A re-roof is a big bill, so it should be the last option, not the first. On plenty of Crayford houses, though, it's the honest answer. The Vickers cottages at Barnes Cray date from about 1915. The Barnehurst semis followed from 1926. If your roof still sits on its original battens, those timbers have been holding tiles for close to a century. Nails rust. Battens go brittle. Old felt, where there is any, crumbles to nothing at the eaves. At that point, repairs just chase the next failure round the roof. We re-roof Crayford houses from 1.3 miles up the road, with a free survey and a written quote that says exactly what's coming off and what's going on.
A roofer rings you back to arrange a visit.
A new roof should last decades. These are the parts that decide whether it does.
01
A breathable membrane keeps rain out but lets the loft's damp air escape. On a cottage that has never had underlay at all, the difference in the loft is obvious within one winter, especially round the eaves.
02
We don't reuse old battens. Fresh treated timber, gauged to suit the tile, means every tile sits where it should and every nail has something solid to grip. It's a cheap part of the job and the one holding everything else up.
03
Re-covering a roof is the moment to upgrade loft insulation. Planning Portal guidance treats a roof as a thermal element, so a re-cover should normally include an insulation upgrade. We price that in from the start.
04
On a Barnes Cray cottage, a covering that respects the original look keeps the house in step with its neighbours. On a Barnehurst semi, we think about how your new roof meets next door's old one. You choose, with our honest view on each option.
05
Wind off the low ground by the Cray finds weak verges first. We fix ridges and verges mechanically or bed them on a sound mix, and clip tiles wherever the pitch and exposure call for it.
06
Re-covering more than half a roof normally needs a building control application. We tell you when yours does, and make sure it's dealt with, so the paperwork is there when you come to sell.
1,000+
Roofs repaired, renewed and rebuilt
10 yrs
Written guarantee on every re-roof
5★
The only rating anyone has left us
£0
For the survey and the written quote
Re-roofing a Vickers cottage is a different job from re-roofing a newer house. The cottages went up in a hurry, in wartime, with a War Office grant behind them. Rafters can be lighter than you'd expect, and some have sagged. So what does that mean in practice? Before quoting, we check whether the structure will carry the covering you want. If you're switching to something heavier, Building Regulations approval is needed once the new covering adds 15% or more to the roof's weight.
Barnehurst is the other half of the picture. Ellingham's 578 semis went up from 1926, and Wedlock's Lake District roads between 1926 and 1929. Re-roofing one half of a semi means making a clean, watertight join at the party wall with a roof you aren't touching. We've come across plenty of those joins botched. Ours are finished so both houses stay dry, whatever next door decides to do later.
If the survey shows your roof only needs attention in one area, roof repairs in Crayford will cost far less, and we'll say so.
"When we strip an original Crayford roof, the battens nearest the eaves are almost always the worst, because that's where water has sat longest."
We measure the roof, photograph each slope and go into the loft to check rafters, purlins and any old repairs. On a cottage, this is what decides whether we're simply re-covering or strengthening the structure too.
The quote lists scaffold, strip-out, battens, membrane, tiles, ridge, lead, insulation and disposal separately. You can see where the money goes and compare it fairly with anyone else's price. Get two or three quotes. We don't mind.
We confirm whether a building control application is needed and whether a conservation area applies. If your neighbour shares the roof, we agree how the party wall join will be handled before day one.
Scaffold goes up with edge protection and, where needed, a debris chute or netting. Plants, paths and next door's car get covered. On a tight Crayford plot, we plan the skip position with you beforehand.
Old tiles, battens and felt all come off. We inspect the bare timbers, treat or replace anything rotten, and send you photos of what we found before anything new goes on.
Breathable membrane, new treated battens, then the tiles or slates, nailed and clipped to specification. Lead flashings, valleys and the ridge are finished last, with ventilation built in at the eaves and ridge.
We walk the finished roof with you, from the scaffold if you're happy to climb, or through photos if not. Then the scaffold comes down, the site is swept, and you get your 10-year re-roof guarantee in writing.
10
Years' cover on a new roof
1,000+
Roofing jobs finished
Paperwork in your hand on the last day. Not posted out "in due course".
Re-roof a house in Crayford with us and you get 10 years of cover on the workmanship. It's a written document. It has your address on it, lists what was done, and is dated the day the roof is signed off. If water gets in because something was fitted wrong - a batten, a fixing, a lap, a flashing - a roofer comes back and puts it right. You don't pay for that.
Why are we happy to promise ten years? Because of how the roof goes on. Every tile or slate is mechanically fixed to BS 5534, the current British Standard. Ridges and hips are fixed too, not just sat in mortar. A breathable membrane goes down first. Where a roof meets a wall, a chimney or the house next door, it gets proper lead or a tested dry system. Shortcuts there are what make a guarantee expensive, so we don't take them.
