On an inter-war semi there are two questions the quotation should answer that nobody thinks to ask: how the hips are being finished, and what happens where your roof meets next door's.
Most guidance on tiled roof costs is written for a simple gabled roof, and it transfers badly to Stretford's inter-war semis. Those roofs are typically hipped, typically attached to a neighbour, and typically covered in tiles that have been there eighty or ninety years.
All three of those change the job, and two of them are things you should ask about before accepting a quotation.
Clay was widely used on housing of this period, and where it was good clay it has held up well. Clay takes its colour from the material rather than a surface coating, so unlike concrete it has not faded to grey. Where you see failure it is usually frost damage at the exposed edge, or tiles that have delaminated or crumbled.
Many of these roofs have already been re-covered once, generally in concrete interlocking tile at some point in the last fifty years. Those are now at the age where the surface pigment has weathered off, leaving grey concrete, and frost damage begins at the lower edges.
Where the property is the older end of the Stretford stock, slate is likely, and the considerations are different — see our guide on upgrading a roof with a new slate covering.
Bitumen felt that has gone brittle and torn, particularly at the eaves. Battens that have been carrying fixings for decades. Mortar-bedded ridges and hips that have cracked. Almost certainly no designed ventilation, because roofs of this era relied on being draughty. None of that is visible from the street and all of it is renewed in a complete re-roof.
On a hipped roof this is the detail that most affects both cost and longevity, and it is worth understanding before comparing quotations.
The hip tiles on an original inter-war roof are bedded in mortar along the full length of every hip. Mortar is rigid, the roof moves, and over decades the bed cracks. Water gets behind it, frost works on it, and eventually hip tiles loosen — which on a hip means they can slide.
Mechanically fixed hip components, held with clips and screws to a batten rather than bedded. They cost more up front and they remove the failure mode entirely. On a roof with four hip lines, this is not a minor detail.
Ask any quotation which it is using. "Dry fix" also covers a range of products that differ in how conspicuous they are, so on a prominent elevation it is worth asking which range and looking at a photograph.
On a pair of semis the roof usually reads as one continuous object, particularly when it is hipped. Replacing your half raises two issues.
The original tile range is almost certainly out of production. A close modern equivalent is the realistic aim, and it will not be identical — the colour, the profile and the surface will all differ slightly, and on adjoining roof planes that is visible.
There is no way round this except doing both halves, which brings us to:
On a pair built at the same time to the same specification, both roofs are the same age and usually in similar condition. Doing them together means one scaffold, one site set-up, one waste run and — importantly — one covering across both halves.
Scaffolding, set-up and disposal barely change with roof size, so sharing them across two houses is a genuine saving rather than a notional one. It is worth a conversation over the fence before you book anything.
Where new covering meets old at the party line, that junction has to be weathered properly — normally with soakers or a secret gutter arrangement rather than a bed of mortar. Ask how a quotation proposes to handle it. It is a small cost and a common source of later leaks.
| Concrete interlocking | Clay interlocking | Clay plain | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Material cost | Lowest | Higher | Highest |
| Units per m² | Fewest | Few | Many |
| Labour | Lowest | Low | Highest |
| Cutting waste on hips | Moderate | Moderate | Higher |
| Colour in 25 years | Weathers to grey | Holds | Holds |
| Weight | Heaviest | Moderate | Moderate to heavy |
| Minimum pitch | Lowest | Low | High |
| On an inter-war semi | Range-dependent | Good | Good, if the pitch allows |
Two constraints sit above preference. Pitch: every tile has a manufacturer's minimum below which it is not warranted, and plain tiles need a notably steeper roof than interlocking ones. Weight: if the roof was originally slate rather than tile, a concrete tile asks more of the structure than it was built for, and that should be checked rather than assumed.
A like-for-like tiled re-roof is not development at all under section 55 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, so no permission is needed anywhere. If you are changing the covering, the position depends on your street: Trafford makes Article 4 directions in two categories, one covering development affecting areas and buildings of historic interest, so Trafford Council should confirm the position for your address.
Building regulations apply regardless. Renewing a covering renews a thermal element under regulation 23 of the Building Regulations 2010, and Approved Document L Volume 1 gives 0.16 W/(m²K) for a roof in an existing dwelling.
We will specify a tile that suits the pitch, the shape and the half of the house you are not replacing.
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Rarely exactly, if the original range is discontinued — which after eighty or ninety years it usually is. A close modern equivalent is the realistic aim. Be honest with yourself about how visible the join will be, because on a hipped semi the two halves read as one object.
Mechanically fixed hip components that replace mortar bedding. Mortar-bedded hips crack over time, let water in and allow the hip tiles to work loose — a predictable failure on roofs of this age. A dry system costs a little more and removes it.
Sometimes. Good clay tiles are durable and hold their colour, and where enough survive the strip they can be relaid on new battens and underlay. Expect losses, though, and expect the sorting to take labour.
Not different tiles, but more of the fittings — hip tiles or hip irons along every hip line — and considerably more cutting. It is worth checking that a quotation has priced the hip work rather than an area rate.
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 Stretford, 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
