A single tile out of place looks trivial and often is, for a while. What it exposes is the underlay, and underlay is not designed to be the primary weather layer. Left through a winter, a small gap becomes a wet batten, then a rotten batten, then several more tiles with nothing to hold them.
Why tiles slip in the first place
On a slated roof, the usual cause is nail fatigue. The slate is sound but the fixing nails have corroded to the point where they snap, and the slate slides. When one goes it is a repair; when they start appearing across the whole slope every few weeks, the roof is telling you the fixings have reached the end of their life together.
On tiled and pantiled roofs, wind uplift at verges and eaves, cracked nibs, and previous foot traffic from aerial or solar installers account for most of what we see.
What a proper repair involves
A slate is refixed with a copper or lead tingle, or the surrounding slates are lifted so the replacement can be nailed properly where the detail allows. A tile is re-hung and clipped. What should not happen is a bead of silicone or a smear of mortar holding something in place, it traps water, it fails, and it makes the next repair harder.
We also check the underlay while we are there. If it has perished at the eaves, water that gets past the covering will end up on the fascia and wall head rather than running out into the gutter.
Matching old coverings
Norfolk roofs are full of coverings that are no longer made: local red pantiles, Welsh slate in sizes nobody stocks, hand-made clay plain tiles with a particular colour range. Matching matters both for weathertightness and for how the roof looks from the street.
- Reclaimed pantiles and plain tiles for period properties
- Second-hand Welsh slate sorted for thickness and size
- Salvaging sound tiles from a hidden slope to patch a visible one
- Honest advice when a match simply is not available
When patching is no longer sensible
If we are refixing slates on the same slope three or four times in a couple of years, patching is costing more than it saves. At that point the useful question is what a strip-and-recover would cost, and whether the battens and timbers underneath justify it. We will price both so the comparison is real rather than a sales pitch.
Common questions
Can you replace one tile, or is there a minimum charge?
We can replace one, and there is a minimum call-out because the access and travel cost the same whether it is one tile or ten. It is usually worth having anything else on the slope dealt with in the same visit.
How long can I leave a missing tile?
Not through a winter if you can avoid it. The underlay will cope with occasional exposure, but sustained wetting rots battens and the repair grows from a tile to a section.
Why do slates keep slipping on the same roof?
Almost always nail fatigue. The slates themselves may have decades left in them, which is why stripping and re-slating with the original slate is often an option worth pricing.
Can you match my existing tiles?
Often, using reclaimed stock or sound tiles salvaged from a less visible slope. Where an exact match is not obtainable we will show you the nearest option before ordering anything.