Roof repairs in Macclesfield

Most roof problems are small, local and cheap to put right — provided somebody looks at them before the water has been getting in for two winters. A single slipped slate is an hour's work. The same slate left alone soaks a batten, rots it, and takes three more slates down with it when the nail lets go.

The commonest fault on an old roof is not the covering at all. It is nail sickness: the iron nails holding the slates corrode away, the slates start to slide one at a time, and no amount of individual repairs stops it because the fixings are failing everywhere at once. Knowing the difference between one slipped slate and a roof that has begun to shed matters, because the honest answer in the second case is that patching is throwing money away.

A repair should come with a reason. If your roofer cannot tell you what failed and why, they are guessing — and a guess on a roof means somebody comes back in six months. Expect to be shown a photograph of the actual defect, not a general warning about the state of things up there.

This is also where the doorstep trade does its damage. Nobody reputable knocks on your door because they were passing and noticed your tiles. If you did not ask them to come, do not let them on the roof.