A re-roof sounds like one job. It is really a chain of them, and each depends on the one before. The scaffold has to be right before anyone strips a slope. The timbers have to be sound before battens go on. The underlay has to be lapped properly before the first tile is hung. Skip a link and the new covering inherits the old problem.
This guide follows the sequence from survey to sign-off and says what belongs at each stage. It is a description of the work, not a timetable: for duration, see how long a roof replacement takes. If the house is protected, the process has an extra step before work begins, covered in our guide to re-roofing a listed or conservation-area home. The service overview is at roof replacement.
Survey, photographs and the written quote
Everything starts with a survey. Our surveyor studies the slopes from below, climbs for a closer view only where that is safe, and then goes into the loft to check the underlay, the fixings and the timbers. We photograph your own roof throughout, so the quote refers to things you can see.
Typical costs are published before anyone visits. MyBuilder, in a guide updated 21 August 2026, puts a full re-roof at £5,000 to £12,000, with £5,000 to £8,000 for a gable-ended house and £8,000 to £12,000 for a hipped one. Checkatrade, updated October 2026, has a wider spread and quotes its figures plus VAT. These are national guides, and what you pay is the number on the written quote.
What the quote lists
Once the survey is done, a written quote follows covering scaffolding, removal of the old roof, new materials, labour, disposal and repairs to finishes. It should name the covering and the underlay, give the batten size, say what is included at the ridge, verges and any leadwork, and state whether timber repairs are priced in or listed as a provisional sum. If something cannot be known until the old covering is off, a good quote says what that is and how it would be priced.
Your quote shows VAT, and roofing work is normally standard-rated under the government's construction VAT notice. Putting insulation into a home's roof space is zero-rated until 31 March 2027, a separate matter.
Consent, notification and the paperwork before the scaffold
Before work starts, we check what permissions the job needs. A like-for-like covering rarely needs planning permission. Listing, or a conservation area under an Article 4 direction, can change that, and the planning team is who to ask.
On Building Regulations, the Planning Portal says an application is not normally needed a building control application where less than 25 per cent of the building envelope is affected and less than 50 per cent of the roof. A full re-roof exceeds the second limit, so approval normally applies. The same source says approval is also needed when the new covering is 15 per cent or more heavier, or when its fire performance is significantly different. Replacing a whole roof can also bring in Part L, the energy rules: Approved Document L adds that renovating more than half of a thermal element's surface means upgrading the entire element, which on a roof means better insulation than before.
Who handles what
We explain what consent the job needs and handle the Building Regulations notification where work is notifiable. In Stroud District the council's building control is the Gloucestershire Building Control Partnership, shared with Gloucester City, or a registered building control approver can be appointed. Cheltenham and Tewkesbury share their own service.
Neighbours are worth a word too. A scaffold may oversail a boundary, and a skip on a narrow lane affects everyone. We tell you what access the job needs, so you can mention it to the people next door.
Scaffold, strip and keeping the house dry
The scaffold goes up first because everything else relies on it. It gives a safe platform for stripping and relaying, an edge protection line for the roofers, and a place to stack materials off the roof. For a re-roof, MyBuilder's scaffold figure is about £1,125 and Checkatrade's sits between £700 and £1,300. Our guide to re-roof scaffolding covers what drives that cost on steep lanes and terraced hillsides.
Stripping in sections
Stripping happens in stages instead of all at once. The aim is never to leave more roof open than can be covered the same day. Tiles or slates are lowered to the ground or into a chute, not thrown, and sorted: broken ones for the skip, sound ones for reuse if the job calls for it. On older stone and slate roofs, sound pieces are often kept, and our page on reusing roof tiles explains when that is sensible.
Protecting the loft
As each section comes off, it is covered with sheeting until the new underlay goes on. Stored belongings in the loft are the usual casualty of a re-roof, so we ask you to clear what you can and cover the rest. Dust and debris fall through any gap in the ceiling boards, and a dust sheet under a hatch saves a lot of vacuuming.
If rain is forecast, the sequence is adjusted: smaller areas are opened and they are closed in earlier. A roof is never left to the weather overnight.
Timber checks before anything new goes on
Once the covering is off, the rafters, battens and any boarding are visible from above for the first time. This is where the survey's estimates meet the facts. We inspect every rafter for rot, beetle damage and splits, check the wall plate (a timber bedded on the wall head that the rafters rest on), and look at the ridge board and any purlins.
