Repair or replace your roof?
A few slipped tiles after a storm is a quick fix. A roof that leaks in three places and is forty years old is a different conversation. The honest answer depends on how widespread the damage is and how old the covering is. Tell us the roof type, the size of the house and how bad it is, and we'll show you a patch-repair cost against a full re-roof, side by side, with a verdict. Free, no sign-up.
A guide, not a quote. The ranges are typical 2025/26 UK fitted prices, inclusive of VAT and scaffolding, drawn from published industry averages: a repair is patching the damaged area — re-bedding or replacing tiles, flashing or a section of felt; a re-roof is stripping and re-covering the whole roof, including new battens, membrane and ridge. They exclude structural timber repairs, a new flat-roof deck, chimney or velux work, and assume safe access. The only real number is a measured, written quote — get at least three, and insist on roof-level photos of the actual problem. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
Localised damage: repair. End-of-life covering: re-roof.
A patch is the right call for storm damage. A handful of slipped or cracked tiles, a bit of failed flashing round the chimney, or a single leak on an otherwise sound roof is a straightforward repair. There's no sense re-roofing a whole house because the wind took three tiles — get them re-bedded, check the surrounding area, and you're done for a few hundred pounds.
Re-roof when the covering itself is finished. Concrete tiles last around 50–60 years, clay 60+, natural slate 80–100, and a felt flat roof only 15–25. Once a roof is leaking in several places, the tiles are porous or "delaminating", the battens are rotten, or you can see daylight or sagging, you're past patching — every repair just moves the leak along. At that point a full re-roof is the honest spend, and it comes with a 10–20 year guarantee.
Watch the repeatedly-patched roof. If you've paid for the same roof twice already and it's leaking again, you're renting repairs on a roof that needs replacing. Add up what you've spent — it's often a good chunk of a re-roof, with none of the warranty or peace of mind.
Scaffolding and access drive a lot of the cost. Much of a roofing bill is the scaffold and safe access, not the tiles. That's why a tiny repair can still cost a few hundred pounds (you're paying for the access), and why bundling jobs — doing the chimney, the gutters and the ridge while the scaffold's up — saves money.
Get three quotes and roof-level photos. Roofing is a trade with more than its share of cowboys and "I was just passing and noticed your tiles" doorstep callers. Use a checkatrade or local roofer with reviews, ask for photos taken at roof level of the actual problem, get three written quotes, and never pay in full up front.
Keep your roof's history in one place.
Stead logs what you've spent on the roof, holds the workmanship guarantee with its expiry date, and keeps the photos and invoices you'll want at sale time — so if it's patched again you can see at a glance whether you're throwing good money after bad.