Newmarket Roofers installs new roofs on homes across Clare and the surrounding area, using quality materials suited to the local weather.
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A new roof is one of the largest single investments a homeowner makes, so it pays to understand what you're buying before any work starts. On a typical pitched roof, the job covers stripping the existing covering, checking or replacing the timber structure beneath, fitting new felt or breathable membrane, laying new battens, and then fixing the chosen tile or slate. Leadwork around chimneys, valleys and abutments is renewed at the same time.
On a flat roof the process differs: old felt is removed, the deck boards are checked for rot or movement, and a new system - usually torch-on felt or EPDM rubber membrane - is laid and finished with proper upstands and drip edges. Cutting corners on any of these steps is what causes early failures.
Finding someone who does a good job and doesn't disappear once they've been paid is where most homeowners feel uncertain. The advice below won't guarantee a perfect outcome, but asking the right questions before you sign anything significantly reduces the risk of a bad experience.
A reliable contractor will put the scope of work in writing: square meterage of covering to be removed, the membrane or underlay specification, the tile or slate type and source, the batten size, and any leadwork or fascia work included. If a quote is just a single price with a brief description, you have no way of knowing what's actually been priced.
When comparing quotes, check that they're pricing the same job. One quote may omit scaffolding, skip the breathable membrane, or assume you'll accept a cheaper tile. A lower price often means something has been left out.
Some contractors price work themselves and then subcontract the whole job to a gang they've never used before. Ask directly whether the people who come to your property are the contractor's own operatives or subcontractors. Neither answer is automatically wrong, but you should know who is on your roof and who is responsible if something goes wrong.
Old tiles, broken slate, felt and timber battens all need to go somewhere. Legitimate contractors include skip hire or waste disposal in the price. Be wary if waste removal isn't mentioned - some operators leave materials on your drive or, worse, dispose of them illegally.
There's a significant difference between a concrete interlocking tile and a plain clay tile, both in cost and in how the roof will look and perform over time. The same applies to underlay: a basic 1F felt and a modern vapour-permeable membrane are not equivalent products. Ask the contractor to name the specific products they intend to use and, if you're not sure, look them up. A contractor who can't or won't name the products they're fitting is one to approach with caution.
A reasonable contractor may ask for a deposit to cover material procurement - this is normal on larger jobs. A deposit of 10-25% is typical. Paying 50% or more upfront before a single tile has been removed is not. Never pay the full amount before the work is complete and you've had a chance to check it over.
On any roofing job, something unexpected can come up - rotten rafters hidden under old felt, a chimney stack in worse condition than it looked from the ground. Ask the contractor what happens in that situation: do they call you before doing extra work, or will there be an unexpected addition to the invoice at the end? The answer tells you a lot about how they operate.
Not every problem contractor is obvious. Some things to treat as warning signs:
None of these alone makes someone a rogue trader, but two or more together should make you pause and get another opinion before proceeding.
Before you make the final payment, take time to look at the finished roof properly. If you can't get onto a ladder safely, ask the contractor to walk you through what was done. Things worth checking include:
If anything looks wrong, raise it before paying the balance. A contractor who refuses to discuss a punch list at completion is unlikely to come back and fix it afterwards.
The covering you choose affects cost, maintenance requirements and how the roof looks for decades. The main options for pitched roofs are:
For flat roofs, torch-on felt (typically a mineral-surface cap sheet over a base layer) is a well-established system. EPDM rubber is increasingly popular because it comes in large sheets that reduce the number of seams - seams being the most common point of failure on flat roofs.
Pitched roof replacement costs vary depending on size, covering material, chimney work and whether the timber structure needs attention. A full detached property with complex roof geometry will cost more than a straightforward semi-detached. Flat roof replacement costs vary by system and size; torch-on felt typically runs at £60-£100 per square metre installed, while EPDM tends to sit at £80-£120 per square metre. These are typical current UK figures and prices will vary between contractors.
Scaffolding is a significant element of any new roof cost - on a two-storey property you should expect to allow £800 to £1,500 for a standard scaffold. Some contractors include this in the roof price; others quote it separately. Check before comparing.
When old felt and tiles are stripped back, the timber beneath is exposed for the first time in years. Common findings include: rafters softened by a slow leak that was never visible from inside, woodworm in older timbers, ridge boards that have dropped slightly over decades. A contractor should flag anything they find before covering it back up. If the structural timbers need work, it's better - and cheaper - to do it while the roof is open than to come back to it later.
Newmarket Roofers covers Clare and the wider area around Newmarket, including nearby towns such as Haverhill and Bury St Edmunds. We install new pitched and flat roofs on homes, using materials specified to suit the job - not whatever is cheapest to source. We're happy to explain exactly what we're planning to do before any work starts and to put it in writing.
Call us to arrange a roof survey and a written quote. You're welcome to use our quote to compare against others.
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Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
