If you are planning a new roof in Sudbury and want to know exactly what the job involves before anyone sets foot on your property, here is an honest account of the process from start to finish.
Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
A new roof job begins long before scaffolding goes up. The first step is getting eyes on the existing roof, or on the new structure if this is a new build or extension. For a replacement roof, a proper assessment means getting onto the roof itself - not just looking from a ladder or the ground - to check the condition of the underlying timbers, the state of any existing underlay, and whether the roof structure is sound enough to carry a new covering without remedial work first.
At this stage we are looking at the pitch of the roof, the rafter and purlin sizes, whether there is any sign of timber rot or movement, and how the ridge, hips and valleys are currently detailed. All of this affects what the new roof will cost and how long the job will take. A quote given without this information is little more than a rough guess.
We carry out new pitched and flat roofs for homeowners in and around Sudbury, covering extensions, new builds and loft conversions. We work in tile and slate and can advise on what planning conditions allow where relevant.
Once we know what we are working with, we agree the specification before any work is priced or booked. This covers the tile or slate type and colour, the underlay, the batten gauge, the ridge and hip detail (mortar bed or dry-fix), any flashings needed, ventilation requirements, and whether any structural timber work needs to be done as part of the job. Everything should be written down clearly so there are no surprises when work starts.
If planning conditions apply - for instance if the property is in a conservation area or the roof is visible from a listed building - those requirements are factored in here. It is always the homeowner's responsibility to confirm planning requirements before work begins, but we flag anything that looks like it may need checking.
A new roof cannot safely be carried out without proper access scaffolding. On a typical two-storey house, a full perimeter scaffold or a scaffold to the relevant elevations will be erected before any roofing work begins. The scaffold should be inspected and tagged before any roofer gets on it. This is standard practice and non-negotiable from a safety standpoint.
Before stripping begins, skips or sheet protection are set up at ground level to catch stripped tiles and debris. Gutters are protected where possible. Any vulnerable areas below the working elevation - conservatory roofs, bay window roofs, exterior fittings - are noted and, where practical, temporarily protected.
On a replacement roof, the old covering is stripped back to the bare rafters. Tiles or slates come off first, then the old battens, then the underlay. As the underlay and battens are removed, the condition of the rafters and any structural timbers becomes visible. On older properties it is not uncommon to find areas of soft or rotten timber at this stage - particularly at eaves level, around chimney bases and in valleys where water has been tracking. Any affected timber is replaced before the new roof goes on, because there is no point in laying a new covering over a compromised structure.
The stripped debris is removed from the scaffold and disposed of. Recycled or reclaimed tiles are increasingly in demand, and where tiles are in good enough condition to be of use, some roofers will set them aside rather than skip them - worth asking about if you are interested.
The underlay is the first material fixed to the bare rafters. Modern breathable membrane underlay is standard on new roofs - it allows water vapour from inside the house to escape while acting as a secondary barrier against any wind-driven rain or snow that gets past the tiles. The underlay is lapped at every joint and sealed at edges and penetrations. Getting this right matters because a poorly lapped underlay is effectively no underlay.
Treated timber battens are then fixed across the rafters at a gauge calculated to give the correct head lap for the tile or slate being used. The batten gauge is not arbitrary - it is determined by the pitch of the roof and the minimum lap specified by the tile manufacturer. Too wide a gauge, and rain will blow back under the tile laps in heavy weather. This is one of the details that separates a properly laid roof from one that will cause problems within a few years.
Tiling or slating begins at the eaves and works up towards the ridge. The first course is set out carefully to ensure the tiles are straight and the joints staggered correctly between courses. On wider roofs, a chalk line is snapped at intervals to keep the courses running true.
Each tile or slate is fixed in accordance with the manufacturer's fixing specification for the pitch and exposure level of the site. At higher pitches and on more exposed elevations, mechanical fixings (clips or nails) are required at a higher proportion of tiles than at lower pitches in sheltered locations. Hip and valley tiles are cut and bedded or clipped as they are reached. Cutting is done with a disc cutter for clean, accurate lines rather than simply snapping tiles.
Lead soakers and step flashings are fitted at every junction with a wall or chimney as the tiling progresses up the slope - not as an afterthought once tiling is complete. Getting the flashing detail right at this stage is critical. A poorly integrated flashing is one of the most common points of water entry on a roof, and it often cannot be properly remedied without disturbing the tiles around it.
The ridge is the last structural element of the roof covering to be completed. On modern new roofs, dry-fix ridge systems using mechanical fixings and a proprietary ventilated ridge unit are now standard practice and preferred over mortar bedding alone. Mortar-bedded ridges have historically been a maintenance item - the mortar cracks and lifts over time, particularly through freeze-thaw cycles in winter, and pointing or re-bedding is periodically needed. Dry-fix ridges, properly installed, remove this maintenance requirement.
Where hips are present, hip tiles or hip irons with mortar bedding, or a dry-fix alternative, are fitted in the same way. The choice between mortar and dry-fix for hips should be agreed at specification stage.
Where the job includes a flat roof - typically on a single-storey extension - the sequence is slightly different. The decking boards are inspected and replaced where necessary. The membrane (felt or EPDM rubber) is then fitted, starting with any upstand detailing at walls and parapets before the main field of the roof. Getting upstands right is particularly important because they are where the majority of flat roof leaks originate.
Falls - the slight slope built into a flat roof to drain water - are checked at this stage. A flat roof should shed water to the outlet within 48 hours of rain. If the falls are inadequate, the decking may need to be adjusted using tapered insulation boards before the membrane is applied.
Once the main roof covering is complete, all flashings, verges, eaves and any penetrations (soil pipes, roof lights, aerial fixings) are checked over. Gutters are cleared of any debris from the work and checked for correct fall and secure fixing. The scaffold is inspected before it comes down to make sure nothing has been missed at height.
At ground level, all stripped material and any waste from the job is cleared and taken away. The area around the building - paths, driveways, planting - is checked for debris and nails. On any roofing job, a magnetic sweep of the working area at close-down is good practice and should be standard.
If you are planning a new roof for your Sudbury property, call us to arrange an inspection. We will walk you through exactly what the job involves for your specific building and give you a clear, itemised price.
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Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
