Slate and tile, the way roofs are built here.
Between Whitehaven and Keswick almost everything with a pitch on it is slate, and most of what we do is putting slate back on properly. New roofs, re-roofs, and the awkward ones with stone or a conservation officer attached.
No call-out charge, and the phone is answered 24 hours.
Written prices
the quote is the price, agreed before we start
Free quotes
no call-out charge, and a written price before anyone starts
24 hours
someone answers the phone, storm or shine
Fully insured
every job covered, from a single slate to a full re-roof
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Slating and tiling.
West Cumbria is a slate county, and it shows on every street. Victorian terraces in Whitehaven and Cleator Moor were covered in Welsh slate on cut nails; the farms and the older cottages went up in local stone slate laid in diminishing courses; the post-war estates took concrete tile. Three different roofs, three different sets of things that go wrong, and three different jobs when they do.
What that means in practice is that the covering on your house decides most of the work before we start. A nail-sick Welsh slate roof wants stripping and re-covering. A stone slate roof wants taking off, sorting and relaying, and it wants somebody who has done it before. A 1960s tiled roof usually wants its ridges re-bedded and mechanically fixed rather than anything dramatic.
So we split the work up by the job rather than by the material. If you are not sure which one yours is, that is normal — describe what you can see from the ground and we will tell you which it is likely to be, and come and look for nothing.
What we fit
- Welsh slate, for a roof meant to outlast everybody involved
- Spanish slate, the sensible new covering for most houses
- Reclaimed slate, matched to the rest of a terrace
- Westmorland and Burlington green stone slate
- Clay plain tile and pantile, where the house was built for it
- Concrete interlocking tile, on the lower pitches
- Lead valleys, soakers, flashings and chimney work throughout
- Dry ridge, dry verge and mechanical fixings to BS 5534
Also called Slate roofer · Pitched roofing · Slate, tile and flat roofing · Tiling and slating
Want a price for this?
Describe what you can see from the ground and we'll tell you what it is likely to be. Coming out to look costs nothing.
What the work looks like.
Our own photographs, taken on our own roofs — not a stock library.
The jobs this covers.
Each of these is a job in its own right, priced on what it actually involves.
New roof installation
The first roof on a new build, an extension, a dormer or a garage — worked out for the pitch and the exposure before a single slate goes on.
Re-roofing
Stripped to the rafters, felted, battened and re-covered. A standard semi is usually two days once the scaffold is up.
Slate roofing
Welsh, Spanish, reclaimed and Lakeland green — what separates one slate from another, and which one belongs on your house.
Heritage roofing
Listed buildings, conservation areas and old stone houses. Reclaimed slate, lime mortar, and the conversation with the conservation officer before the scaffold goes up.
Stone roofs
Cumbrian stone slate and Westmorland green, graded and set out in diminishing courses. Heavy coverings, so the timbers get looked at before anything goes back on.
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Worth knowing.
- Repair or re-cover?
- If a repair will see you through, we will say so. The point of getting up there is to find out which one you actually need, not to sell you the bigger job.
- Matching next door
- On a terrace or a conservation area frontage we source reclaimed slate so the new roof does not sit awkwardly against the houses either side.
- The pitch decides a lot
- Slate wants about 22 degrees and up. Below that the covering changes, whatever anybody has told you it should be, and we will explain what yours will take.
- Scaffold and skip
- Both are in the price on every job we quote. You should not be finding out about either of them after the quote.
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The other things we do.
Most jobs turn out to be more than one of these at once. If you're not sure which you need, describe what you can see and we'll work it out.
Flat roofs
Fibreglass, EPDM rubber and torch-on felt for extensions, dormers, garages and porches. Laid to falls so water actually leaves the roof.
Repairs and leaks
Slipped slates, cracked tiles, failed valleys, damp patches on the ceiling. We find where the water is getting in before we quote for anything bigger.
Chimneys and leadwork
Repointing, flaunching, chimney removal and rebuilds, plus lead flashings, valleys and soakers cut and dressed on site.
Gutters, fascias and soffits
The cheapest part of the house to look after and the one most often left. Clearing, repairing and replacing gutters, downpipes, fascias and soffits.
Storm damage
Emergency call-outs, tarpaulins and temporary covers when the weather comes in off the Irish Sea. We work with insurers and can supply photos and reports.
- Roof maintenanceGeneral maintenance · Annual roof check · Roof survey · Moss removal
- Commercial and industrial roofingIndustrial and factory roofing · Factory roofing · Farm building roofing · Warehouse roofing · Commercial roofer
- Roof windows and glazingRooflights · Sky lights · Roof glazing · Daylight into a loft
- Roofing materialsRoofing material · Roofing supplies
Get a price for the roof.
Coming out to look costs nothing and there's no call-out charge. You get a written price before anyone lifts a slate.
Fill this in and we'll come back to you the same day, usually within a couple of hours. If water is coming in right now, don't type — phone.
07743 455071- 01We ring you back to talk through what you've got.
- 02We come out and look at the roof properly, free of charge.
- 03You get a written price with nothing hidden in it.