Tiled roofing in Leatherhead, Surrey and South West London

Tiled Roofs, Plainand Interlocking.

The post war workhorse. Cheaper, quicker to lay, lighter on the fixings. Most re roofs since the 1960s are concrete interlocking and most of them are still fine. When they are not, they are the easiest roof to match and replace.

Interlocking tiles are large, so a roof needs far fewer of them and they lay quickly, which is why most re roofs since the sixties are concrete. They are heavy, which matters on a roof structure built for slate, and the surface weathers over time, so an old concrete roof looks greyer and rougher than it did.

They are the easiest tile to match and the easiest roof to repair. When a concrete roof does need replacing it is usually the underlay that has perished rather than the tiles, and a re roof puts new underlay and battens under new tiles fixed to the current standard.

Interlocking tiles work down to shallower pitches than plain tiles, often 22.5 degrees and some lower, which is why they were used on so many post war houses and bungalows. On a re roof we check the pitch against the tile’s minimum before we quote, because a tile laid below its minimum pitch lets wind driven rain under it.

Cracked, slipped and missing tiles replaced. Ridge and hip tiles re bedded or, better, dry fixed so they cannot come loose again. Verges re pointed or dry fixed. Valleys checked and lead replaced where it has split.

Most tiled roof repairs are small: a handful of tiles after a storm, a ridge that has lost its mortar, a verge that has cracked. We do the repair and check the rest of the slope while we are up there, because the fixings around a failed tile are the same age as the one that went.

A ridge or verge repair on a tiled roof is quoted two ways where it helps: re bedded in mortar to match the original, or dry fixed with a mechanical system that does not rely on mortar at all. Since 2015 the British Standard has required ridge and hip tiles to be mechanically fixed on a new roof, and we do the same on a repair unless the house calls for the traditional look.

Strip to the rafters, new breathable underlay, new battens at the right gauge, and tiles laid and fixed to the current standard. Every tile on a new roof is now mechanically fixed, which is a good deal more than the old roof had.

A re tile is the job to do once and properly. The old tiles and battens come off, the rafters are checked and repaired, new breathable underlay and treated battens go on at the right gauge, and the new tiles are laid and fixed to the current standard, with dry ridge and dry verge systems that do not depend on mortar.

Where the original clay tiles are sound we can re lay them on the new battens and make up the shortfall with matched reclaimed stock, which keeps the look of the house and a good part of the cost.

A re tile on a three bedroom house takes around a week to ten days with the scaffold. The underlay, battens and fixings are all specified to BS 5534 for the site’s wind exposure, and the insulation and ventilation are brought up to the current Building Regulations while the roof is open.

A re roof is the moment to sort the loft ventilation and get the insulation right, because the roof is off and the felt is new. We build it in rather than leave it for later.

A cold, damp loft rots battens from below. A re roof is the moment to put in eaves and ridge ventilation, to check the insulation depth and to make sure the two work together, so the new roof stays dry from the inside as well as the outside.

The Building Regulations expect a re roof to bring the roof insulation up to the current standard where it is practical, and a loft with 270 millimetres of mineral wool needs ventilation at the eaves and the ridge to stay dry. We fit both as part of the job and note them in the paperwork.