Sound timber stays. Soft, wet or cracked timber is cut out and renewed, or strengthened with new members fixed alongside, known as sistering. Replacement is priced from the written quote's timber allowance, and we show you photographs of anything we find, so a change is never a surprise on the final invoice. Our page on replacing roof timbers goes into the repair methods.
Structure and weight
The structure was designed for a given load. If the new covering is around 15 per cent heavier or more, a structural check comes first, as Approved Document A and the Planning Portal both indicate, and the timbers may need strengthening. Stone slate roofing is heavy, at about 1,000 kg per 10 m² according to Cotswold District Council's 2000 guidance, so replacing it with a lighter covering is easy while the reverse needs care.
Timber is the one cost nobody can fix before the covering is off. A provisional sum with photographs beats a vague promise.
Underlay, battens and the covering itself
With the structure confirmed, the roof is built back up in layers. The first is the underlay, a membrane that sheds whatever water gets beneath the tiles. It is laid horizontally from the eaves upwards, with each strip overlapping the one below, and draped slightly between rafters so water drains towards the gutter instead of pooling. Our page on battens and underlay goes through the choices.
Ventilation
BS 5250 guidance, as summarised by Marley, ties ventilation to the type of underlay. A non-breathable underlay on a pitch of 15 degrees or less needs 25 mm of eaves ventilation along its length, and 10 mm above that pitch. A breather membrane over a sealed ceiling needs far less, but the loft must still breathe. We choose the ventilation detail with the underlay, not afterwards.
Battens and gauge
Battens are thin timber laths nailed over the rafters, and the covering hangs on them. Their spacing, the gauge, comes from the tile or slate size and the headlap the manufacturer specifies for your pitch. Get it wrong and tiles sit too tight or too open. On stone roofs the gauge shrinks as the slates shorten towards the ridge.
Laying the covering
The covering goes on from the eaves up, course by course, each fixed according to the manufacturer's data and BS 5534. Eaves and the verges (the edges of the roof at the gable end) are done as the courses rise, so their cloaking and fixings are right from the start.
Ridge, verge, leadwork and roofline
The ridge is the highest line, where slopes join, and a hip is the sloping external corner on a hipped roof. Both are finished with ridge and hip tiles, and BS 5534 as revised in 2014 asks for mechanical fixings alongside the bedding, because mortar on its own can no longer be trusted to hold them. Dry-fix systems tested to BS 8612 are an alternative. MyBuilder puts dry ridge at £40 to £60 per metre.
Leadwork
At a chimney, a wall or a roof window the joint is sealed with flashings: strips of lead dressed into the masonry. Valleys, the internal angles between slopes, get lead or a swept stone detail. Leadworx calls Code 4 the standard for general flashing, and Royston lists Code 3 for soakers only. Old lead that is still sound can sometimes be kept; split or thin lead is renewed. Our lead roofing page explains the codes.
Fascias, soffits and gutters
The roofline is the fascia, soffit and gutter that edge the roof. With the covering off and scaffold up, the access is already paid for, so it is the economical moment to replace them. MyBuilder gives guttering at £30 to £70 per metre. We list them on the quote as an option, so you can decide; the page on fascias and gutters during a re-roof sets out the pros and cons.
Chimney stacks get a check at this stage too, because repointing is far easier from a scaffold.
Clearing up, inspection and the guarantee
Clearing the waste has a real cost. MyBuilder puts disposal at £100 to £1,000 depending on the roof. Old tiles, battens and felt go into skips and are taken away, not left in the garden. We sweep the drive, check the gutters for debris and clear the site.
The final walk round
Before the scaffold comes down, we inspect from the top: courses straight, ridge and verges fixed, flashings dressed, gutters running clear. We photograph the finished roof so you have a record. After the scaffold comes down, we walk the ground with you, and go over anything you have noticed.
Paperwork
Where the job was notifiable, the Building Regulations paperwork is completed and you receive a copy. You receive our 10-year workmanship guarantee on paper; it covers the work we do. It is not insurance-backed, and any guarantee from the manufacturer on the materials is a separate document. Keep both with the deeds of the house, because a buyer's solicitor may ask for them.
The sequence from here depends on your roof, so the next step is the survey: ring 01453 933613, write on WhatsApp or through the enquiry form, attaching a photograph of the roof.