When your roof in Girton has reached the point where repairs are no longer keeping up, a full replacement is the most dependable way to protect your home for the long term.
Most roofs give plenty of warning before they fail completely. Persistent damp patches on ceilings, cracked or slipped tiles that keep coming back, and mortar that crumbles away from ridge and hip sections are all signs that the structure beneath is struggling. At some point, spending money on repeated patch repairs costs more than a clean replacement, and the results are never as reliable.
A full re-roof removes everything back to the bare deck or rafters, so you can see exactly what you are working with. Hidden rot in the sarking boards, corroded fixings, and damaged battens all get dealt with at the same time rather than discovered later through a ceiling stain.
Understanding what actually happens during a roof replacement helps you ask the right questions before any work starts. Below is how a complete re-roof typically runs from the initial inspection through to the day the scaffolding comes down.
A proper roof survey is not a ten-minute glance from the pavement. A roofer should get up to ridge level and inspect the tiles or slates individually, check the condition of the underlay (or lack of it on older properties), probe the fascia and soffit boards for soft spots, and look closely at all the flashings around chimney stacks, roof windows, and abutment walls.
They should also check the guttering and downpipes at the same time, because a re-roof is the natural moment to replace tired plastic guttering before the scaffolding goes back up at extra cost later. Any reputable roofer will give you a clear, itemised breakdown of what needs doing and why, not a single lump-sum figure with no explanation.
Safe scaffolding is not optional on a roof replacement job. A full scaffold ties into the wall and provides a working platform around the entire perimeter of the roof. It protects both the workers and your property below: stripping an old roof generates a large volume of broken tiles, old felt, and debris, and a proper scaffold board deck catches all of it cleanly.
Scaffold is usually erected in a day and remains in place for the duration of the job plus a short period afterwards while the area is cleared and inspected. It also gives the roofer safe access for the final check once the job is finished.
Stripping a roof is physically demanding work and generates significant noise and dust. The tiles or slates come off first, sorted as they go: reclaimed natural slate, for example, may be worth retaining if it is in good condition, while modern concrete interlocking tiles are generally not worth the time to salvage. Old felt and battens follow, and all of it is bagged and taken away at the end of each working day to keep the site manageable.
Once the roof is stripped bare you can see the full picture. On many properties built before the 1970s there is no underlay at all, just bare boarding or open lath. On some post-war homes the boarding has absorbed decades of condensation and may have sections of rot that need replacing before anything else goes on top.
Any rotten or damaged sarking boards are cut out and replaced with new treated timber at this stage. Fascia and soffit boards, if they are rotten or pulling away, are replaced now too, as they support the first course of tiles and the guttering. Trying to save money by leaving deteriorated boards in place risks the new roof moving or allowing damp in at the eaves.
New treated roofing battens are then fixed across the rafters at the correct gauge for the chosen tile or slate. The gauge determines how much of each tile is exposed to the weather and has to be right for the pitch of the roof and the specific product being used.
Modern breathable underlay has replaced the old black bitumen felt on most new installations. Breathable membrane allows moisture vapour from inside the house to escape rather than condensing against the underside of the tiles, which can cause premature rot in the battens and insulation. It is fixed over the rafters or sarking boards before the battens go on, lapped correctly at each course so water cannot track back in.
On a roof with an existing loft conversion or insulation tight to the rafters, the choice of underlay matters more than on a cold, open roof space, and it is worth discussing with your roofer before materials are ordered.
The new tiles or slates go on from the eaves upward. Each course overlaps the one below by a calculated amount determined at batten stage. Every tile is mechanically fixed, not just laid and left to gravity, particularly on pitches above 35 degrees or on exposed sections facing prevailing weather. Hip and valley tiles, ridge tiles, and any verge details are bedded and pointed in a flexible mortar or finished with dry-fix ridge and hip systems, which are increasingly common because they do not crack over time the way traditional mortar does.
At every penetration, whether that is a chimney stack, a soil vent pipe, a roof light, or a party wall, lead flashing is cut, dressed, and wedged into the mortar joint. Lead is still the standard material for flashings in the UK because it conforms to irregular surfaces and has a long service life when properly fitted. Stepped flashings on chimneys, back gutters, and apron flashings all need to be lead-welded or correctly lapped so there is no entry point for water.
The ridge is the most exposed part of any pitched roof and the most common place for water to enter on an older property. On a replacement job, all old ridge tiles are removed and replaced. Dry-fix ridge systems use a continuous eaves tray and mechanically fixed caps, eliminating the mortar bed that traditionally cracks after a few winters of frost. They cost slightly more than a bedded ridge but are worth it for the long-term reliability.
Hips and verges get the same treatment. Verge clips or dry-fix soakers replace the mortar fillet at the gable end, and hip tiles are fixed mechanically into the hip iron at the bottom and bedded or clipped at each course up to the ridge junction.
New guttering is fitted before the scaffold comes down. The fall of the gutter needs to be set correctly toward the downpipe outlet: a common problem is guttering that has been re-fixed level after a fascia replacement, which causes water to pool and overflow in heavy rain. Downpipes should be checked for blockages and secured properly to the wall.
Any TV aerial or satellite dish brackets that were removed during the strip-off are re-fixed at this point. Ridge terminals and tile ventilators, if required, are also fitted before the final inspection.
A conscientious roofer will walk the job at ridge level before the scaffold is struck, checking that every ridge tile is secure, every hip and valley is tight, every flashing is correctly dressed, and all the fixings are in place. This final inspection is your last chance to raise anything before the scaffolding comes down and access becomes difficult.
The site should be left clean. All tile waste, broken slates, old felt, offcut timber, mortar bags, and packaging should be taken away, not left stacked against your fence for you to dispose of. Ask about this at the quotation stage so there is no ambiguity.
Natural slate, concrete interlocking tiles, and plain clay tiles each have different weights, price points, and appearances. Natural Welsh or Spanish slate is the premium choice and suits older properties well, but it requires a roofer who knows how to fix it correctly. Concrete interlocking tiles are heavier but durable and lower cost. Plain clay tiles sit between the two on price and suit a wide range of property types.
The existing roof structure determines what weight of material is safe to use without additional structural work. A roofer should check the rafter size and spacing against the weight of the proposed tile before ordering materials.
The question most homeowners ask is whether they need a full replacement or whether targeted repairs would do. The honest answer depends on the age of the roof, the condition of the underlay, and how many tiles or slates have failed.
A roof where the underlay has perished, the battens are rotten in multiple places, and more than around 20 per cent of the tiles need replacing is almost always better replaced in full. Partial repairs on a degraded structure tend to fail again within a few years, and you end up spending the cost of a replacement in stages while living with a leaking roof in between.
If the structure is sound and only a small number of tiles have slipped or cracked, a repair is entirely appropriate. Any roofer who recommends a full replacement on a roof that clearly only needs a handful of tiles re-fixing is not giving you straight advice.
A complete re-roof is often the right moment to deal with other items at the same time, while the scaffold is already in place. Work that is worth considering alongside a replacement includes:
Combining these with the main re-roof saves on scaffold costs and reduces the total disruption to your household.
We carry out roof replacements in Girton and across the surrounding area, including the city of Cambridge, the villages of Shelford and Six Mile Bottom, and the Newmarket area itself. If you are unsure whether we cover your location, call us and we will tell you straight.
To arrange a survey and get a proper itemised quote for your roof replacement, call Newmarket Roofers directly. We will get up on the roof, give you an honest assessment, and explain clearly what the work involves before you commit to anything.
No obligation · We usually respond within 2 hours
Storm damage, active leak, damaged ridge - we aim to be on-site within 24 hours.
