If your roof is showing signs of serious wear, Haverhill Roofers covers Sawston and the surrounding area with full roof replacement work carried out properly, from stripped timbers to finished ridge.
Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
Most roofs give plenty of warning before they reach the point of full replacement. The problem is that those warnings are easy to miss or dismiss as minor, and by the time water gets inside, the damage runs deeper than just the tiles. Knowing what to look for early gives you more options and keeps costs down.
The most visible sign is missing, cracked or slipping tiles. A handful of slipped slates is a repair job, but if tiles are failing across several areas of the roof at once, the nibs that hold them are likely perished or the battens beneath have rotted. Replacing individual tiles on a roof where the underlying structure is failing is wasted money.
Moss and lichen are not just cosmetic. Heavy moss growth traps moisture against the tile surface and works its way under laps, accelerating frost damage to the tile face and the mortar pointing on ridges and hips. If moss has been present for years and pointing is crumbling along the ridge, the whole roof covering is likely near the end of its life.
Inside the loft, look for these specific signs:
Sagging between rafters or a visible dip in the roof line from the outside points to rafter movement or rot. This is a structural issue, not a surface one, and it will not be resolved by retiling alone.
Blocked or damaged gutters cause water to back up under the eaves. Over time, fascia boards rot and the first courses of tiles take in water from behind. If your fascias are already soft, check the condition of the first two or three tile courses at the same time.
Lead flashings around chimneys, dormers and abutments crack and lift as they age. A flashing failure lets water track down behind the tile and into the wall or ceiling below. A new flashing can extend roof life on an otherwise sound roof, but if the tiles themselves are failing too, it makes sense to address everything at once.
Age is the most straightforward cause. Plain clay tiles laid more than 60 to 70 years ago are often approaching the end of their useful life. Concrete interlocking tiles from the 1970s and 1980s frequently reach 40 to 50 years before the surface coating fails and the tile body starts to absorb water and crack in frost. Natural slate, when fixed correctly with copper or stainless nails, can outlast everything else, but poor quality slate or corroded fixings fail much earlier.
Nail sickness is a specific and common problem with older Welsh slate roofs. The iron nails used in Victorian and Edwardian work corrode over decades until they can no longer hold the slate. The slates themselves may be perfectly sound, but they slide because there is nothing holding them. The only fix is a full strip and re-lay with new fixings.
Poor previous repairs accelerate failure. Cement mortar applied over cracked tiles or used to pin slipping slates traps moisture rather than sealing it out. Where mortar has been used across the face of a roof rather than just at ridges and hips, the tile beneath is usually in worse condition than it looks.
Inadequate or missing underlay is another cause. Older roofs were sometimes laid without felt underlay, relying on the tile alone to shed water. Once tiles age and gaps open up, there is nothing to catch what gets through. A full replacement includes a breathable modern membrane laid over the rafters before battening begins.
We strip the existing tiles, slate or covering back to the bare rafters. Every batten is removed and the timber structure inspected. Rafters showing rot or movement are repaired or sistered before any new material goes on. A breathable underlay membrane is fixed to the rafters, battens are counter-battened to the correct gauge for the chosen tile, and the new covering is laid from eaves to ridge. Ridge tiles are bedded and pointed, flashings replaced, and the gutters rehung where necessary.
The whole process is methodical. Skipping the structural check to save time leads to callbacks later, so a proper replacement addresses the roof as a system, not just its surface.
Should I remove moss before getting a quote? No. Moss removal before a survey removes evidence. Leave it so the roofer can assess how far the damage has gone underneath.
Does roof cleaning damage tiles? Pressure washing can dislodge fragile tiles and strip granules from mineral-surfaced felt. Biocide treatments applied by brush or low-pressure spray are gentler. On a roof close to the end of its life, cleaning is rarely worth the cost compared with replacement.
How often should a roof be inspected? A visual inspection every two to three years is sensible, plus after any severe weather. You do not need to go up yourself; a scan from the ground with binoculars or from an upstairs window tells you a great deal about the ridge, tiles and gutters.
Can roof insulation be improved at the same time? Yes, and replacing a roof is the best opportunity to do it. With the roof stripped, it is straightforward to upgrade loft insulation or to install insulation between and over the rafters if the space is used.
Based in Haverhill, we work across the Suffolk and Essex border and into Cambridgeshire. Villages we cover include Linton, Horseheath, Castle Camps, Steeple Bumpstead, Kedington, Great Wratting, Withersfield, Sturmer, Poslingford, Stoke by Clare and Ridgewell, as well as Sawston and the surrounding area.
If you have spotted any of the warning signs above, call Haverhill Roofers to arrange a roof survey. We will assess the structure honestly and tell you whether repair or full replacement is the right course for your home.
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Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
