How Long Does a Roof Replacement Take?

Size comes first. A small terraced roof has far fewer tiles to strip and fix than a large detached house, and the working days follow the area. Shape matters almost as much. Every hip (the sloping ridge line that runs down an external corner of the roof), every valley (the inside version, where water runs down between slopes) and every dormer or chimney adds cutting, lead and careful fitting that a plain gable slope does not need.

The covering changes the pace too. Large interlocking concrete tiles go on faster than small plain clay tiles or natural slates, which are laid in many more pieces. A re-roof that keeps the old battens and only renews the covering is quicker than one that also replaces the battens and underlay. Access counts as well: a roof that can be reached from a scaffold on the front and back walks along quickly, while one hemmed in by a boundary wall or a neighbour's extension slows everyone down.

There is no honest single answer for every house, which is why the working days for your own roof go into our written price after the survey photos have shown what is actually up there.

The first job is the scaffold, which has to be up, checked and safe before anyone steps on the roof. After that the old covering comes off in sections rather than all at once. The roofers strip one slope or part of a slope, inspect the timbers underneath, then lay the new underlay, a waterproof sheet that lies beneath each tile, followed by the battens, the narrow timber laths that carry each row, straight away. The opened area is closed in again well before the roofers go home.

New tiles or slates follow the battens, working upwards from the lowest edge of the roof to the top. The detail work comes last and takes longer than people expect: the ridge, the hips, the verges along the gable edges, the metal flashings around a chimney or a rising wall, and the gutters if they are part of the job. Each of these is cut and fitted by hand.

Finally the scaffold comes down, the waste is cleared and the garden, drive and gutters are checked for stray nails and broken tile. A tidy site is part of the finish, and the clear-up belongs in the working days, not after them.

Weather is the obvious one. Roofers will not leave an open slope in heavy rain or strong wind, and a spell of bad weather moves the whole programme along. Our answer on what happens if it rains during a roof replacement explains how the roof is kept covered, and the one on replacing a roof in winter covers the colder months.

The next cause is what is found underneath. Once the tiles are off, rafters, battens or the wall plate they sit on can turn out to be soft with damp or rot. Renewing them is the right thing to do, and it adds time and, sometimes, cost. This is the reason a survey can only estimate; an old roof can hold surprises.

Then there is the scaffold. If the poles must go on the public footpath, the road authority has to issue a licence before anyone starts, and West Sussex wants at least 10 working days from the application to erection. Our part is lining that paperwork up alongside the scaffolder, though the waiting time still decides the earliest start. Special-order tiles or slates can add a wait before work begins, too.

Ask for the start date and the working days in writing, and ask what happens if the programme slips. A good roofer expects the question and will tell you plainly which parts of the job are fixed and which depend on the weather or on what is found under the old covering.

Think about the practical side before the scaffold arrives. Park cars away from the walls, clear the driveway and the garden beside the house, and move anything fragile from the loft, because roofing work shakes the building and dust can drift down through gaps. If you work from home, expect hammering and passing voices from early in the working day. Our answer on living at home during a roof replacement goes through the daily rhythm.

The scaffold is often the longest-standing item on site, so it is worth asking whether other work to that elevation of the house, like gutters or fascias, could be fitted while the poles are already up. Our roof replacement page walks through the whole job in order, and the written price follows once we have seen your roof.