On a good deal of Macclesfield property the tiles are not original. Knowing whether yours are changes the structural question, the planning question and, quite often, what you decide to do.
The cost variables for a tiled re-roof are well understood: roof area and shape, the tile chosen, the condition of the timbers, access, and the work that goes with it. Those are covered below.
But on Macclesfield property there is a question worth answering before any of them, because it changes what the sensible answer is. Macclesfield's silk-era housing was largely built with Welsh slate roofs. If your house is from that period and has tiles on it now, somebody changed it.
It matters for three reasons, and it is usually possible to work out.
The largest single lever. Concrete interlocking tiles are the lowest-cost route: large units, single-lapped, few per square metre and fast to lay. Clay interlocking costs more as a material but holds its colour, because the colour is in the clay rather than sprayed on the surface. Plain tiles in either material are the most expensive to lay by a distance, because a square metre takes many more units, each individually placed.
| Concrete interlocking | Clay interlocking | Plain tile (either) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Material cost | Lowest | Higher | Highest in clay |
| Units per m² | Fewest | Few | Many |
| Labour | Lowest | Low | Highest |
| Weight | Heaviest | Moderate | Moderate to heavy |
| Minimum pitch | Lowest | Low | High |
| Colour in 20 years | Weathered | Holds | Holds in clay |
| On silk-era property | Reads as modern | Better | Depends on the building |
Every tile has a manufacturer's minimum pitch below which it is not warranted. On property built for slate this genuinely bites, because slate works at pitches that rule out plain tiles and some interlocking ranges. Measure before choosing.
Concrete tiles are the heaviest common covering. On a structure sized for Welsh slate that is a real consideration, and the answer where the structure is marginal is normally a lighter tile rather than strengthening the roof.
Unknown until the strip. Agree the rate for defective timber before work starts and ask to be shown what is found. This is the commonest source of dispute on a re-roof and the easiest one to eliminate.
On the tighter silk-era streets a scaffold frequently has to stand on the public footway, which needs a licence from Cheshire East Council. That is a real line in the cost and a real lead time in the programme.
Renewing a tiled roof renews a thermal element, and regulation 23 of the Building Regulations 2010 requires its thermal performance to be improved where technically and economically feasible — 0.16 W/(m²K) for a roof in an existing dwelling under Approved Document L Volume 1.
Where there is an empty loft, that is inexpensive: insulation across the loft floor, kept clear of the eaves so it does not block ventilation. Where the roof space is a habitable room — as in the weavers' garret properties — it has to go at rafter level, either over the rafters (which lifts the roof line, an external alteration that matters inside an Article 4(2) area) or under them (which costs head height in a room that rarely has spare).
A quotation for a tiled re-roof on a garret property that does not address this has not priced the job.
We will check the pitch and the structure and tell you what the roof will sensibly carry.
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Look at the neighbours, particularly on a terrace or a pair — if most of the street is slate and yours is tile, yours was probably changed. In the loft, old batten nail holes at a closer gauge than the current battens are a strong indication. So is a roof pitch at the shallow end for the tile that is on it.
Sometimes. It is lighter, which suits a structure built for it, and on period property it usually looks considerably better. It costs more than tile. Inside the High Street or Christ Church Article 4(2) areas it may also be the change the council would prefer to see.
Not necessarily, but it should be checked rather than assumed on any structure built for slate. Concrete tiles weigh more per square metre than natural slate, and older timbers were sized for the covering they were built with.
Yes, on the insulation side. Where the roof space is habitable — as it is in the weavers' garret properties — insulation has to go at rafter level rather than on a loft floor, which is a bigger job and needs planning into the specification.
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 Macclesfield, 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
