A worn-out or failing roof needs more than patching. We carry out full roof replacements in Poringland and the surrounding villages, stripping back to the rafters, checking the structure, and relaying with quality tiles or slate to give your home a sound roof overhead.
Photo from one of our recent jobs
Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
Most roofs have a long working life, but there comes a point where ongoing repairs cost more than a full replacement. If your tiles are crumbling, your roof has been patched in several places, or water is getting in despite previous work, a complete re-roof is usually the more sensible and cost-effective route. This page explains what the work involves, what materials suit different properties, and what you should expect from the job from start to finish.
Poringland sits in south Norfolk, and many of the homes here are a mix of house types and ages. Each type presents its own roofing challenges. Older properties often have timber battens that have rotted quietly over decades, or original clay tiles that have become porous and are holding water rather than shedding it. Newer houses can have concrete interlocking tiles that look fine from the ground but are failing at the nibs or cracking along the edges.
A re-roof is not simply swapping old tiles for new ones. The process begins with stripping everything off: tiles or slates, battens and the old roofing felt. Once the deck is bare, we inspect every rafter and the ridge board for rot, splits or movement. Any structural timber that is damaged gets replaced at this stage, before anything else goes back on.
New breathable roofing membrane goes down over the rafters. Modern membranes allow moisture vapour to escape from the loft space while keeping wind-driven rain out. Battens are then fixed over the membrane at the correct gauge for the chosen tile or slate.
The tiling or slating itself is carried out from the eaves upward. Each course overlaps the one below by the correct amount for the pitch of the roof and the type of material being used. Ridge tiles are bedded or mechanically fixed at the apex, and all hips and valleys are finished to prevent water ingress at those vulnerable junctions. Lead or a code-matched alternative is dressed into chimneys, dormer cheeks and abutments where the roof meets a wall.
Once the main field of the roof is done, we turn our attention to the smaller details that are often the source of leaks: mortar haunching on ridge and hip tiles, the back gutter behind a chimney stack, and the condition of any lead soakers behind abutments. These are the spots where water most commonly gets in on an older roof, and they need to be done properly for the roof to perform as it should.
The material you choose for a replacement roof should suit the pitch of the roof, the style of the property and, where relevant, any planning conditions. Here is a plain summary of the main options:
Clay ages well, holds its colour and suits older or period properties. Plain clay tiles need a steeper pitch - typically 35 degrees or more - so they are not always an option if the roof is shallow. They are heavier than concrete, so the structure needs to be sound, but on a sound frame they perform well and can last many decades.
Concrete interlocking tiles are the most common material on houses built from the 1960s onwards. They come in a wide range of profiles and colours, they are durable and they are generally less expensive than clay or slate. The surface coating on concrete tiles can fade over time, and older concrete tiles can become brittle, but a good-quality concrete tile on the right pitch is a practical and long-lasting choice for most standard domestic roofs.
Natural slate is the premium option. It is thin, lightweight relative to clay and carries a natural appearance that suits both older cottages and contemporary homes. Welsh slate and Spanish slate are the most widely available. Welsh slate is harder and finer-grained; Spanish slate is a good mid-range option that performs well in the UK climate. Artificial slates - fibre cement or reconstituted stone - are also available for properties where planning rules require a slate appearance but where budget is a consideration. A full re-roof using natural slate typically costs more per square metre than tile, but the material has an exceptionally long life when properly fixed and the quality of the finished roof is difficult to match.
A full roof replacement in and around Poringland typically costs between £5,000 and £15,000 for a standard detached or semi-detached house, depending on the size of the roof, the pitch, the material chosen and the condition of the underlying timber. Larger or more complex roofs with multiple hips, valleys or dormers will sit at the higher end of that range. Natural slate and clay tile roofs cost more in materials than concrete tile roofs. Any structural timber work needed, such as replacing rafters or ridge boards, adds to the total.
These figures are a guide. The only way to get an accurate figure for your property is to have the roof inspected so that the square metreage can be measured and the condition of the structure assessed. A quote based on a quick look from the pavement is not reliable - what looks like a straightforward strip-and-relay can turn out to involve significant structural work once the old material is off.
Working at height on a pitched roof is hazardous without the right equipment. A proper re-roof on a two-storey house requires scaffolding for the full duration of the work. Cutting corners on scaffolding is both dangerous and often a sign of corners being cut on the work itself.
Beyond safety, a roof is one of those jobs where the detail is hidden once the work is done. The quality of the underlay, the accuracy of the batten gauge, the way lead is dressed at flashings - none of this is visible from the ground once the tiles are on. A poorly laid roof can look identical to a well-laid one from the pavement, but will let in water and need attention within a few years. Choosing a roofer who can show you previous work and who will explain what they are doing at each stage of the job is the most important decision you make.
As well as re-roofing existing properties, we carry out new roof installations on extensions and new builds. The process is similar but often works alongside other trades, so timing and coordination matter. A new roof on an extension needs to tie in properly with the existing roof and the internal ceiling or room-in-roof structure. Getting the junctions right - particularly where the new ridge meets the existing slope - is the part of the job that most often causes problems if it is not thought through carefully.
We work in Poringland and the villages and towns nearby, including Loddon, Framingham Earl and into Norwich itself. Properties in this part of Norfolk range from newer homes closer to the city, through to older buildings on the edges of smaller villages. The materials and methods we use are chosen to suit the property in front of us rather than a single standard approach.
Norwich and its neighbouring areas such as Thorpe St Andrew and Costessey have a wide mix of roof types across many different eras of housing. Areas like these call for a slightly different approach to material selection and detailing.
Scaffolding needs to be erected around the building before work starts. Stripping the old roof is the noisiest and most disruptive part of the work - it generates a significant amount of waste material that needs to be cleared from the scaffold and disposed of. We load skips or take materials away in stages so the scaffold is not overloaded.
Once the old roof is stripped and the structure has been checked and any timber work done, the new membrane goes on and then the battens. Tiling or slating follows. Natural slate or clay plain tile takes longer because the individual units are smaller and there are more of them to lay. Dormers, hips and complex ridge details also add time.
Scaffolding is removed once the roof is complete and all the details - flashings, ridge, hips - have been signed off. The site is cleared and any waste that has not already been removed goes at this stage.
When you are speaking to any roofer about a re-roof, there are a few things worth asking directly:
A straightforward, detailed answer to each of these tells you a great deal about the roofer you are dealing with. If any of these questions produce vague answers or resistance, treat that as useful information.
If your roof is coming to the end of its life, or if you have had repeated leaks and repairs that have not solved the problem, call us to arrange an inspection. We will get on the roof, assess the condition of the tiles, the battens, the underlay and the lead work, and give you a clear picture of what needs doing and why. A roof replacement in Poringland for a standard three-bedroom detached house typically costs between £6,500 and £11,000 depending on materials and roof complexity - call us for a survey and accurate figure for your property.
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Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
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