It is the question almost every homeowner asks us once a roof starts giving trouble. Can it be repaired, or does it need replacing? Get it wrong one way and you spend money on patch after patch. Get it wrong the other way and you pay for a new roof years before you needed one.
Here is how we judge it on roofs across Wakefield, Barnsley, Pontefract, Leeds and the rest of West Yorkshire.
When a repair is the right answer
A roof that is basically sound but has a specific, local problem is a repair job. Typical examples:
- A handful of slipped, cracked or missing tiles after a windy spell
- A leak around a chimney caused by perished lead flashing or cracked flaunching
- A ridge tile or two loose where the mortar has let go
- A leaking roof window where the flashing kit has failed
- Blocked or broken guttering sending water back into the fascia
If the tiles across the rest of the roof are hard, sound and holding their fixings, putting right the problem area is usually money well spent. Our tile replacement and chimney work pages go into these jobs in more detail.
Signs the roof is ready to be replaced
Some problems are not local. They affect the whole roof, and that is when repairs stop being good value.
- Tiles slipping all over the roof, one after another. This is usually nail fatigue, meaning the fixings have rusted through across the whole roof, not just in one spot.
- Tiles or slates that are porous, flaking or delaminating across whole slopes rather than in one or two places.
- A roof line that dips or sags, which can point to failing battens or timbers underneath.
- Felt in the loft that has perished, torn or turned brittle, so any water that gets past the tiles has nothing behind it.
- Daylight visible through the roof from inside the loft.
- A roof that has already been patched repeatedly and keeps leaking in new places.
One of these on its own does not automatically mean a new roof. Several of them together usually does.
Why patching a tired roof can cost more
Each repair visit carries its own cost for access, and on a two storey house that often means scaffold or a tower. If the roof is failing everywhere, you end up paying for access again and again while the underlying problem carries on. Meanwhile water getting in through the gaps can rot the battens and rafters, which makes the eventual replacement bigger than it needed to be.
A full roof replacement deals with everything in one go. The old covering comes off, the timbers are checked and put right, and the roof goes back on with new membrane, battens and tiles or slates.
Get it looked at properly
It is very hard to judge a roof from the ground, and homebuyer surveys are often cautious because the surveyor has not been up there. The most reliable answer comes from someone actually inspecting the roof and the loft space.
We offer a roof inspection with photographs of what we find and an honest view of whether your roof needs a repair or a replacement. If a repair will do, we will tell you so. Get in touch to arrange a visit.