Can I reuse my existing tiles?

Often, in part. Clay pantiles and natural slate frequently have decades of life left in them; concrete tiles that have lost their surface generally don't. We'll assess this at survey and tell you what proportion is realistically reusable.

Will a re-roof help with damp inside?

If the damp's caused by ingress or a blocked-up roof space, yes. If it's rising or penetrating damp at wall level, no — and we'll say so rather than sell you a roof you don't need.

Do listed buildings need special consent?

Usually, yes, and the covering and detailing may be prescribed. We'll flag that early on and quote for the compliant specification.

New Roofs Somerset | Re-Roofing Village, Town & Rural Homes

We re-roof village cottages, town terraces and estate housing right across the county, with a specification written for your building rather than copied from the last job.

Breathability is the decision that matters

Older Somerset buildings — lime-mortared, solid-walled, sometimes previously flooded — were built to let moisture pass through. Wrap a roof like that in an impermeable membrane and you trap that moisture in the timber instead.

We use vapour-permeable underlays with correctly maintained ventilation at eaves and ridge, so the roof space can dry out the way the building was designed to.

Matching the covering

Pantile and double-Roman roofs

Both clay and concrete versions are readily available in matching profiles. On a village street where the roofscape all reads as one, matching profile and colour matters just as much as performance.

Natural slate

Common on Victorian terraces in the towns. Real slate with copper or stainless fixings will comfortably outlive whoever's paying for it; fibre cement slate is a perfectly legitimate lower-cost alternative where appearance allows.

Stone slate

Heavy, coursed and often listed. Re-laying a stone roof means numbering, salvaging and re-coursing, and frequently strengthening the structure beneath. It's skilled work, and it's priced as such.

The programme, plainly

Survey inside and out, then a written specification and fixed price
Scaffold, protection and site set-up including access to rural properties
Strip, salvage and sort any covering being reused
Structural inspection — rafters, purlins, wall plate — with photographs
New treated battens, breathable membrane and eaves ventilation
Covering laid, valleys, flashings, ridge and verge completed
Clear down, waste removed, final walk round before scaffold strikes

Completed new tiled roof on a detached house after re-roofing

Insulating at the same time

If you're stripping the roof anyway, it's the right moment to sort out insulation and ventilation together. In a damp climate the two really can't be separated: insulation without a ventilation path just moves the condensation somewhere you can't see it.