Full strip-and-replace re-roof on a late-Victorian semi in West Didsbury Conservation Area — natural Spanish slate, hand-formed lead valleys, twin chimney stacks repointed and re-trayed, delivered in 18 working days at a fixed price of £22,500.
A retired professional couple in West Didsbury had owned their late-Victorian four-bed semi for nineteen years. The original Welsh slate roof — nail-fatigued, patched twice in the previous decade by separate contractors, and quietly losing two or three slates every winter storm — had finally reached the end of its life.
They came to us asking for a third patch repair. Two earlier contractors had quoted patch jobs in the £1,200–£2,800 range. Our roof survey found something different: terminal nail fatigue across the full pitch, with at least 40% of slates already loose to the touch and the remaining 60% likely to fail within the same five-year window. A patch-and-repair approach would cost more in total over five years than a full re-roof now, and would leave the homeowners with a roof that nobody would warrant.
We made the case for full strip-and-replace with photographic survey evidence and a written five-year cost comparison. The clients agreed within a week. Eighteen working days later, they had a new natural-slate roof with conservation-officer sign-off, a 30-year workmanship guarantee, and a roof that was photographed for the conservation area's reference archive.
The brief came in two stages. The original ask was a patch repair. Once the survey changed the scope, the revised brief was specific:
The contracted ceiling was £22,500 inclusive of VAT, scaffolding, materials, labour, waste removal and certification. The clients held a separate £3,500 contingency for any structural rafter repairs that might be discovered on strip; we agreed it would not be drawn against without written authorisation and photographic evidence.
Six things made this re-roof more demanding than a standard suburban strip-and-replace.
The property sits inside West Didsbury Conservation Area. The original Welsh slate could not be matched on budget, but a like-for-like Spanish slate was acceptable to the conservation officer subject to physical sample sign-off. We submitted three slate samples in advance, secured written approval, and only then placed the supply order.
The original copper nails had reached end-of-life across the entire roof. Even slates that looked sound were holding on by friction. The strip phase had to be controlled and disciplined — pulling slates in sequence, never letting a section sit half-stripped, and keeping the rafter zone clear of loose fixings to protect the crew below.
Sarking condition is unknown until you strip. We carried a 30% replacement allowance into the contract. Actual replacement turned out to be 28% — mostly localised softening around the rear valley and one section under the front bay. Photographic evidence was logged at strip and shared with the clients the same day.
Two original stacks, both with failed lime pointing, missing lead trays, and one cracked terracotta pot. Re-pointing in matched lime mortar, new lead trays installed at roof line, and a single replacement pot supplied to match the surviving original. All stack work completed inside the main 18-day programme rather than priced as a separate workstream.
Semi-detached on a residential street with a shared party wall. Scaffolding required formal oversail agreement with the attached neighbour. We door-knocked, walked the neighbour through the build programme in advance, agreed working hours and skip placement, and committed to one daily check-in. Zero complaints logged across the build.
Booked into an autumn slot with three days of contingency built into the programme. Tarp-and-go was non-negotiable: every working day ended with the roof fully weathertight, regardless of progress. Two rain days were called and covered without overrun. The roof was watertight at the end of every shift across the entire build.
Re-roofing is a trade where the difference between a 25-year roof and a 50-year roof is workmanship, not materials. Our approach was built around that fact.
Survey before quote, not survey after deposit. Many roofing contractors quote off a ladder-tip glance and hope. We charge a small fee for a full roof access survey with photographs and a written report — refunded against the project price if the client proceeds. The Didsbury homeowners had already been quoted for two patch jobs that would have failed inside three winters. The survey changed the conversation.
Conservation officer engaged before slate ordering. Conservation areas are forgiving of like-for-like substitutions, but only when the substitution is documented and approved. We submitted three Spanish slate samples to Manchester City Council's conservation officer with cover photographs of the existing roof, secured written sign-off in eight days, and only then placed the supply order. No risk of being asked to take a roof off after the fact.
Strip phase disciplined to the slate, not to the calendar. A re-roof under a calendar deadline is a re-roof under pressure to skip details. We programme strip phases to the gauge of the new slate — the rate at which slates can be re-laid — not to the rate at which old slates can be pulled. The crew never strip more than they can re-lay or tarp inside the same shift.
Lead work hand-formed on site. Pre-formed lead is acceptable for budget jobs. For a conservation property, valleys and apron flashings are hand-dressed on site to suit the actual roof geometry, with welted joints in preference to lapped, and Code 5 minimum on all valleys. This is an extra day of skilled labour. It is what makes a roof last fifty years.
Documentation and warranty in writing. Photographs at every stage — strip, sarking inspection, membrane, batten gauge, slate course set-out, lead detail, completion. Workmanship guarantee issued on letterhead, not by handshake. Slate manufacturer's warranty registered in the homeowner's name. Conservation officer's sign-off attached to the file. Everything stays with the property.
