If you are planning a new roof in Attleborough and want to know exactly what the process involves, this page walks through each stage from the first visit to the final tidy-up.
Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
A new roof is disruptive. Scaffolding, skips, roof stripping, noise and a team working above your home for several days or more - it is not a small event. Knowing what to expect at each stage means fewer surprises and makes it easier to ask the right questions when you are getting quotes.
Diss Roofers carries out new roof installations in Attleborough and the surrounding area, covering both pitched and flat roof systems. Here is what a well-managed new roof job looks like from beginning to end.
Before any price can be agreed, the roof needs to be properly assessed. A good roofer does not quote from the ground or from a photograph. They get up to the roof surface and into the loft space.
At roof level, the survey looks at the condition of the existing tiles or covering, the state of the ridge, hips and verges, the flashings around any chimney or abutment, and the general line and profile of the roof. In the loft, the timbers are checked - rafters, ridge board, wall plates and any purlins. Soft, discoloured or crumbling timber changes the scope and cost of the job, so it must be identified before work starts, not halfway through.
The survey also establishes what is below the roof surface. Older roofs often have no underlay at all, or an impermeable felt underlay that has become brittle. Knowing this up front shapes the specification.
Once the survey is done, the roofer should be able to set out clearly what work is needed, what materials will be used and what the total cost covers. A written breakdown is important because it gives you something to compare across different quotes.
The specification should state: the tile or slate type and source, the underlay specification, whether ridge and hip tiles are dry-fixed or mortar-bedded, what is happening to the flashings, whether fascias and soffits are included, and how old materials are being disposed of. Anything not listed is not included, so ask about anything that is not clear.
Getting two or three quotes is sensible on a job of this size. The lowest price is not always the best value - the quality of materials and the thoroughness of the preparation matter more than the headline figure.
Safe working at height requires a proper scaffold. This is not optional - it is a safety requirement for anyone working on your roof for more than a short duration. The scaffold should give full perimeter access and ideally include a loading bay so materials can be lifted without carrying them up through the scaffold manually, which is slower and harder on the structure.
The scaffolding contractor will need access to the perimeter of the house. Move any garden furniture, planters or items that sit against the walls before they arrive. The scaffold will typically be in place for the duration of the job and taken down once the work and any final inspections are complete.
Once scaffolding is in place, the old tiles or covering comes off. On a pitched roof, this means removing tiles, salvaging any that are reusable if that has been agreed, and clearing the battens and old underlay down to the rafters. Old impermeable felt underlay often shreds as it comes off and needs careful handling to avoid mess spreading inside the loft.
On a flat roof, the old felt or covering is stripped back to the deck. The deck itself is then inspected - flat roofs often have areas of soft or damaged boarding that need replacing before anything goes on top. Skipping this step is a common cause of premature flat roof failure.
Stripped materials go into a skip or are loaded onto a lorry for disposal. The skip or vehicle should be positioned as close to the scaffold as possible to make the process efficient. Check before work starts whose responsibility it is to arrange and pay for the skip.
Once the roof is stripped bare, the timbers are fully visible. Any rafter that is split, soft or notched too deeply can now be sistered (a new piece fixed alongside it) or replaced. Ridge boards and wall plates that have rotted need cutting out and replacing with treated new timber.
This stage can expand if problems are found that were not fully visible during the initial survey. A good roofer will flag this to you immediately and explain what needs doing and why before proceeding. Any significant additional cost should be agreed before the extra work is carried out, not added to the final invoice without warning.
New breathable membrane goes on before the battens. It is fixed horizontally across the rafters, starting at the eaves and working up to the ridge, with each row overlapping the one below it. The overlap width matters - too little and wind-driven rain can get behind it. Breathable membrane allows moisture vapour from inside the house to escape through the roof space rather than condensing on the underside and eventually causing timber decay.
On a flat roof, the preparation of the deck - any new boarding fixed, surface cleaned and primed - takes place at this stage before the new membrane goes down.
Battens are fixed across the rafters at a spacing that matches the gauge of the chosen tile or slate. The gauge is critical - too wide and tiles will not interlock correctly; too narrow and water will not shed properly. New treated timber battens should be used; reusing old battens is a false economy on a full re-roof.
Tiling starts at the eaves and works up toward the ridge. Each course is fixed according to the tile manufacturer's recommendations, which specify the number of fixings per tile depending on pitch and exposure. Under-fixing is one of the causes of tiles lifting in wind, so this is not a stage to cut corners on.
Hips and valleys are formed as the tiling progresses. Valleys can be open (lead-lined) or closed with purpose-made valley tiles depending on the roof design and the tile type. Lead valleys are more traditional and give good long-term performance when properly formed.
Ridge tiles finish the apex of the roof. In a dry-fix system, these are mechanically fixed using a continuous ventilation bar and purpose-made clips, with no mortar involved. In a mortar system, they are bedded and pointed. Dry-fix is generally preferred now for new roofs because it does not rely on mortar that can crack and shrink over time.
Lead flashings are formed and dressed around any chimney, skylight or abutment. The lead is stepped into the mortar joints of the brickwork (step flashing) and a separate apron or back gutter is formed depending on the chimney position. Properly formed lead work is the difference between a watertight chimney junction and one that will give trouble within a few years.
If fascia and soffit replacement is part of the job, it happens at this stage. Old wooden fascias are removed, any debris or nesting material behind them cleared out, and new uPVC fascias and soffits fixed. New guttering - usually uPVC half-round or ogee profile - is then hung from the fascia at the correct fall to drain toward the downpipe.
Gutter fall is easy to get wrong. A gutter that is level or slightly back-falling will hold standing water, which leads to overflow, staining and eventually fascia rot. The correct fall is typically around 1:350 - barely visible to the eye but enough to drain reliably.
Once the roof itself is complete, the scaffolding should be inspected by you from ground level before it comes down. Look along the ridge line for any tiles that look out of line. Check that all flashings are neatly dressed and that there are no obvious gaps. If anything concerns you, raise it while the scaffold is still in place - it is much easier and cheaper to fix at this stage than after it has been struck.
The site should be left clean. All off-cuts, broken tiles, old felt and packaging should be removed. Any ridge mortar or other material that has dropped onto the garden or path should be cleared up. A professional job leaves the property as tidy as it was found.
If you have a new roof project in Attleborough, whether it is a full re-roof on a family home or a flat roof replacement on an extension, call Diss Roofers to arrange a proper survey. We also cover neighbouring Diss and the surrounding area. We will walk you through exactly what we find and what the job involves before any price is agreed.
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Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
