Roof Replacement and Re-Roofing in Telford

Estate Roofs Reaching the End of Their First Life

Much of the housing built as the town grew was "new town" housing, and the typical estate roof is concrete interlocking tile over a timber structure, with ridges and verges either bedded in mortar or held by a dry-fix system. Concrete tile wears slowly. The parts around it do not. Old bitumen felt goes brittle and splits between the rafters, nails rust through and let tiles creep, and bedded mortar cracks and drops out. Fixing one of those faults is sensible. Fixing all of them, one call-out at a time, is where the money goes.

Things you can check without a ladder:

• Tiles out of line in several places, not just one.
• Felt hanging in torn strips when you look up from the loft hatch.
• Chunks of ridge or verge mortar on the drive.
• A ridge line sagging between the gable walls.

None of these means the roof must come off this year. They are a good reason to ask for a repair price and a replacement price side by side.

Slate and Clay on the Older Streets

The older towns Telford grew around have different roofs. Victorian terraces in Wellington, Oakengates and Madeley are often slated, and clay tiles turn up on cottages, particularly around the Gorge. Slate is slower work, with every slate fixed on its own. Clay tiles need matching for size and colour, or a new section stands out from the street.

What a Re-Roof Involves

Access. Scaffold with edge protection goes up first.

Stripping. The old covering, battens and felt come off, and the timbers are seen properly for the first time in decades.

Timber repairs. Rotten rafter ends and split battens are put right. A clear quote says how extra timber is charged.

Membrane, battens and covering. A breathable membrane, new treated battens, then tiles or slates, ridge, verges, valleys, lead at the stack and walls, and ventilation.

Building Control and Re-Roofing

Under Approved Document L, if more than half the roof is renovated, the insulation normally has to be upgraded to current standards as part of the job. The Planning Portal says that in most situations this work will need Building Regulations approval. A firm registered with NFRC CompetentRoofer can self-certify it. If the firm is not registered, building control should be told before work starts. Ask which route the quote assumes. This is general information, not advice about your house.

Clay Tiles, Conservation Areas and the Gorge

The Ironbridge Gorge was inscribed as one of the first World Heritage Sites in the UK in 1986. It spans Telford & Wrekin and Shropshire Council, and which side a house sits on changes who you ask.

On the Telford & Wrekin side, the council has an Article 4 direction for the World Heritage Site. It applies to houses where the work fronts a highway, a waterway or open space. In plain terms, that means a roof facing a road, the river or open ground. For those houses it covers any alteration to the roof, windows including roof lights and dormers, and putting up, altering or removing a chimney, flue, or soil and vent pipe. Solar panels and dishes are covered too, so work that normally needs no application may need one here.

Telford & Wrekin also has eight conservation areas, including The Severn Gorge, Wellington and Newport, Shropshire. Controls in a conservation area typically reach alterations to roofs and chimneys.

South of the river, Jackfield is in Broseley parish, on the Shropshire Council side, and Broseley has a conservation area of its own. There, the question goes to Shropshire Council's conservation team rather than Telford & Wrekin.

In practice, clay tiles go back like for like, close in size and colour, so the roof looks the same from the road. A change of material, new roof lights or a stack coming down is where permission is most likely to apply. Ask the conservation team before changing anything visible, and before anything is ordered.

What Changes the Price

The covering. Concrete interlocking tile, clay and natural slate cost different amounts, and handmade or reclaimed clay sits above new machine-made tile.

Size and shape. Hips, valleys and dormers add cutting and lead.

Getting to it. A detached house with a drive is easier to scaffold than a terrace on a steep Gorge street.

What is underneath. Rot only shows once the covering is off.

Insulation and consent. The Part L upgrade is part of the job, and in the Gorge or a conservation area, agreeing materials can add time.

Our guide to what a new roof costs gives typical UK ranges by house size and covering, plus the months when roofers tend to be quieter.

How It Works

Tell us about the house and whether it is in a conservation area or the Ironbridge Gorge. We send that to an independent roofing firm covering your part of Telford, and they get in touch to look and quote you directly. We don't carry out roofing work, and we don't inspect, approve or check the firms we introduce, so our guide on how to choose a roofer sets out the checks worth making yourself. It is free, with no obligation. Enquiries outside working hours get a call back the next working day.

Related Services

If the trouble is one slope or one leak, roof repairs may be enough. A garage or extension roof can be re-covered while the scaffold is up under flat roofing, and a stack is easiest to repoint or take down at the same time: see chimney repairs.

Areas We Cover

Re-roofing across Wellington, Madeley, Dawley, Ironbridge & Coalbrookdale, Newport, Shropshire and Broseley. see all service areas