Eighteen working days from scaffolding-up to scaffolding-down. Eight discrete stages, each photographed and signed off before the next began.
Insurance-grade tube-and-fitting scaffold erected to all elevations, with formal oversail agreement registered for the attached neighbour. Ladder access points, fall arrest, edge protection and a debris chute installed. Skip positioned with permit. Site induction recorded for the crew.
Original Welsh slate stripped in controlled sequence, front elevation first, then rear. Slates sorted on the ground — the cleanest 200 set aside for the homeowners (gifted) and the rest skipped. Sarking inspected board-by-board, with replacements marked in red chalk. Photographic record captured and emailed to clients each evening.
Marked sarking boards replaced with 19mm sawn softwood (28% of total area). Klober Permo Air breathable underlay installed with 150mm laps. New 50x25mm BS 5534 graded battens fixed to gauge. Sarking and membrane signed off in writing before slate delivery.
Cupa 3 Heavy 3 Spanish slate, 500x250mm, hand-graded for thickness consistency. Bottom-course double-laid as specified. Each slate twin-nailed with copper alloy nails. Course set-out measured and re-measured at each lift. 165 m² laid across six working days at a steady gauge of approximately 28 m² per day.
Code 5 milled lead valleys hand-dressed on site with welted joints. Dry-fix ridge and hip system installed with stainless steel fixings — no future re-bedding required. Cloak verges fitted to gable ends. Lead apron flashings hand-formed and chased into both party-wall abutments.
Both stacks repointed in matched lime mortar by a heritage-trained mason. New Code 4 lead trays installed at roof-stack interface. One cracked terracotta pot replaced with a heritage-match supplied by the clients' chosen merchant. Stacks photographed top, middle and base for the project file.
Original cast iron gutters and downpipes removed. Replacement 0.7mm seamless aluminium 125mm half-round gutter system installed in heritage black, with new 75mm round downpipes to four stacks. Connections to existing gullies tested and signed off.
Full roof access inspection by the project lead. Drone photography of completed roof shared with the conservation officer and the project file. One snagging item identified (a single gutter clip alignment), corrected within two hours. Scaffolding struck. Site cleaned to broom-finish standard. Workmanship guarantee, slate manufacturer warranty and conservation officer correspondence handed over in a single A4 project file.
Heritage-compliant materials with the supporting numbers.
Cupa 3 Heavy 3 Spanish natural slate. 500 x 250mm, 4–5mm thickness. Bottom-course double-laid. Twin copper alloy nail fixings throughout. 50-year manufacturer warranty.
Klober Permo Air vapour-permeable breathable underlay. 150mm horizontal laps, 100mm vertical, taped at all penetrations. Continuous over the entire pitched area.
50 x 25mm BS 5534 graded sawn softwood, factory-treated, gauge set to 200mm to suit slate dimensions. Stainless steel ring-shank fixings throughout.
Original 19mm sawn softwood sarking retained where sound. 28% of boards replaced like-for-like — localised to rear valley and front bay sections. All replacements photographed and dated.
Code 5 milled lead valleys to BS EN 12588, hand-dressed on site with welted joints. Code 4 lead apron flashings to chimney stacks and party-wall abutments. New Code 4 lead trays at both stack-roof interfaces.
SupaTile dry-fix ridge and hip system with stainless steel screws and integrated ventilation. Zero cement bedding. No future re-bedding maintenance required across the warranty period.
Both stacks repointed in NHL 3.5 lime mortar by a heritage-trained mason. New Code 4 lead trays installed at roof line. One terracotta pot replaced to match surviving original.
0.7mm seamless aluminium 125mm half-round gutters in heritage black. 75mm round aluminium downpipes to four stacks. All connections to existing gullies tested for fall and discharge.
A fully re-roofed late-Victorian semi with 165 m² of natural Spanish slate, hand-formed Code 5 lead valleys, repointed and re-trayed twin chimney stacks, dry-fix ridge and hip system, and replacement seamless aluminium gutters — all delivered inside the contracted 18 working days at the contracted £22,500.
The clients have now lived through one full winter under the new roof, including three named-storm weather events. Zero leaks reported. Conservation officer's sign-off filed with the property deeds. The roof was photographed for the West Didsbury Conservation Area's reference archive of compliant heritage roofing repairs.
We had two patch repair quotes already on the table when Building Group came out. They were the only firm who insisted on actually getting up on the roof and showing us photographs of what was wrong before they priced anything. Their survey saved us from spending three thousand pounds on a repair that wouldn't have lasted. The full re-roof came in at the price we agreed, finished on the day they said it would, and we have a roof that's been signed off by the conservation officer and warranted for thirty years. We'll have no roof worries for the rest of our lives in this house.
If your roof is reaching end of life — slipped slates, repeat leaks, sagging ridges, failed flashings — we'll come out for a free roof access survey, take photographs of what's actually going on, and put a fixed-price re-roof contract on the table. No surprises, no escalation, fully warranted workmanship.
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