Tiles, slates and membranes also carry the maker's own warranty. Those vary by product, and your paperwork tells you which ones apply. If a job is too unusual to guarantee in the normal way, you'll hear that at quote stage.
Below, the main coverings we fit are set out side by side. For a cottage at Barnes Cray, weight and appearance matter most. For an interwar semi, how the new roof sits beside the neighbour's often decides it.
| Comparison point | Concrete interlocking tile | Clay plain tile | Natural slate | Fibre cement slate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Typical lifespan | 50 years or more | 60 to 100 years | 80 to 100+ years, depending on source | Around 30 years |
| Weight | Heavy | Heaviest, as each tile is double-lapped | Light | Lightest of the four |
| Relative cost | Lowest | Mid to high, slow to lay | Mid to high, Welsh slate dearest | Low to mid |
| Look | Chunky profile, common on postwar homes | Small, warm-coloured, traditional Kent look | Thin, dark and neat | Uniform slate look, flatter colour |
| Planning and conservation | Fine for most homes, can jar in a conservation area | Often expected on older Kent buildings | The like-for-like choice for slate roofs | May be refused on listed or conservation roofs |
| Best for | Budget re-roofs on postwar and newer houses | Period homes and steeper pitches | Victorian terraces, slate-to-slate jobs | Lighter swap where rafters are marginal |
Re-roofing an interwar semi in Crayford or Barnehurst typically costs £10,500 to £16,000. A smaller cottage sits nearer £8,000 to £14,500. Here's what moves the figure.
Once the old covering is off a Barnes Cray cottage, we sometimes find rafters that need doubling or a purlin that needs propping. The quote flags that possibility and prices it per item, so you're not signing an open cheque.
Concrete interlocking tiles are cheaper and quicker to lay. Clay plain tiles and natural slate cost more, and slate in particular takes longer to fix. Going heavier than the old roof can also bring building control into play.
If your house still has its original stack, a re-roof is the cheapest time to repoint, re-flaunch and re-lead it. It's also the moment to take a redundant one down below the roofline, because the scaffold is already standing.
Some Crayford streets have narrow pavements and no room for a skip on a drive. If the scaffold or skip has to stand on the public highway, a council licence is usually needed, and that goes into the price from the outset.
Planning permission usually isn't needed to re-roof like for like, because the house looks the same afterwards. Crayford is in the London Borough of Bexley, and if you're in the Iron Mill Lane or Star Hill conservation areas, check with the council first. Building control is a separate matter. Re-cover more than half the roof and an application is normally required, and switching from slate to tile is likely to need approval too.
Sometimes, but not always without help. Concrete tiles weigh a good deal more than slate. If the new covering adds 15% or more to the roof's weight, Building Regulations approval is needed and the structure has to be checked. We look at rafter size, spacing and any sag before recommending a covering. Where the timbers are light, a lighter tile is often the better answer.
Most interwar semis take about a week to ten days once the scaffold is up, weather allowing. A small cottage can be quicker, or slower if we uncover timbers that need work. We make the house watertight at the end of every day, so you're never left with an open roof overnight. Neighbours get a note with the dates before the scaffold arrives.
You should, out of courtesy at the very least. Our scaffold may need to sit near their side, and the join on the party wall line has to be made well. If the work affects the party wall itself, the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 may require formal notice. The government's explanatory booklet sets out when that applies. We can't give legal advice, but we can tell you what the work physically involves.
Yes, with care. Crayford is in one of the drier corners of England. The nearest Met Office station, across the Thames, averages 577 mm a year, roughly half the UK figure, so dry spells turn up even in winter. We strip only as much as we can cover the same day, and plan each stage around the forecast. October is statistically the wettest month there, which surprises people.
Crayford's parish church on Church Hill dates back to around 1100. It is one of only three churches in England built with twin naves, so the inside is split down the middle by a central arcade.
Learn more about St Paulinus Church on Google Maps
A small public garden in Crayford town centre where the River Cray runs between planted, reed-lined banks.
Learn more about Waterside Gardens on Google Maps
Open grassland and old trees on the site of Shenstone, a house built in the 1830s by the printing engineer Augustus Applegath. Crayford's council bought the estate in 1947 and pulled the house down, leaving the grounds as a public park.
Learn more about Shenstone Park on Google MapsEvery review left for us so far has been five stars. We're adding them here as they come in.
Reviews only tell you so much anyway. When a roofer comes out to Crayford, ask to see photos of a recent job on a house like yours. A good roofer will have plenty and won't mind you asking.
Book a free survey on 01322 946667. We'll tell you straight whether you need a re-roof at all, and if you do, you'll get a written, itemised quote.
