If your roof in Withersfield is past the point of patching, Haverhill Roofers strip it back to the timbers and re-roof it properly to current standards.
Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
Most roofs give clear signals before they fail completely. The problem is that those signals are easy to dismiss one at a time. A slipped tile here, a damp patch there - each one looks minor. But when they start arriving together, or when the same repair keeps coming back, the roof is usually telling you something more serious.
A roof replacement is not a decision to rush into, but it is also not one to keep putting off. Every winter that passes on a failing roof adds to the damage underneath - to the timbers, the insulation, and sometimes the ceilings and walls below.
There is no single thing that means a roof must be replaced. It is usually a combination of age, condition, and the cost of keeping up with repairs. Below are the signs that should prompt a proper inspection rather than another patch job.
Understanding why a roof fails helps you make a better decision about what to do next. The causes are almost always a combination of age, materials, and what has happened to those materials over decades of exposure.
Underlay breakdown is the single most common reason a structurally sound roof still needs a full replacement. The old bitumen felt used in most houses built from the 1950s through to the 1980s becomes brittle as it ages. Once it splits, no amount of tile work above it makes the roof watertight.
Batten rot follows close behind. Battens are the horizontal timber strips that tiles hang on. When underlay fails and water gets in, the battens are the first thing it reaches. Rotten battens cannot hold tiles safely, and replacing them means stripping the roof back anyway - so a full re-roof usually makes more sense than a partial job.
Tile porosity affects concrete tiles in particular. As concrete tiles age, they absorb more water. In a hard frost, that water expands and the tile face spalls away in flakes. Once a significant proportion of the tiles on a roof are doing this, replacing them individually becomes impractical.
Structural movement is less common but more serious. Houses settle over decades, and sometimes roof timbers move enough to distort the whole structure. This is more often seen on older properties with cut roofs - where individual rafters, purlins and ridge boards were assembled on site - rather than modern trussed roofs.
We strip the existing tiles or slates, underlay, battens and any damaged timbers back to the bare rafters. We check every rafter, purlin and ridge board for rot or damage and replace what needs replacing before anything else goes on. We then lay a modern breathable membrane, fix new treated battens, and tile or slate the roof from the eaves up. Ridge tiles, verge details and flashings are all done at the same time.
Skipping the structural check stage is where cheaper jobs go wrong. A new roof covering on top of rotten timbers will not last, and the failure will not be obvious until water has already done significant damage inside.
Should you remove moss from your roof? It depends on the tiles. On newer or intact tiles, careful moss treatment and removal is reasonable maintenance. On older porous tiles, high-pressure cleaning can do more harm than the moss - it strips away the surface and accelerates the very spalling that leads to replacement. If you are asking this question about an ageing roof, have the roof inspected first before spending money on cleaning.
How often should a roof be inspected? A visual inspection every few years is sensible, and always after a period of severe weather. Many problems that turn into expensive jobs were spotted too late simply because nobody had looked at the roof for fifteen years.
Can insulation be improved at the same time? Yes, and this is often the best time to do it. With the roof stripped back, fitting or upgrading loft insulation is straightforward. Cold roofs (insulation laid flat at ceiling joist level) are the most common approach and the most cost-effective.
We carry out roof replacements across the area around Haverhill, including Withersfield, Sturmer, Steeple Bumpstead, Kedington, Great Wratting, Horseheath, Castle Camps, Linton, Stoke by Clare, Ridgewell, Poslingford and Great Sampford.
If you have noticed any of the signs above on your property in Withersfield, call us to arrange a roof survey. We will tell you honestly whether you need a full replacement or whether repairs will do the job.
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Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
