Cambridge Roofers carries out roof repairs in Royston and the surrounding area, tackling everything from a single slipped tile to failed lead flashings and repointing work across the ridge.
Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
It is usually the first question homeowners ask, and it is a fair one. Roof repair costs vary more than almost any other home maintenance job, because two roofs that look identical from the street can present very different challenges once a roofer gets up there. This page explains what typical repairs cost in plain terms, and - more importantly - which factors push that cost up or down so you can make sense of any quote you receive.
Before getting into costs, it helps to be clear about what roof repairs include. At Cambridge Roofers, repair work covers leaking roofs, broken or slipped tiles, ridge repointing, hip tile work, lead flashing repairs and replacements, valley repairs, and gutter-related water ingress where it is causing damage at the eaves. If a targeted fix will solve the problem, that is what we quote - we do not recommend a full roof replacement when a repair is the right answer.
These are realistic UK figures based on typical repair types. They assume standard access by ladder or roof ladder. Scaffolding, unusual roof configurations and remote locations will affect the final price.
These figures are a guide, not a fixed price. Every roof is different, and any honest roofer will inspect before quoting.
Scaffolding is the single biggest cost variable in roof repair. Ladder access works for most repairs on standard two-storey houses, but there are situations where scaffolding is genuinely necessary: work close to a chimney high on a steep pitch, repairs on a three-storey property, anything that requires sustained work near the eaves on an exposed elevation, or work on a flat roof where the parapet cannot be safely reached by ladder.
A scaffold erect and strike for a typical domestic job adds roughly £500 to £1,200 to the overall cost, depending on the size of the house and how long it needs to stay up. If your job needs scaffolding, a trustworthy roofer will tell you at the outset and include it in the quote rather than presenting it as a surprise at the end.
Matching tiles matters. A poorly matched replacement tile does not seat properly against its neighbours and leaves a gap that lets in water. For common concrete interlocking tiles this is rarely a problem - most profiles are still in production or widely available reclaimed. For older handmade clay plain tiles, natural slate, or unusual pantile profiles, finding a match takes more effort and sometimes more cost.
If a match cannot be sourced, a roofer has a few options: use a visually close tile and accept a slight mismatch, source a batch of matching reclaimed tiles and replace a larger area so the old and new blend, or accept that a perfect match is not possible and discuss the options honestly. An exact match is always worth asking about before assuming it cannot be done.
A repair quoted from the ground can only be an estimate. Once a roofer is on the roof they may find that the tile that slipped did so because the batten beneath it has rotted, or that the visible crack in the ridge is the visible end of a much longer section of failed pointing. This is not a roofer trying to upsell - it is the nature of roofs, where one visible symptom often has a less visible cause.
A good roofer will explain any additional findings before doing additional work. Ask at the outset: what is included in the quote, and what happens if you find something else once you are up there? The answer should be that they tell you and agree a price before proceeding, not that they fix it and tell you afterwards.
Lead flashings around chimneys, dormers and parapet walls are priced by complexity as much as by area. A chimney with a simple cover flashing on one slope is a quick job. A chimney with stepped flashings cut into the brickwork on two sides, a separate back gutter, and a front apron on a steeply pitched roof takes considerably longer and uses more lead. Lead is priced by weight, and a well-dressed lead flashing uses more material than a quick mastic repair - which is precisely why the lead version lasts so much longer.
Be cautious of quotes that propose mastic or bitumen tape over an old flashing as a permanent solution. It will hold for a season or two and then fail, often in a way that is harder to fix cleanly than the original problem was.
Beyond scaffolding, access difficulty affects the time spent on a job. A garage lean-to or a porch roof with a low pitch and easy ladder access is straightforward. A valley hidden behind a dormer, a back gutter that requires the chimney to be partially dismantled, or a repair on the rear slope of a house with a steeply terraced garden all take longer to set up and work safely. Time is cost, and it is legitimate for a roofer to factor in difficult access when pricing.
Getting a repair done before a small problem becomes a large one is the most effective cost control available to a homeowner. A single slipped tile that is left for a winter allows water into the roof space, which wets the felt, the battens and eventually the rafters. Wet timber rots. What started as a £200 tile job becomes a structural repair that costs many times more.
Combining repairs in a single visit also keeps costs down. If your ridge needs repointing and you have a handful of cracked tiles, doing both in one visit means paying for access and setup once rather than twice. Ask whether there is anything else worth addressing while a roofer is already on the roof.
A full roof re-tile on a typical semi-detached house costs from around £5,000 to £10,000 or more, depending on the size of the roof, the tile type chosen and whether new battens and felt are included underneath. That is a significant spend, and most roofs do not need it.
Targeted repairs remain the right answer for most leaking roofs, even older ones. A roof can have fifteen or twenty years of remaining life in its tiles and still be leaking because of a single failed flashing or a section of failed pointing. Replacing the whole roof in that situation is unnecessary expense.
The case for replacement rather than repair starts to build when: large areas of tile are cracking and becoming porous; the felt beneath the tiles is failing across most of the roof and causing widespread damp in the loft; the battens are rotten in multiple areas; or repairs are being needed every year on a different section of the same roof. At that point the cost of ongoing repairs starts to approach the cost of replacement, and a fresh start makes economic sense.
We are straightforward about this. If we look at a roof and think repairs are the right answer, that is what we quote. If replacement is genuinely the better long-term option, we will say so and explain why.
Flat roofs on extensions, garages and outbuildings are a separate category. A felt flat roof that is blistering or has a localised split can often be patch-repaired at relatively low cost - typically £150 to £400 for a straightforward repair. EPDM rubber roofs, which are increasingly common on newer extensions, can also be repaired where a seam has lifted or a penetration has failed.
When a felt flat roof has reached the end of its life - typically visible as widespread cracking, blistering across the full area, and evidence of multiple past repairs - a full replacement is the right call. New EPDM membranes, when properly installed with correct detailing at edges and upstands, have a significantly longer expected lifespan than traditional felt.
A roof repair quote should tell you exactly what work is included, what materials will be used, whether scaffolding is required (and whether it is in the price), and what happens if additional issues are found. A quote that simply says "roof repairs - £X" without further detail is not enough information to make a decision.
Ask these questions before accepting any quote:
A roofer who cannot answer these clearly before starting work is a roofer worth treating with caution.
We carry out roof repairs in Royston and across the nearby towns and villages, and we work regularly into Cambridge and the surrounding areas including Histon, Impington, Girton, Trumpington, Fen Ditton, Milton, Comberton, Cambourne and further afield. If you are unsure whether we cover your location, call and ask.
If you have a leak, missing tiles, a loose ridge or anything else on your roof that needs attention, call us to arrange a roof survey. We will take a proper look, explain what we find in plain terms, and give you a clear quote for the repair work. No pressure and no unnecessary recommendations.
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Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
