The short answer is yes, and it is the most straightforward re-roof there is. The longer answer is that "the same again" rarely means identical, and the differences are all below the tiles.
This comes up constantly, and the answer is straightforwardly yes. Replacing a tiled roof with a new tiled roof is the simplest re-roof there is: no change of appearance, so no planning question, and no structural surprise from a change of covering weight.
What people mean when they ask it, though, is usually "can I just have the same again?" — and that deserves a fuller answer, because the tiles are the part of the roof that changes least. Almost everything underneath them will be different.
If the roof is more than about thirty years old the underlay is almost certainly bitumen felt, and by now it will be brittle, torn at the eaves and sagging between the rafters. Modern breathable membranes do a different job: they shed any water that gets past the tiles while allowing water vapour out of the roof space, which reduces condensation. This is one of the genuine improvements in a re-roof, and it is invisible when finished.
New battens go on as a matter of course, graded and treated. There is a technical reason as well as a durability one: batten gauge — the spacing between them — is set by the tile, its headlap and the roof pitch. A different tile needs a different gauge, so the old battens would be in the wrong places even if they were sound.
Older roofs almost always have ridge tiles and verges bedded in mortar. Mortar cracks, admits water and eventually lets the ridge tiles work loose — it is one of the most predictable failures on a tiled roof. Mechanically fixed dry ridge and dry verge systems do the same job without the mortar and are now the normal specification on a re-roof.
Older tiled roofs frequently have no designed ventilation at all; they relied on being draughty. A modern roof with insulation at ceiling level and a membrane above needs air moving through the loft space, or moisture accumulates and the timbers suffer. Eaves and ridge ventilation is part of a properly specified re-roof.
Renewing the covering renews a thermal element, and regulation 23 of the Building Regulations 2010 requires thermal performance to be improved where technically and economically feasible. Approved Document L Volume 1 gives 0.16 W/(m²K) for a roof in an existing dwelling. On a house built before insulation standards meant much, that is a substantial upgrade and it comes as part of the job.
Every tile has a minimum pitch set by its manufacturer, below which it is not warranted. Measure the pitch before choosing, particularly on a shallow roof or a rear outrigger, which is often shallower than the main roof. On some Crewe properties the back addition sits noticeably below the main slope and needs a different tile or a different approach.
Compare the new tile's weight per square metre against the old one. Modern interlocking tiles are often lighter than the plain tiles or older concrete units they replace, which is helpful. Where the new tile is heavier, the structure needs checking rather than assuming.
If the original range is discontinued, the nearest equivalent is chosen. On a full re-roof that is fine. If you are doing one slope of a semi and your neighbour's roof stays as it is, be realistic about how close a match is achievable — on the repeating house types common in Crewe, the difference between two slopes of a pair is very visible.
A tile-for-tile replacement raises no planning question. It does not materially affect the external appearance of the building, and under section 55 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 that means it is not development at all. Crewe is not covered by any of Cheshire East's Article 4 directions, which apply to eight conservation areas elsewhere in the borough.
Building regulations are separate and do apply, as set out above. The work is notified to building control at Cheshire East Council or self-certified by a roofer registered under a competent person scheme. Keep the certificate — a buyer's solicitor will ask for it.
We will check the pitch, the structure and the batten gauge, and specify a tile that actually suits the roof.
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Sometimes, if the range is still made. Often it is not, and the nearest current equivalent has to be chosen. Where a roof is being done in full this rarely matters, since the whole roof changes together. It matters a great deal if you are only doing one slope.
On a proper re-roof, yes. They are cheap relative to the job, they are inaccessible afterwards, and the old ones have been carrying fixings for decades. There is also a practical reason: a different tile usually needs a different batten gauge, so the old spacing will not suit the new covering.
Not necessarily, and it may be lighter — tile design has moved towards larger, lighter interlocking units. But it should be checked rather than assumed, particularly if you are moving from a plain tile to something different.
No. A like-for-like renewal does not materially affect external appearance, so it is not development under section 55 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. Crewe is not covered by any of Cheshire East's Article 4 directions either. Building regulations, however, do apply.
Apex Roofing covers Cheshire and the surrounding area for complete roof replacement, new slate and tiled roofs and re-roofing.
Apex Roofing Cheshire · 105 Fence House, Fence Avenue, Macclesfield SK10 1LM
Tell us about the property and the roof in Crewe, and we will come back to you — usually the same day.
Prefer to talk? Call 07377 461095 · WhatsApp +44 7465 861265 · Email apexroofing14@gmail.com
