What Should I Expect During a Complete Re-Roof in Runcorn?

A complete re-roof on an ordinary Runcorn house is not complicated to live through, but there are moments where you will be asked something, and being ready for them makes the difference between a smooth job and a stressful one.

This is the customer's-eye view: what happens, what you will be asked, and what a contractor who is doing the job properly will tell you without being prompted.

Before the Start Date

What should already be settled

• The covering, named by manufacturer and range — not just "tiles"
• Whether ridge and verge are dry-fixed or bedded
• The rate for defective timber, in writing
• Whether fascias, soffits and guttering are included
• Who is notifying building control, and whether the fee is in the price
• The guarantee: what it covers, for how long, who honours it
• How you will be contacted if a decision is needed mid-job

If any of those is still vague when the scaffold goes up, it will be settled under time pressure later, which is the worst moment to settle anything.

What you should do

• Clear the loft or bag what is in it — the dust is considerable
• Take down anything on upstairs walls that vibration could dislodge
• Move garden furniture, pots and anything fragile away from the elevations
• Agree where the skip and the materials will go
• Tell the neighbours, with a rough end date
• Move cars off the drive if the drop needs it

Day One: Scaffolding

Usually a day or two before the roofers arrive. It is quick on an ordinary house and longer on an awkward one. If it has to stand on the public footway a licence is needed from Halton Borough Council, and that is often the longest lead item on the whole job, so it will have been applied for well before.

You will notice: reduced light upstairs, people able to see in, and the scaffold staying up for the whole job plus a day or two either side.

The Strip

The loudest phase and the shortest. The covering, battens and underlay come off — in sections, never the whole roof at once — and go into a skip or down a chute.

You will notice: real noise, dust coming into the loft, and the roof looking alarming for a day. That is normal. The building stays weathertight because only a manageable area is ever open, and anything open is sheeted at the end of the day and whenever weather requires it.

The Structure Inspection

Brief on a sound roof, longer where something needs attention. Rafters, purlins and wall plates are looked at, with particular attention to the rafter ends where they sit on the wall plate — the commonest place for rot, because that is where a failing gutter has been putting water for years.

Ask for photographs. This is the one moment the structure of your house is visible, and once the underlay goes on it is invisible again for decades. The pictures cost nothing and they are your evidence of what was there and what was done about it.

Rebuilding

The longest phase, and the quiet one. Underlay, battens, covering, lead, ridge, verges, ventilation.

Worth looking at while you still can:

• The underlay, before the battens go over it — is it lapped properly and dressed into the gutter at the eaves, rather than stopping short behind it?
• The battens, before the covering — new, treated, evenly spaced?
• The lead, at chimneys and abutments — formed and dressed into the brickwork, not bedded in mastic?
• The ventilation at the eaves — a clear path, not blocked by insulation pushed hard into the corner?

None of this requires expertise. It requires looking before it disappears. Roofing is layered work and every layer hides the one below it.

Insulation

Part of the job, not an extra. Renewing the covering 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.

On the new-town housing that makes up much of Runcorn, built to the standards of the 1960s and 70s, this is one of the more valuable parts of the work. You can verify it yourself afterwards by looking in the loft.

Decision point two: where the roof space is a habitable room rather than an empty loft, insulation has to go at rafter level, and that choice — over the rafters or under them — affects either the roof line or the head height. It should have been settled at quotation stage, but if it comes up now, do not let it be decided for you on site.

Finishing and Handover

• Gutters cleared and tested with water
• Site cleared, and a magnetic sweep for nails — ask, if it is not offered
• Scaffold struck a day or two after completion
• A walk round with the contractor before final payment

The paperwork you should end up with

• Building regulations compliance certificate — through building control, Halton's own service or a Registered Building Control Approver, or via a competent person scheme where the roofer self-certifies
• Written guarantee, stating what is covered, for how long, and by whom
• Manufacturer warranty for the covering, where one applies
• Photographs of the structure and any concealed work

Keep all of it with the deeds. A buyer's solicitor will ask for the certificate and the guarantee, and finding them a decade later is otherwise a problem you have made for yourself.

What Should Not Happen

• The whole roof opened at once
• Work continuing in high wind or heavy rain
• Defective timber replaced without being shown to you first, or charged at a rate never discussed
• A request for a large additional payment mid-job
• The old covering left on site after completion
• No certificate offered, or vagueness about who is providing one

If any of those happens, raise it that day. Everything on a roof gets covered by something else within about a day, and the conversation is far easier while the thing you are asking about is still in view.

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