Haverhill Roofers carries out complete roof replacements in Fulbourn, working through every stage from the first survey to final clean-up.
Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
A full roof replacement involves more steps than most homeowners expect. Understanding the sequence helps you know what to expect on site, what questions to ask, and how to judge whether the job has been done properly. This page takes you through the process from start to finish.
The job starts before any work begins on the roof itself. A proper survey involves getting up on the roof or into the loft, not just viewing from the ground. The roofer should be checking the condition of the felt, the battens, the rafters, the ridge, the verges, the flashings, and any chimney stacks.
From the loft side, the key things to look for are daylight coming through, dark staining or tide marks on the timbers indicating past or current leaks, and any deflection in the rafters. From the roof surface, the condition of the ridge mortar, the state of the tile nailing, and the presence of any cracked or delaminating tiles all inform whether a repair is realistic or whether full replacement is the right answer.
A survey should give you a clear picture of what is failing and why, not just a price. If a roofer quotes without getting up on the roof, that is a reason to be cautious.
Once the survey is done, the material and method choices are confirmed before work starts. This includes the tile type, the membrane specification, the batten treatment, how the ridge and hips will be finished, and what happens if damaged timbers are found once stripping begins.
It is worth agreeing in advance what the day rate or cost per square metre is for replacing rotten rafters or wall plate sections. These are not always found until the old roof is off, and having a figure agreed beforehand means no surprises when the scaffolding is already up.
Scaffolding goes up before stripping starts. On a typical semi-detached or detached house, a full perimeter scaffold provides a safe working platform and catches any materials that come off during stripping. The scaffold should also include a debris chute or skip access to manage the volume of old tiles and broken material coming down.
Scaffolding typically takes a day to erect. It stays in place until the roof is finished and signed off. The cost is usually included in the replacement quote, but worth confirming.
Stripping is the most disruptive phase for the household. Tiles, battens, and felt are all removed back to the bare rafters. Old tiles can be surprisingly heavy - a full roof covering on a medium-sized house can weigh several tonnes - so getting the material down safely and into a skip or onto a lorry takes time.
Stripping also exposes what the survey may not have been able to confirm. The full condition of every rafter, the wall plate, and any bracing timbers becomes visible at this point. Any sections that are soft, cracked, or showing signs of rot are marked for replacement before the new roof goes on.
This step only applies where problems are found, but it is an important one. Rotten rafters need to be cut out and new treated timber sistered or spliced in before the new covering is laid. Leaving a damaged rafter under a new roof covering is a false economy - the rot will continue, and the new roof will eventually reflect the movement beneath it.
The wall plate - the horizontal timber that the rafters rest on at eaves level - is a common place to find deterioration, particularly where it sits in the cavity and has been exposed to moisture over decades. Replacing sections of wall plate is more involved than replacing a rafter, but it needs doing if it is soft.
Once the timbers are sound, a new breathable membrane is fixed across the rafters. Modern breathable membrane replaced traditional bitumen felt as the standard underlayer some years ago. It allows water vapour from inside the house to escape through the roof structure rather than condensing on the cold underside of the tiles, which reduces the risk of timber decay over the long term.
The membrane is lapped correctly at each course, and any penetrations for roof windows or vents are sealed around properly before the battens go on top.
Treated timber battens are fixed to the rafters at a gauge calculated for the specific tile being used. The gauge - the exposed length of each tile - determines how water runs down the slope and how the tiles interlock. Getting the gauge right for the pitch of the roof and the tile specification is part of laying a watertight roof, not a minor detail.
Counter battens are used in some specifications, particularly on lower-pitched roofs or where ventilation requirements need to be met. These run vertically up the rafter and create an air gap beneath the horizontal battens, improving drainage and ventilation.
Tiles are fixed mechanically, typically with stainless steel or aluminium nails or clips, rather than relying on mortar alone as older roofs did. Every tile in certain zones - the perimeter, the eaves, the verges, and any exposed location - is nailed or clipped according to current fixing zone requirements, which take wind loading into account.
Verge details, eaves courses, and any cut tiles around hips and valleys are fitted as the tiling progresses. This is where a careful job takes longer but makes a real difference to the finished result.
The ridge and any hips are finished last, after the main tiling is complete. Current practice uses a dry-fix system for both - a mechanical clip and ridge unit that does not rely on mortar. Mortar-bedded ridges were standard for decades but are now known to crack and loosen over time, particularly in exposed positions. A dry-fix ridge does not need re-pointing.
Lead flashings at chimney stacks, abutments, and around roof windows are cut and dressed into the correct position. The lead is wedged and pointed into the brick joint rather than simply stuck to the surface with mastic, which ensures a durable seal rather than one that fails within a few years.
Once the roof covering is complete, the site is cleared. Old tiles, broken material, and offcuts go into the skip. Gutters are checked and cleared of debris from the stripping process. The finished roof is walked and visually checked for any tiles that have not seated correctly, any gaps at the verge, and any flashings that need a final dress.
A homeowner should be able to walk around the property and see a neat, consistent roofline with no raised or dipped tiles, tight verge and ridge details, and clean lead work at any flashings. If something does not look right at this stage, raise it before the scaffold comes down - that is the easiest point to make good any detail.
We carry out roof replacements in Fulbourn and the surrounding area.
If your roof is reaching the end of its life and you want to understand the full process before committing, call Haverhill Roofers. We will carry out a proper survey and walk you through exactly what your replacement will involve, stage by stage.
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Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
