New Roofs in Haverhill

Expert New Roofs
in Haverhill

When a repair is no longer enough

Most homeowners hope a few replacement slates or a patch of fresh mortar will buy them another decade. Sometimes that is true. But there are specific warning signs that tell you the roof itself has reached the end of its serviceable life, and patching at that point is money spent twice. Knowing what to look for helps you make the right call before water gets into the structure.

A new roof is not a small decision, and we are not going to push you into one. What we will do is explain honestly what causes roofs to fail, what the warning signs look like from the ground and from the loft, and what a proper re-roof involves so you know what to expect and what to ask any roofer who quotes for the job.

Warning signs visible from the ground

You do not need to go onto the roof to spot early signs of failure. Stand back from the property and look at the roof plane as a whole. These are the things worth noticing:

• Sagging or dipping between rafters. A roof should look flat or uniformly pitched. Any visible dip in the middle of a slope means the sarking felt, the decking or the rafters themselves are carrying water and beginning to fail.
• Ridge tiles that have shifted or are visibly out of line. The ridge is bedded in mortar or, in modern installations, dry-fixed with a mechanical system. When the mortar carbonates and crumbles with age, the ridge tiles rock, let in water and eventually slip. A single displaced ridge tile can be re-bedded, but a ridge where every tile has moved usually means the mortar bed has failed along its entire length.
• Missing or slipped slates and tiles across multiple areas. One or two slipped slates after a storm is a repair job. Slates slipping at random across the whole roof suggests the fixing nails have corroded to the point where the slates are no longer held securely. Nail sickness, as it is known in the trade, cannot be fixed by replacing individual slates - the whole roof needs to come off.
• Moss and vegetation growth. Moss itself does not cause immediate failure, but thick, established moss holds moisture against the tile or slate surface, accelerates frost damage and blocks water from running clear. When you see moss across the majority of a roof rather than just the north-facing slope, it is worth investigating what is happening underneath.
• Staining on chimney breasts or party walls. Tide marks on an internal chimney breast wall, or damp patches that follow the line of an abutment, point to failing flashings. Lead and mortar flashings have a finite life, and when they go, water tracks directly into the wall.

Warning signs to check from the loft

If you can get into the loft space safely, look at these things on a dry day and again after heavy rain:

• Daylight coming through the roof. Any pinhole of daylight means a gap in the tile or slate covering. Small gaps can be repaired, but widespread daylight across a large area means the lap between tiles has broken down.
• Stained or damp rafters. Dark staining along rafters indicates water has been tracking there, possibly for years. Soft or spongy timber means rot has already started.
• Torn, split or absent sarking felt. The felt layer beneath the tiles catches any water that gets past the tile surface and directs it to the gutter. Old bitumen felt becomes brittle and splits after 20 to 30 years. When it fails, any water that gets past the tiles goes straight onto the ceiling.
• Condensation on the underside of felt or timbers. Not all loft moisture comes through the roof. But if you see consistent damp on the inside of the felt, combined with poor ventilation, it accelerates felt failure and causes rafter rot.

What causes roofs to fail - the real reasons

Roofs do not usually fail because of one dramatic event. The causes are almost always gradual, and they are worth understanding because they affect what kind of replacement is right for your property.

Age of the fixings. Slates and tiles can last well over a century, but the nails and clips that hold them cannot. Galvanised steel nails corrode over decades, particularly in areas with exposure to wind and driven rain. Once the nails fail, the slates are sitting on the battens only by gravity and friction. A single gust can take several off at once.

Failed sarking felt. Modern breathable membranes replaced the old bitumen felt through the 1990s and 2000s. Bitumen felt has a working life of around 25 to 40 years depending on conditions. A roof laid in the 1970s or 1980s very likely has felt that has already split in places. The tiles may look intact from the street, but the secondary line of defence is gone.

Batten deterioration. Roof battens are the horizontal timbers the tiles sit on. They are pressure-treated timber in modern roofs, but older battens were not always treated. When moisture gets past failing felt or tiles, the battens absorb it and begin to rot. Rotten battens cannot hold fixings securely, and at that point the whole structure needs to come down.

Mortar failure. Anywhere mortar is used on a roof - the ridge, hips, verges and abutments - it is subject to repeated freeze-thaw cycles every winter. Over time the mortar loses its bond, cracks and falls away. Water follows. Modern dry-fix systems for ridges and hips avoid mortar entirely, and on a re-roof they are worth specifying for exactly that reason.

Thermal movement. Every roof expands and contracts as temperature changes. Flashings, pointing and mortar all have to accommodate that movement. Lead flashings are good at it; mortar is not. This is why you will often see cracked pointing around a chimney on a roof that was last attended to decades ago.

What a full re-roof involves

A new roof is not just new tiles on top of old battens. A proper re-roof strips everything back to the bare rafters. Here is what the job involves, in sequence:

• Scaffold erected around the property to give safe working access and to catch anything that falls during strip-off.
• All existing tiles, slates, battens and felt stripped and removed from site.
• Rafters and wall plates inspected for rot, split or undersized timber. Any damaged section replaced or sistered before the new covering goes on.
• New breathable roofing membrane laid across the rafters, lapped at every horizontal join and fixed at the eaves to direct any water that gets past the tiles into the gutter.
• New treated battens fixed through the membrane into the rafters at the correct gauge for the chosen tile or slate.
• Tiles or slates laid from eaves to ridge at the correct lap and fixed according to the manufacturer's specification and the pitch of the roof.
• New lead or code-appropriate alternative flashings at all abutments, valleys and around any chimneys or rooflights.
• Ridge and hip tiles dry-fixed with a mechanical system, or re-bedded in mortar depending on the property and customer preference.
• Gutters and fascias inspected and replaced where needed before the scaffold comes down.

A typical semi-detached house takes two to four days for strip and re-roof. A larger detached property may take a week or more. The exact time depends on the roof area, the pitch, the complexity of the detail (valleys, dormers, chimneys) and the weather.

Choosing the right material for a re-roof

We work with natural slate, concrete interlocking tiles and clay plain tiles. The right choice depends on your existing roof, your planning situation and your budget. Natural slate is the lightest, the most durable and the most authentic for older properties, but it is also the most expensive per square metre to supply and lay. Concrete interlocking tiles are the most cost-effective option for a straightforward re-roof and come in a wide range of profiles. Clay plain tiles sit between the two on cost and give a warmer appearance than concrete.

The cost of a full re-roof varies depending on the material, the complexity of the roof and what condition the timbers are in when the old covering comes off. Every roof is different until you see it stripped, so we provide a written quote after surveying the property.

What to ask before you accept any quote

Any roofer quoting for a new roof should be able to answer these questions clearly:

• Are you stripping back to the rafters, or going over the existing battens?
• What membrane are you using, and does it meet current building regulations for ventilation?
• Will new treated battens be fitted throughout?
• What fixing system will you use for the ridge and hips?
• How will the lead flashings be dressed and fixed?
• Who is responsible for scaffold, and is it included in the price?
• How will waste be removed from site?

If any roofer is reluctant to answer these, that tells you something. A confident tradesperson who does the job properly has no reason to avoid explaining what they are going to do.

New roofs in Haverhill and nearby

We carry out new roofs and full re-roofs in Haverhill and across the surrounding area, including work for homeowners in Newmarket, Bury St Edmunds, Ely and Cambridge. If you are in or near Haverhill and you are seeing any of the warning signs described above, call us to arrange a roof survey. We will tell you honestly whether you need a new roof or whether a targeted repair will do the job.

You can find us based in Newmarket. Call us to book a survey, get a straight answer about your roof and receive a written quote for any work needed.