The days on site are the part people ask about and rarely the part that decides when the roof is finished. Here is what to book, and in what order.
For an ordinary house in Flint a complete re-roof is a matter of days rather than weeks once the scaffold is up. That is the answer to the question people ask, and it is rarely the number that determines when the roof is actually finished.
This guide is the calendar rather than the programme: what to do, in what order, and which items are on the critical path.
The days on site are reasonably predictable. What is not, unless you plan it, is everything that has to happen before the first slate comes off — and those items run in parallel, so the longest one sets your start date.
This costs nothing, takes minutes, and can change everything. Two questions for Flintshire County Council: is the address inside the Flint conservation area, and does any Article 4 direction apply to it?
For a like-for-like re-roof neither is likely to change anything, because putting the same covering back is not development at all. Where it matters is if you are changing the covering — and then it becomes the longest item on the whole calendar, because a permission is weeks rather than days.
Allow time to get three, and to compare them properly. A proper survey means the roof from outside and the roof space from inside, because the loft is where the condition of the underlay, the battens and the rafter ends is actually visible.
If the three are not quoting the same scope, the totals mean nothing — and establishing that takes a conversation with each of them rather than a glance at the bottom line.
Stock coverings are generally quick. A specific slate, a particular tile, or anything being matched to existing work takes longer. Where reclaimed material is involved, availability rather than price is often the constraint — and on Flint's slate stock that comes up regularly.
Subject to the scaffolder's diary, and where it has to stand on the public footway, subject to a licence. On the tighter terraced streets that is common, and the licence is frequently the longest lead item on a job that needs one.
Either a notification, or self-certification by a roofer registered under a competent person scheme. Agree which, and when, before the start date rather than after.
| Phase | What happens | Relative length |
|---|---|---|
| Scaffold | Erected a day or two before work starts | Short |
| Strip | Covering, battens and underlay off, in sections | Short and noisy |
| Structure | Inspection; timber repairs if needed | Unpredictable |
| Rebuild | Underlay, battens, covering, lead, ridge, verges | The bulk of it |
| Junctions | Chimneys, valleys, abutments, party line | Slow — and worth it |
| Ventilation and insulation | Eaves, ridge, thermal upgrade | Moderate |
| Finish | Gutters tested, site cleared, scaffold struck | Short |
On a slate roof the strip and rebuild both run longer than they would in interlocking tile, because a slated roof takes several times as many units per square metre. If the slates are being sorted for re-use, longer again — everything is handled twice.
Arguably the best window. Conditions improving, daylight lengthening, and demand has not yet peaked.
The obvious choice and therefore the busiest. Everyone books roofing for summer, so lead times are longest and you may wait months for a contractor worth waiting for.
Perfectly workable and often good availability as the summer rush clears. The risk is that a job starting late can run into worse conditions if anything delays it, so it suits straightforward roofs better than complicated ones.
Entirely possible and frequently the shortest wait. Expect a longer programme for the same work, because of daylight and weather days. The one genuine caveat is mortar, which does not like frost — another reason mechanically fixed ridge and verge systems are the better specification anyway.
A quoted duration noticeably shorter than everyone else's is worth questioning rather than welcoming. The steps dropped to hit a fast date are the invisible ones: a proper structural inspection, correctly lapped underlay dressed into the gutter, lead formed and dressed into the brickwork rather than bedded in mastic, ventilation details at the eaves.
Flint is in Wales, and the position is not the same as it is across the border. Planning: section 55 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 applies in Wales as well as England, so a like-for-like re-roof is not development at all and needs no permission. But Wales never adopted the 2015 permitted development order that applies in England — it still uses the General Permitted Development Order 1995, as amended.
Building regulations: regulation 23 of the Building Regulations 2010 applies in England and Wales alike. Where more than 50% of the roof's surface area is renewed, or the work forms part of a major renovation, the roof must be brought up to current thermal standards so far as that is technically, functionally and economically feasible. A patch repair does not trigger it, and neither does a roof over unheated space such as a detached garage.
We will tell you what has to happen before we start and roughly how long each part takes.
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