Concrete tile roofing
In short
Concrete interlocking tile is what most of Macclesfield's postwar housing is covered in, and a great deal of it is now at the end of the sixty-year design life it was sold with. The tiles usually outlast their fixings, so the honest measure of the roof is the battens and nails, not how it looks from the street.
Also called: Concrete interlocking tiles · Redland tiles · Marley tiles · Concrete roof tiles
Signs you need this
- A roof from the 1950s to 1980s that has never been touched
- Tiles that look rough, pale or chalky — surface erosion
- Repeated slipped tiles across different parts of the roof
- Torn, brittle or sagging felt visible from inside the loft
- Battens that feel soft when pressed
- Heavy moss growth holding water on the surface
Concrete interlocking tiles were the covering of the postwar building boom — large, quick to lay, cheap, and locking into their neighbours so that far fewer units cover the same area than plain tiles or slate. They did exactly what they were meant to do and there are millions of them.
The design life generally quoted is around sixty years, and the arithmetic on that is now uncomfortable. VOA data puts Weston at 80.3% built between 1945 and 1982, and much of the housing on the western and southern edges of the town is from the same period. Those roofs are at or beyond the age they were designed for, which does not mean they all need replacing this year — but it does mean that a proper look is worth having, rather than assuming that because the tiles are intact the roof is sound.
The important thing about a concrete tile roof is that it usually fails from underneath. The tiles themselves are extremely durable in terms of not breaking, but the nails corrode and the battens soften, and the underlay — which on roofs of this era is nearly always a bitumen felt — becomes brittle and tears at the laps and around the nail heads. From the pavement everything looks fine. From the loft it is a different picture.
The tiles do age visibly in one respect: the surface. Concrete tiles are made with a coloured cement slurry finish, and that erodes over decades, exposing the coarser aggregate underneath and giving the roof a rougher, paler, chalkier look. That is cosmetic rather than structural in itself, but a roughened surface holds moss and holds water, which matters where there is frost.
This is the roof type most targeted by roof coating and spray sales, and it is worth being blunt: coating a concrete tile roof is generally a poor idea. It does not restore the tile, it can trap moisture, it complicates any future repair, and it has a habit of appearing on surveys as a question mark rather than a benefit. If the fixings and battens have gone, a coating over the top does nothing about it.
When a roof of this type does come off, the good news is that the replacement is straightforward. Modern interlocking tiles are lighter than the originals, breathable membrane replaces the felt, treated battens go on at the correct gauge, and the whole thing is fixed and clipped to a specification worked out against the site's actual exposure as BS 5534 now requires.
What the job covers
- Assessment from the loft as well as from outside
- Battens, fixings and underlay condition reported honestly
- Individual tiles matched and replaced where the roof has life left
- Full strip and re-cover quoted where it does not
- Modern breathable membrane in place of old bitumen felt
- Fixing and clipping specified against the site's exposure
What it costs
We don't publish a price for this yet, because a number pulled out of the air is worse than no number at all — your roofer has to honour it. On roofing it would also be close to meaningless: access is often the biggest single factor, and it varies enormously house to house. You'll get a firm price for your actual job when they ring you back, before any work starts. The quote itself is free and there's no obligation either way.
Common questions
My tiles look fine. Does that mean the roof is fine?
Not necessarily, and this is the single most common misunderstanding about concrete tile roofs. The tiles are the most durable part; the nails, battens and felt underneath are what fail. A roof can look perfectly even from the pavement while the underlay has torn through and the battens have softened. The loft tells you far more than the street does.
Should I have my roof sprayed or coated?
Generally no. Coatings do not restore a tile, they can trap moisture in the roof, they make future repairs harder, and they do nothing whatever about corroded nails or rotten battens — which is what actually ends a roof of this type. They are also heavily doorstep-sold, which is its own warning.
Are new tiles lighter than the old ones?
Usually yes, noticeably. Modern interlocking tiles are lighter than 1960s concrete, which is helpful because it reduces the load on the structure. It is one of the reasons a re-cover with a modern tile is rarely a structural problem even on an old roof.
How much of the roof can I replace before Building Control gets involved?
A quarter. Once you replace more than 25% of the roof covering it is notifiable under Part L of the Building Regulations, which brings a duty to upgrade the roof's insulation to current standards where that is feasible, and it needs certifying — either through Cheshire East Building Control or a roofer registered with a Competent Person Scheme.
Need this doing in Macclesfield?
Tell us the job and it goes straight to our local roofer — one call back, usually the same day. Free quote, no obligation.