How long common roof jobs take, from repair to re-roof

Similar-sized houses can need very different times on the roof. One has a clear drive and a plain gable, the other a steep terraced lane, three valleys and a chimney on the party wall. The covering is the same and the programme is not.

That is why we work out time on site after a survey, not from a table. The survey looks at the size and pitch of each slope, how the scaffold will go up, how materials will reach the roof and what is likely to lie under the old covering. Everything in this page is a guide to the order of the work and the things that stretch it, not a promise of a date.

Replacing a few slipped slates or tiles is generally one short visit, and so is patching a flashing. MyBuilder's 2026 roof repair guide describes minor repairs at about £100 to £300 and moderate ones at £500 to £1,000, which suggests how small most repairs are compared with a whole roof.

Ridge work sits just above that. Ridge work is measured in metres of ridge. Mortar bedding can be renewed, or a dry-fix ridge can go on, which is held by clips and fixings; BS 5534:2014 expects mechanical fixing either way. A short ridge on a terraced house is a smaller task than a long one on a detached farmhouse, and the time follows the run.

If a leak is active, we make it safe first. That first visit protects the house; the proper repair follows once the roof is dry enough to work on and the right materials are to hand.

Chimney work has stages that cannot be hurried. Repointing a stack needs access to every face. Replacing lead flashings means dressing the lead to the stonework or brick and, on a stepped joint, cutting in the steps. Rebuilding a stack means taking it down, rebuilding it and giving the mortar time to take up before new flashings go on. A stack rebuild can run from MyBuilder's 2026 guide of £2,000 to £10,000 and more, a reminder that the scale of the job varies enormously.

Flat roofs are governed by the weather more than the clock. The deck must be dry before a membrane is laid, and an EPDM, GRP or felt covering cannot be put down in the rain. EPDM is a single rubber sheet; GRP is glass fibre laid in resin that has to cure. A small garage roof can be quick, while a large extension roof with upstands and outlets takes several days. The falls matter too. BS 6229 asks for a design fall of 1:40 so the finished roof still drains at 1:80, and a deck that is dead level adds work to correct.

A re-roof follows a sequence, and the order is the reason it takes as long as it does.

1. Scaffold. Up first, with a safe route to the eaves and a way to get the old covering down.
2. Strip. The old tiles or slates come off, slope by slope, so the house is never open to the weather for longer than it needs to be.
3. Inspect the timbers. Battens (the horizontal strips the covering hangs on) and underlay (the membrane beneath the covering) are checked, and rafters are looked at where they can be seen.
4. Re-lay. New underlay, battens and covering go on, with flashings, ridges and verges (the gable edges) finished last.
5. Clear-up. Scaffold is struck, waste is taken away and the gutters are checked.

MyBuilder's 2026 guide puts a typical full re-roof between £5,000 and £12,000, with a gable roof at the lower end and a hipped roof at the upper. A hipped roof has more edges and more cut work, so it also tends to take longer.

A few things stretch a programme, and a good quote allows for most of them.

• Weather. Rain stops flat roof work and makes slopes unsafe. Wind can stop scaffold work and the lifting of materials.
• Access. Narrow lanes, steep drives and terraces with no side access mean materials are carried or lifted by hand. We work valley access into the quote at survey stage.
• Materials. Natural slate and stone are often ordered in once the quote is agreed. If the covering must match the old, the order is placed once the quote is agreed.
• What lies underneath. Rotten battens or a damaged rafter are only fully visible once the covering is off. They are repaired before re-laying, and the extra work is priced.
• Consent. Where work is notifiable, building control must be told, and inspections have to fit the programme. In Stroud District the council aims to inspect on the next working day for notices received before 15:00 on a weekday.

When the quote arrives, ask how long the scaffold will stand, which stages the weather can stop and who rings you if it turns. A sensible firm will give you the order of work and tell you when it will ring you about a delay. Ours will say if a covering is being ordered to match, because that is the part of the programme most likely to wait.

If you are planning around a house sale, the timing matters more. A roof that is mid-way through when a surveyor visits is harder to explain than a finished one, and the paperwork needs to be in hand for the buyer. Our pages on fixing the roof before selling and on whether a roof guarantee transfers when you sell cover what a buyer's side will look for.

For work you can do between visits, our seasonal roof maintenance checklist keeps small faults small. A tidy gutter and a clear valley mean fewer unplanned jobs, which is the only reliable way to shorten a programme. The written quote for any work states what is included. The finished work carries our 10-year workmanship guarantee in writing. Back to the Supreme Roofing home page for the services we cover.