Roofs age differently depending on when they were built. Pick your property type for the specific issues we see locally, indicative cost context and what to expect from a survey.
Roughly in order of cost for the same covering: mid terrace, end terrace, bungalow, semi detached, detached. Access constraints drive terrace pricing, roof area drives bungalows, and detail count drives detached houses.
Victorian terraces share a small set of roof defects, and once you know them you can usually predict what a survey will find before going up.
Inter-war semis are the most common house type we work on locally, and their roofs are typically at the point where a decision has to be made rather than deferred.
Roofing a period or historic home means repairing like for like wherever possible: reusing sound slates and tiles, matching replacements in size, colour and profile, using lime-based mortar where the building needs it, and keeping traditional leadwork and detailing while quietly improving underlay and ventilation.
Natural slate 80 to 100 years, clay tile 60 to 100, concrete tile 40 to 60, EPDM 20 to 25, GRP 20 to 30, felt 10 to 20. In practice the covering usually outlives the underlay, battens, flashings and mortar, and those are what fail first.
Repair when the failures are localised and the underlay and battens are sound. Replace when nail fatigue is general, the underlay has perished, or you have paid for three separate repairs in as many years on the same slope.
Shape matters as much as size. A simple gable roof is the cheapest form to strip and re lay. Hips, valleys, dormers and mansards each add cut tiles, lead work and slow, skilled hours that a plain rectangle never needs.
