From the archives

A portfolio built long before websites.

For over forty years we've photographed our work and typed up a profile of every job. The prints have faded a little. The folders have softened at the corners. That's rather the point, this is the record, as it was kept.

Original archive photograph (print scan): two rebuilt red-brick chimney stacks on a detached house in Coulsdon, Surrey, with new clay pots, photographed from the garden
The two replacement stacks, photographed on completion.
Original trade certificate, 1984

Where the documented story begins

13 September 1984.

The earliest dated document in the archive: Philip Allan's approved apprenticeship in the craft of bricklaying, issued under the authority of the National Joint Council for the Building Industry. It is the anchor for everything that follows, the trade background behind decades of documented building, roofing, brickwork, refurbishment and maintenance work.

Shown as evidence of trade background, not as a roofing qualification or a company founding date.

Read about our roots

The training record

The certificates behind the trade.

Original college certificates kept with the archive, 1982 to 1985. They are shown as they survive, in the order they were awarded.

  1. Spring 1982

    Certificate in Communication Skills, Level One

    City and Guilds of London Institute

    Awarded Spring 1982, Written: Distinction; Course Work Assessment: Credit.

    Certificate 1 of 5

  2. Spring 1982

    Certificate in Numeracy, Level One

    City and Guilds of London Institute

    Awarded Spring 1982, Written: Distinction.

    Certificate 2 of 5

  3. May/June 1983

    Craft Certificate in Brickwork

    City and Guilds of London Institute

    Awarded May/June 1983, Written, Assignments and Course Work Assessment: Credit.

    Certificate 3 of 5

  4. May/June 1984

    Advanced Craft Certificate in Brickwork

    City and Guilds of London Institute

    Awarded May/June 1984, Site Procedures, Technology and Practice; Brickwork Technology and Practice; Course Work Assessment: Credit.

    Certificate 4 of 5

  5. 20 March 1985

    Award of Merit

    South East London College, Department of Construction

    Departmental Award for outstanding achievement whilst a student on the CGLI Advanced Craft Certificate in Brickwork, session 1983–84. Dated 20 March 1985.

    Certificate 5 of 5

These are brickwork and general college certificates held by Philip Allan. They record training completed in the 1980s and are shown as evidence of the trade background behind the business, not as roofing qualifications, and not as current accreditations.

The project book

Turn the pages.

Each project appears as it was recorded: the typed profile on the left, the original photograph on the right. Historic contract values are never published.

Photographs are shown as printed, rotated and cropped only, never retouched or modernised.

Project Profile

Property WorksDate to be confirmed

The Finishing Works

West Croydon, Surrey

Location of work
West Croydon, Surrey
Property
Same premises as the preceding project
Nature of work
Interior finishing and decoration
Description of work

A continuation of the preceding West Croydon project, carried on internally.

The works comprised: preparation of the new internal plaster walls and woodwork for decorating; coved and Artexed ceilings to the extension and the existing lounge; wallpapering and painting of the extension and lounge; staining of window boards; staining of internal doors; fire surrounds; and shelving.

Special features
None recorded.
Materials
Coving and Artex ceiling finishes · Wallpaper and paint · Stained softwood joinery
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Swipe or tap the arrows

Dates are being confirmed from the original records before we show them. As the rest of the album is scanned, including historic roofing projects, it will be added here in the same project book.

Featured archive projects

The projects we kept the fullest records of.

Where the original documentation and photographs are strongest, the archive gives the project more room.
Original archive photograph (print scan): two rebuilt red-brick chimney stacks on a detached house in Coulsdon, Surrey, with new clay pots, photographed from the garden
The two replacement stacks, photographed on completion.

Chimneys · Coulsdon, Surrey

Two Stacks, Taken Down and Rebuilt

Coulsdon, Surrey

Replacement of deteriorating chimneys, including the provision and construction of scaffolding.

Property
Detached residence
Nature of work
Chimney replacement
Open in the project book
Original archive photograph: the front of a large detached red-brick house in Coulsdon, Surrey, with the new tiled roof to the detached garage, the new porch entrance with glazed doors, and low brick retaining walls to the front garden
The front of the property, new garage roof, porch entrance and front retaining walls.
Original archive photograph: the new porch entrance and garage at the Coulsdon house seen from the lawn, the tiled porch roof set against the chimney and the main roof of the house
The porch entrance and garage from the front lawn.

