New roofs in Bury St Edmunds

Bury sits far enough inland that wind is not the thing that decides how long a roof lasts, and far enough into clay country that the covering usually is. The older property in and around the town centre is plain tile and Suffolk red, laid double lapped at a steep pitch because that is what a small tile needs to shed water, and a good deal of it sits behind a Georgian frontage with a parapet at the top of it.

Plain tile is a different job

A plain tile roof takes roughly three times as many tiles per square metre as an interlocking one, so the strip is heavier, the relay is slower and the price reflects both. It also makes the salvage question worth asking properly. Clay plain tile that is still sound is worth sorting and putting back, and the colour of a weathered Suffolk red roof is not something you can order new.

We sort as we strip and tell you the salvage rate before you commit, because it changes the figure at the bottom of the quote rather than being a detail.

The gutter behind the parapet

This is the part of a Bury re-roof people are most often surprised to be told about. A great many of the town centre buildings drain into a parapet or a hidden valley gutter rather than over an eaves, and if the covering is coming off anyway, that is the moment to deal with it. Relining a parapet gutter while the scaffold is already standing costs a fraction of coming back to it later, and when one of them blocks or splits it empties into the building rather than down the outside of it.

Conservation area and listed property

Bury has one of the largest conservation areas in Suffolk and a great deal of listed building inside it, so what you are permitted to put back is the first question rather than the last. The answer is usually like for like, which means clay rather than a modern substitute. We establish the consent position at survey and tell you before anything is ordered, because finding out after delivery is an expensive way to learn it.

Out at the edges

Away from the historic centre, on the post war and later housing around the town, the picture is the ordinary one. Concrete interlocking tile that is still perfectly serviceable, over felt that has perished and is now hanging in strips between the rafters. That is a re-cover rather than a new covering, and a good proportion of the original tiles normally go back on.

What is in the price

• A fixed written quote with the specification set out, not a ballpark
• Timbers exposed, inspected and repaired before the new covering goes on
• Breathable membrane and treated battens, gauged for the tile you have
• Parapet and valley gutters checked and relined while the scaffold is up
• All leadwork renewed rather than reused
• Scaffold, skip, disposal and clear up in the price