Practical, Time-Served Roof Repair & New Roofs in Plymouth
At Tile Top Roofing Specialists Ltd, we do not price roofs from the pavement or send out commission salespeople. Every job starts with getting up on the scaffold or ladder, inspecting the battens, underlay, and leadwork directly, and giving you a straight answer on whether your roof needs a targeted repair or a full strip and re-lay.
Complete Roofing & Roofline Work Built for South West Weather
Heavy Atlantic rain systems and salt air off the Tamar Estuary punish weak mortar joints, corroded iron slate nails, and ageing felt. We carry out full pitched and flat roof installations alongside targeted structural and weatherproofing repairs across South Devon and East Cornwall.
New Slate & Tiled Roof Installations
When pre-war slate roofs suffer from widespread nail sickness—where original iron nails rust through and allow slates to slide—or older porous tiles begin spalling after winter freeze-thaw cycles, patching individual slates becomes false economy. We strip worn roofs in controlled stages so your property stays watertight overnight.
Once stripped, we inspect the exposed roof frame, cutting back any rotted rafter feet and sistering them with treated structural timber. We then lay a high-tensile vapour-permeable membrane, fix treated 25x50mm timber battens, and install either double-lap natural slate (fixed with copper nails or stainless steel hooks) or interlocking concrete and clay tiles.
Building Regulations Note: If we are stripping and replacing more than 25% of your existing roof covering, or switching from natural slate to heavier concrete tiles, Building Control notification applies and roof void insulation may need upgrading. We talk you through this plainly before work starts.
GRP Fibreglass, EPDM Rubber & Torch-On Felt Flat Roofs
Standing water and blistering felt on a flat roof rarely come down to the top waterproof layer alone. In most cases, the underlying chipboard deck has sagged or the original joists were built without enough fall toward the outlet. When we replace a flat roof, we strip it back to the joists, fit timber firring pieces to establish a minimum 1:80 drainage fall, and lay fresh 18mm OSB3 tongue-and-groove decking boards.
Depending on your roof layout and foot traffic, we install seamless GRP fibreglass laminated with a marine-grade topcoat, single-ply EPDM rubber membranes that expand without cracking, or three-layer reinforced torch-on mineral felt systems across complex split-level roofs and skylight kerbs.
Roof Repairs, Lead Flashings, Chimney Repointing & Dry-Fix Conversions
A damp patch on a bedroom ceiling almost never sits directly below the outside leak. Water enters through a cracked tile overlap, perished valley lining, or split chimney back gutter, and then tracks along the rafters or sarking felt before dripping onto the plasterboard several metres lower down. We trace the leak back up the pitch to fix the actual point of entry.
Our repair team handles everything from replacing slipped slates and clearing heavy moss build-up to grinding out and repointing weathered chimney stacks. We dress new Code 4 and Code 5 milled lead into step flashings, aprons, and pitched valleys, and convert old mortar-bedded ridge and verge lines to mechanically screw-fixed dry ridge and dry verge systems that will not blow off in winter gales.
uPVC Fascias, Soffits & Guttering
We never clad new uPVC boards over rotten softwood fascias. Overboarding traps damp against the joist ends and inevitably pulls away in high winds. We strip the old timber completely, inspect and splice any decayed rafter feet, and install full-replacement 18mm uPVC fascia boards and ventilated soffits bolted directly to solid timber.
Because standard roofing felt often perishes where it hangs into the gutter, we fit rigid uPVC eaves support trays beneath the bottom course of tiles so rainwater discharges cleanly into your new deep-flow or square-line guttering without wetting the fascia backplate.
Drone Roof Surveys & Condition Inspections
On steep three-storey townhouses, high chimney stacks, or awkward inner valleys where pitching a ladder is unsafe and full scaffolding would cost hundreds of pounds just to look, we deploy high-definition camera drones to inspect the roof in detail.
You receive clear, close-up photographs and video showing the exact state of hidden valley gutters, chimney flaunching, ridge mortar, and slipped slates. It is a fast, practical option for pre-purchase homebuyer roof assessments, landlord maintenance checks, and post-storm insurance documentation.
What to Expect When Our Roofers Are on Site
Having a roof stripped or repaired is disruptive if a contractor leaves rubble across your drive or opens up more roof than they can weatherproof before rain sets in. We run a disciplined, tidy site from day one.
Honest Written Diagnosis
We check both the external roof pitch and inside the loft space to trace damp properly. You get an itemised written quote separating urgent waterproofing work from optional upgrades.
Staged Weather-Tight Stripping
On full re-roofs, we only strip the section of pitch we can felt and batten that same day. Your loft and ceilings are never left exposed to overnight downpours.
Driveway & Gutter Protection
We lay heavy ground protection boards beneath skips and scaffold chutes, and use ladder standoff brackets so our ladders never crush or scratch your uPVC guttering.
Daily Clearance & Magnetic Sweep
We bag old mortar and broken slates as we go. Once the job is finished, we run a heavy-duty magnetic roller across your drive, paths, and lawn to pick up stray roofing nails.
Need a Roofer Out to Inspect a Leak or Price a New Roof?
If gale-force winds have lifted ridge tiles or water is actively coming into your property, our emergency call-out crew is available 24/7 across Plymouth and a 40-mile radius to make your roof safe and watertight. For planned repairs, flat roofs, or complete re-roofs, call us directly or send a message to arrange a convenient site visit.
Tile Top Roofing Specialists Ltd • Covering South Devon, Dartmoor & East Cornwall