Clay plain-tile re-roof · 2024
Edwardian clay tile restoration
A conservation-area villa needed a re-roof sympathetic to the street. We matched the original hand-made look with Dreadnought clay plain tiles, kept the decorative bonnet hips, and renewed all the lead soakers around the bay and turret.
Job sheet
- Location
- Nether Edge, S7
- Scope
- Conservation-area re-roof
- Materials
- Dreadnought smooth red clay
- Duration
- 9 days
- Tiles laid
- 8,600
- Bonnet hips
- 18 m
- Guarantee
- 20 yr
Before
Delaminating concrete tiles from a 1980s re-roof, wrong colour for the conservation area and cracking along the hips.
After
Traditional red clay plain tiles with restored bonnet hips, deep-dressed lead soakers and a roof that suits the whole terrace again.
What we found once the scaffold was up
A 1980s concrete re-roof had been laid straight over the original hand-cut bonnet hips, which is why they had all cracked. Conservation area, so the replacement tile went past the council before it went anywhere near the roof.
How it was built back
Bonnets came off one at a time and were catalogued; the sound ones went back over new lead soakers and the rest were matched in Dreadnought smooth red. Eight and a half thousand plain tiles is a lot of nailing: twice-nailed right round the perimeter, every fourth course through the field, to BS 5534. It is a nine-day job because there is no faster way to do it properly.