A dormer sticks out — and it feels that in autumn

A sloping roof largely lets wind slide past. A dormer breaks that up: it protrudes, has a vertical front face and sharp transitions to the roof surface. The load lands on exactly those transitions.

Dutch meteorological institute KNMI notes that the storm season begins in September and that the first storm often arrives in November. That is the calendar maintenance should follow: looking in late August is free, looking in November means waiting for an available roofer.

What arrives then is not mainly hourly averages but outliers. KNMI speaks of severe gusts from 75 kilometres per hour, and calls gusts over 100 kilometres per hour very severe. Such a gust pulls at the weakest link, and on a dormer that is rarely the window frame — it is the edge finishing of the little roof, the junction of the cheeks to the roof surface, and the lead or zinc work around it.

The check takes ten minutes and happens from the ground: is the cladding on the cheeks taut or is a seam showing, does the edge finishing of the roof sit down everywhere, and at the junction with the roof surface, is there a tile that no longer beds in? If you find something, it is renovation work now (€ 1,500-6,000); in December it is water damage in the room below. Every guide rate is in the price index.