Ely Roofers carries out roof repairs in Willingham and the surrounding villages, from a handful of slipped tiles to a leaking chimney stack or failed flashing.
Roof repairs cover a wide range of work: replacing broken or slipped tiles, re-bedding or re-pointing ridge tiles, repairing lead flashing around chimneys and valleys, fixing damaged verge mortar, and patching or replacing sections of flat roof felt or EPDM rubber membrane. A repair can take a couple of hours or a full day, depending on what is found once a roofer is up on the roof.
We will not recommend a full replacement if a repair will do the job properly. That matters because some homeowners are told they need a new roof when the problem is limited to a small area that can be fixed for a fraction of the cost.
Understanding what happens on a roof repair job helps you ask the right questions and know whether the work has been done properly. Here is how a well-run repair should go, from the moment a roofer arrives to the point they leave your property.
Before any work starts, the roofer should get up on the roof or at minimum use a ladder to inspect at close range. A survey from the ground with binoculars is useful for a first look, but it is not enough to price or plan a repair accurately. The inspection should cover not just the obvious damage but the surrounding area - broken tiles often go hand in hand with damaged felt underneath, and a leaking chimney stack may have failed flashing on more than one face.
At this stage, ask the roofer to describe what they have found and why they are recommending a particular repair. If they cannot explain the cause of the problem clearly, that is a warning sign.
Once the cause is confirmed, the affected tiles, slates or other materials are lifted carefully. On a tiled roof this means sliding each tile up to release its nibs from the batten before lifting it clear. On a natural slate roof, slates are cut free using a ripper tool - a long blade that severs the fixing nail without disturbing neighbouring slates. Damaged or soft mortar around ridges, hips and verges is raked out before new bedding compound is applied.
Lead flashing is carefully cut back or lifted where it has cracked, lifted or lost its seal against the brickwork. On older properties the lead is sometimes in good condition but the pointing has failed - in that case re-pointing alone can solve the problem without replacing the lead.
With the tiles or slates off, the roofer can see the roofing felt (also called underlay or sarking) and the timber battens. Old mineral felt - the type used on most roofs built before the 1990s - becomes brittle with age and can tear or split. A small split in the felt may have been letting water in for months before a tile broke and made the leak obvious. Battens that are soft, spongy or showing rot need replacing in the affected section before new tiles are fixed.
This step is where the scope of a job can change. If the felt under a small area of broken tiles is intact, the repair stays straightforward. If it has failed across a wider section, the roofer should show you the problem and explain the options before proceeding.
Matching the existing roof material matters, especially on older properties or those where planning rules apply. Concrete interlocking tiles are generally easy to match by profile and colour. Natural slates vary in thickness, texture and colour depending on their origin - Welsh, Spanish and Chinese slates all look different up close, and a poor match is visible from the street. Clay plain tiles and pantiles can be harder still to match, and a reclaimed tile merchant is sometimes the best source for older profiles.
A good roofer will source a material that matches closely and show you a sample if there is any doubt. Getting this wrong is not just cosmetic - tiles that do not sit correctly can leave gaps that let in water or wind.
Tiles are fixed back onto battens with the correct nails or clips for the pitch and exposure of the roof. On steeper pitches, or on roofs in exposed positions, every tile is mechanically fixed rather than relying on its own weight. Ridge tiles are bedded in mortar or, increasingly, secured with a dry-fix system that uses plastic clips and a ventilated cap - dry fix does not crack or shrink like mortar, which is why it is now preferred on new work. Lead flashing is cut, dressed into the brickwork joint and pointed with mortar or a flexible sealant suitable for lead.
If the repair involves a flat roof - a bay window, extension or outbuilding - the approach depends on the existing system. On a felt flat roof, small blisters or cracks are cut back, dried out and patched with a compatible felt, with laps sealed using a torch or cold-adhesive. Where the felt has failed across a larger area, a full strip and re-lay is usually more cost-effective than repeated patching. EPDM rubber membrane, now commonly used on flat roofs, is repaired using specialist adhesive and compatible patch tape - it does not need heat to bond.
Before leaving, the roofer should walk the repaired section and check that all tiles are seated correctly, fixings are secure, flashing is fully dressed and any new mortar is smoothed and consistent. If the repair involved a known leak point, a visual check for obvious gaps is standard. Ask the roofer to point out exactly what was replaced and why, so you have a clear record in case the area needs attention again in the future.
All broken tiles, old mortar, offcuts and packaging should leave the site with the roofer. Check that gutters have been cleared of any debris that fell during the work - cracked tile fragments and old mortar in a gutter can block downpipes. Any materials left on a flat roof or in a valley should be removed before the roofer considers the job finished.
Roof repair costs in the Willingham area depend on the type of damage, the pitch of the roof, and the materials involved. As a rough guide, replacing a small number of broken concrete tiles costs in the region of £150-£350, depending on how many tiles are affected and whether any batten or felt work is needed. Re-bedding and re-pointing ridge tiles on a standard semi-detached house typically runs from £300 to £600 for a full ridge, or less for a short section. Lead flashing repairs range from around £200 for a simple re-point up to £600 or more where the lead itself needs replacing on a chimney stack. Flat roof patch repairs start at around £150-£250 for a small area.
These are typical UK figures. The actual price depends on what is found on inspection - which is why a roofer should always get up on the roof before quoting a firm price.
In most cases, like-for-like roof repairs do not need planning permission. Permitted development rights cover routine maintenance and repairs using similar materials. The exception is if your property is a listed building or sits within a conservation area - in those cases, even minor repairs can require consent. If you are unsure, check with the local planning authority before work starts rather than after.
After a period of heavy wind or a storm, roofs can lose tiles, have ridge sections dislodged or suffer damage to flashings. In these situations, the priority is to make the roof watertight as quickly as possible to prevent water getting into the structure. Temporary measures - such as securing a tarpaulin over the damaged area - can protect the property while a proper repair is arranged. Ridge tiles that have shifted after a storm can be re-bedded or re-secured with dry-fix clips once the weather allows safe roof access.
As well as Willingham, we carry out roof repairs throughout the surrounding area including Ely, Cottenham, Over, Haddenham, Witchford, Waterbeach, Burwell, Soham and Chatteris. If you are not sure whether we cover your location, call and ask.
Yes. We assess the current condition of the roof and repair what is wrong, regardless of who did previous work. If earlier repairs were carried out incorrectly - wrong materials, poor fixing, failed mortar - we will explain what needs to be put right and why.
A repair is usually the right choice where damage is limited to a specific area and the rest of the roof is in reasonable condition. A replacement becomes necessary when the felt has failed across most of the roof, battens are widely rotten, or the tiles themselves have reached the end of their service life. A roofer should be able to explain clearly which situation applies after inspecting the roof.
The time a repair takes depends on the type of damage and what is found once the roofer is on the roof. Larger jobs involving ridge re-bedding on a full detached house, or a flat roof patch across an extension, will usually take a full day.
If you have noticed water coming in, tiles that look wrong from the ground, or damage after recent wind, call us to arrange a roof inspection in Willingham. We will tell you what is wrong, what the repair involves, and what it will cost before any work begins.
No obligation · We usually respond within 2 hours
Storm damage, active leak, damaged ridge - we aim to be on-site within 24 hours.
