The job
From the first look to the last downpipe
Twelve stages, in the order they happen
A repair to one slate and a whole slope re-covered follow the same order; a small job simply passes through some stages in an afternoon. What follows is what you see at each stage and what we do in it. Before any work starts there is a construction phase plan, which CDM 2015 asks for on domestic jobs as well as large ones; on a house, the client's duties under those regulations pass to the contractor. Repairs come mostly in winter, when wind lifts slates and leaves fill gutters; full re-covering and flat-roof membranes wait for dry spells, so re-roofing is mostly a spring and summer job.
Book
You pick a survey half-day and tell us the street, the kind of roof and what you see. Whether the roof is shared with flats or with next door matters from the start, because it changes who decides and who needs to be told.
Look
A survey from the street, the loft and, where it can be reached safely, a roof ladder or a tower. Every part is photographed, and the leak is traced back to a junction rather than guessed at.
Scope
The findings in writing with the photographs, and an itemised method: which parts, which materials, what access, and how anything found once the roof is open will be reported to you before extra work begins.
Permit
The survey says which of these applies, and nothing goes up until they are dealt with. The permissions checker works through the same rules from your answers, with each rule's source printed.
- Scaffold licence. A scaffold on a public pavement, path or road needs a licence from Haringey under the Highways Act; one standing entirely on private land does not.
- Building control. Below a quarter of the building's envelope and half of the roof, re-covering needs no application. Beyond that, or with a covering at least fifteen per cent heavier, a change to the structure, or a covering that behaves differently in fire, the work goes to building control before it starts.
- Party wall. Repairing or rebuilding a party wall, or cutting off a projection such as a shared stack, needs the owner's notice to the neighbour, at least two months ahead for a party structure notice.
- Conservation area. Noel Park has an Article 4 direction, which takes away permitted development rights: a change of material that is not like for like is checked with the council first.
- Bats and asbestos. Where bats use a roof a wildlife licence may be needed; old fibre-cement sheets are presumed to contain asbestos until tested.
Access
The scaffold is put up by a scaffolding contractor, with edge protection along the eaves and a loading bay; a chute and skip for what comes off. Roof lights and fragile sheets nearby are barriered.
Strip
The covering comes off course by course. Sound slates are sorted and stacked for re-use, nails are sheared or drawn, and the old felt is taken away.
Open roof
With the roof open, rafters, wall plates and the timbers under the valleys are checked. What is found is photographed and reported to you before anything beyond the scope is done.
Underlay and battens
A breathable underlay goes on, with counter-battens where the roof needs them, and the battens are set out to the gauge from the eaves up to the ridge. Where more than half of a roof is being renovated, Part L asks for the whole roof to reach the insulation standard for renovation, so that is planned at the scope stage.
Courses
Slates or tiles are laid course by course and fixed to the specification for the roof's exposure; then the verges, then the hips and ridge, fixed mechanically.
Lead and gutters
Flashings, soakers, aprons, valley and parapet gutters in rolled lead to BS EN 12588, laid in the way BS 6915 sets out, and finished with patination oil so new lead does not stain the wall below.
Rainwater
Gutters, outlets, hoppers and downpipes are cleared, re-hung where they sag, and run through with water while the scaffold is still up.
Hand-over
You receive the stage photographs, a note of what was found and what was renewed, and the building-control completion where the job needed one. Then the scaffold is struck and the site cleared, with the waste taken by a registered waste carrier.
Where your roof sits in this
Most enquiries start at the first stage with a single symptom. If you already have a survey from someone else, or drawings, mention them when you ask; they may answer part of the second stage. The tools on this site work from drawings and loft measurements, so you can see the arithmetic behind a slope before anyone visits, and the survey booking asks the questions the first stage needs.