Roofing · Coulsdon, Surrey

Project Profile: Large Detached Residence

Coulsdon, Surrey

One of the more extensive residential projects preserved in our original archive. The works combined new roofing, a substantial 10m × 4m rear extension, structural brickwork and several purpose-built additions to the property.

Property
Large detached residence
Nature of work
Roofing, 10m × 4m extension, brickwork and additions
Open in the project book
Original archive photograph: the completed attached garage, porch and utility room at a semi-detached house in Coulsdon, the new tiled roof matching the tiles on the existing house
The completed addition, its roof tiles matched to the house.
Original archive photograph: side view of the completed Coulsdon garage, porch and utility construction, showing the new brickwork and tiled roof against the original property
The new work seen against the original property.

Roofing · Coulsdon, Surrey

Built to Belong

Attached Garage, Porch & Utility Construction

A 9m × 4m attached garage, porch and utility-room construction at a semi-detached home in Coulsdon, completed with internal finishes and decoration. The roof was finished using tiles selected to match the existing property.

Property
Semi-detached residence
Nature of work
Attached garage, porch and utility construction
Open in the project book
Original archive photograph: the Central Croydon town-house under scaffolding during the refurbishment works, with the front elevation and chimney stack sheeted for access
During the works, the front elevation under scaffold.
Original archive photograph: the completed Central Croydon town-house after refurbishment, the walls spar-coated and the ornamental balustrades and rainwater goods renewed
Completed property.

Property Works · Central Croydon, Surrey

A Complete Property Transformation

Central Croydon, Surrey

The archive records a substantial refurbishment of this Central Croydon town-house, which had been partly converted into four self-contained flats. The works extended from internal reconstruction, kitchens, bathrooms and heating through to external masonry, woodwork, rainwater goods and refurbishment of the building's exterior.

Property
Terraced town-house
Nature of work
Complete refurbishment
Open in the project book
Original archive photograph: completed pebbledashed extension in West Croydon, Surrey, with a white window and door opening onto a crazy-paved patio with planted pots
The finished extension and crazy-paved patio.
Original archive photograph: the re-set double-glazed window in the pebbledashed wall on completion, with net curtains and a china ornament on the sill
The window after being re-set to weather properly.

Property Works · West Croydon, Surrey

Putting Right a New Extension

West Croydon, Surrey

Remedial work to a 4m × 4m extension that had been built by others two weeks before we were called in.

Property
Semi-detached residence
Nature of work
Remedial works, roofing and external finishes
Open in the project book
Original archive photograph: inside industrial premises in Croydon, showing a bare brick wall painted white with a blocked-up opening, a conveyor running overhead and a steel-caged goods lift to the left
Blocked-up openings and the conveyor inside the premises.
Original archive photograph: two new blockwork piers built around steel columns on the factory floor of the Croydon premises, protecting them from forklift damage
Blockwork piers built to protect against forklift damage.

Roofing · Croydon, Surrey

Commercial Experience, From the Original Archive

Industrial premises, Croydon, Surrey

The archive also records work undertaken at industrial premises in Croydon. Alongside blockwork, drainage and alteration works, the original project profile specifically records roofing and general maintenance, with the company retained on call for ongoing maintenance of working areas.

Property
Industrial premises
Nature of work
Industrial roofing, alterations and ongoing maintenance
Open in the project book

Where we work today

Tenterden, Biddenden, Rolvenden and the Weald.

Today our working area is deliberately local, the villages and towns within easy reach of Tenterden, so we can stay responsive and keep our standards.
Areas we cover

From the archives

A wider body of work.

The archive shows work carried out further afield over the years, the first projects to be digitised were recorded in Surrey. We include them as they were documented: that is what makes the record credible.

Then & now

Built then. Still standing today.

Anyone can say their workmanship lasts. We'd rather show you the original photograph of a job, the prints from our archive, exactly as they were taken.
Original archive photograph (print scan): two rebuilt red-brick chimney stacks on a detached house in Coulsdon, Surrey, with new clay pots, photographed from the garden

Then · 1984

Replacement of Deteriorating Chimneys

Coulsdon, Surrey · Detached residence

Ageing clay tiled roof with slipped and missing tiles, in need of repair

Free, no-obligation quotation

Forty years on, we're still taking photographs.

Tell us about your roof, chimney or wall and we'll come and take a look. Free, and no obligation. WhatsApp 07967 742509.

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Just straightforward advice from people who know the trade.

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