New grey tiles and dry verge on a gable under a blue sky

New Roofs and Re-Roofing in Torbay and South Devon

A full re-roof from the strip-off up: new battens, breathable membrane, tiles or slates, dry ridge and verge, rooflights and VELUX windows, and the fascias and gutters done while the scaffold is there.

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Name, number and your town, plus a picture if you have one. We ring you back with a price or a time to come and look.

The Job

There comes a point on an old roof where repairing it is throwing money at it. The tiles have gone porous and grow moss like a lawn, the nails have rusted so slates slide every time the wind gets up, the battens are soft, and the felt underneath has perished to the point where you can push a finger through it in the loft. When a roof is at that stage we say so, because a re-roof done once is cheaper than five winters of repairs and a ceiling coming down. The job itself is straightforward when it is done in the right order. The scaffold goes up and the old covering comes off into a skip, which is the moment we get to see the timbers properly and deal with anything rotten or undersized. New treated battens go on over a breathable membrane, which lets the roof space vent instead of sweating the way old bitumen felt did. Then the tiles or slates, laid to the manufacturer's gauge with the right fixings for a coastal wind zone. The ridge and hips go on as a dry-fix system, clipped down rather than bedded in mortar, so there is nothing to crack and fall off in a gale. Rooflights and VELUX windows go in at this stage if you want them, with the proper flashing kit, and the fascias and gutters are the obvious thing to renew while everything is accessible. You end up with a roof that will see out the mortgage, and photographs of every stage so you know what is under those tiles.

Signs You Need Us

Moss across most of the roof, and tiles that stay dark and wet long after the rain stops
Slates or tiles slipping regularly, a few every winter, in different places
Felt in the loft that is brittle, torn or hanging in strips
Sagging along the ridge or a slope that looks uneven from the road
Repeated repairs that fix one leak and move it somewhere else
A roofer telling you honestly that patching it is no longer worth your money

Roof past its best? Send a photo.

What We Check

The rafters, purlins and wall plates once the covering is off, for rot, beetle and undersizing
The chimney stack and flashings, because a re-roof is the time to repoint or rebuild
Ventilation: how the roof space will breathe with the new membrane
Where rooflights, vents, soil pipes and aerials come through, so every penetration is flashed properly
The fascias, soffits and gutters, which are almost always due at the same time
Access, scaffold and where the skip will go

What We Do

Old covering stripped and cleared into a skip we arrange
Rotten or weak timbers replaced or doubled up
Breathable membrane laid and lapped to the manufacturer's spec, with eaves support trays
New treated battens set out to the gauge of the tile or slate
Tiles or slates fixed for a coastal wind zone, with dry ridge, dry hips and dry verge
Rooflights and VELUX windows fitted with the correct flashing kits
Lead flashings redressed or renewed at the chimney and abutments
Fascias, soffits and guttering renewed if wanted while the scaffold is up
Scaffold down, site cleared, photos of every stage handed over

On the Day

A typical semi-detached re-roof takes a week to ten days including the scaffold. You keep living in the house; we sheet the roof each night so it is never open overnight. The skip sits on the drive or the road with a permit, and materials arrive the day before they are needed. On the last day the scaffold comes down and we sweep up, clear the gutters and walk round the outside with you.

The Cost of Leaving It

An old roof does not fail all at once. It fails a slate at a time, a ceiling stain at a time, until one winter the water finds the timbers. Rot in a rafter or a wall plate turns a re-roof into a structural job, and a ceiling that comes down brings decorating, electrics and sometimes a hotel bill with it. The roof also holds the value of the house: a surveyor's report saying the roof covering is at the end of its life takes more off the price than the roof costs.

Our New Roofs & Re-Roofing Work

The full gallery

Bungalow re-roofed in red interlocking tiles, the render still being finished

Brown interlocking tiles with a roof window fitted into the new slope

Two roof windows fitted in a new brown tiled roof against a clear sky

Dry ridge going on over a new tiled slope, breathable membrane still showing on the far side

New hip roof in brown interlocking tiles with a dry hip system

Tiled hip roof finished around a dormer, dry ridge fixed along the top

Clay plain tiles being laid across a pitched roof

New grey tiles and dry ridge on a hip roof, scaffold still up

Materials We Fit

RedlandConcrete and clay roof tiles, and the dry ridge and verge systems that go with them.

MarleyInterlocking concrete tiles, plain tiles and roofline fittings.

VELUXRoof windows and the flashing kits that let them into a tiled or slate roof.

FirestoneEPDM rubber membrane for flat roofs, in a single sheet.

Cure It GRPGlass-reinforced fibreglass flat roofing, laid wet and trimmed to the edge.

Questions About New Roofs & Re-Roofing

Can I change the look of the roof?

Yes. Going from brown concrete tiles to a grey slate-effect tile, or from tiles to natural slate, is common on a re-roof. Planning rules apply in conservation areas and on listed buildings, and we will tell you if that applies to you.

Do I need planning permission to re-roof?

Usually not for a like-for-like roof. Changing the materials on a house in a conservation area, or adding rooflights on some elevations, can need permission. We flag it before you commit.

Will you reuse my old slates?

If they are natural slate and most are sound, yes. We strip, sort and re-lay the good ones with new fixings and make up the difference with matching slate. It keeps the character of the roof and the cost down.

How long does a new roof last?

A properly fixed concrete or clay tile roof on new battens and membrane is measured in decades, and natural slate longer than that. What kills roofs early is poor fixing and no ventilation, which is what the membrane and dry-fix systems are there to prevent.

Can you put in a roof window at the same time?

Yes, and it is by far the cheapest time to do it, because the scaffold and the strip-off are already paid for. We fit VELUX windows with the correct flashing kit for the tile profile.

Customer Reviews

Full re-slate and lead flashing job on our bungalow. Kyren explained exactly what needed replacing without trying to upsell unnecessary extras. Scaffolding went up and came down on time, and the roof looks great. Good, hard-working local crew.

Had Kyren and his team out to sort a leaking roof valley on our terrace after the heavy rains last month. They turned up when they said they would, got straight to work, and cleaned up all the old tile debris properly before leaving. Fair price and solid work.

We needed composite cladding put on the back extension to replace some old timber that was rotting. Kyren gave us a straightforward quote with no hidden extras. The finish is spot on, and the lads worked right through a couple of miserable weather days to get it finished on schedule.

Kyren and his team repointed the entire side gable on our cottage. Very tidy workers, raked out the old crumbling mortar cleanly, and matched the new pointing nicely with the rest of the brickwork. Polite, punctual, and easy to deal with.

Called Roofsure after noticing a couple of slipped tiles and loose mortar around the chimney stack. Kyren popped round to take a look, gave a reasonable estimate, and had the job done by the end of the week. Honest, reliable service.