwell Hall Estate and the roads down to Chalkwell station are larger Edwardian and inter-war houses, some with hipped roofs and deep plans. Loft conversions here are usually a rear dormer or a hip-to-gable, which means a front and rear lift, a loading bay for the steels and an adaptation once the dormer is framed. See loft conversion scaffolding. The seafront end is open to the estuary and gets the same wind as Westcliff; sheeting and netting are decided on the survey.

The terraced streets around the Broadway are parked kerb to kerb most of the day, because most of the houses have no off-street parking. For a scaffold that means the lorry may not get to the kerb outside the house, the footprint on the pavement has to leave a route for pedestrians, and a loading bay is sometimes better on a side road than at the front. We look at all of that before we price.

Leigh is part of Southend-on-Sea City Council's area, so the council is the highway authority. A scaffold on or over the public highway needs a licence; one wholly on private land does not. The council asks for applications at least 28 days ahead. On a Broadway terrace with the front elevation on the pavement, that date drives the start date, and we say so at the survey.

We cover Southend-on-Sea to the east and Rayleigh to the north. See all areas for the full postcode list, or request a survey.

Request a survey