The right tile for the building
Tile covers a lot of ground. Concrete interlocking tiles are the workhorse: single lap, economical, and suited to the lower pitches most modern roofs are built to. Clay plain tiles are small, laid double lap on a steeper pitch, and nothing else gives a roof the same texture. Pantiles sit between the two, a single-lap tile with a rolled profile that throws a strong shadow line.
A large share of the housing around Leeds carries concrete interlocking tile laid from the mid twentieth century onwards, while the older streets typically carry clay or slate. We fit all of it, new or reclaimed, and we let the pitch, the exposure and the weight the timbers can carry decide the specification, not the price list.
Our approach
A tiled roof fails at its edges long before it fails in the middle, so the edges get the attention. Verges are finished with a dry-fix system or bedded and pointed properly. Ridges and hips are bedded and mechanically fixed, as current standards require. Flashings at chimneys and abutments are cut and dressed in lead.
On extensions and repairs the match matters as much as the fixing. We identify the existing profile, source tile that sits right against it, and set our gauge and courses to the original. A repair you can see from the street is a repair done twice.
Relaying reclaimed clay tile
Old clay tile is often worth more on the roof than in a skip. When a roof comes off, we sort the covering by hand: tiles that ring true are stacked for relaying, and anything laminated or frost-damaged goes. Relaying the originals over new membrane and treated battens keeps the character of the roof, and on older properties it is usually the right way to do the job. We make up any shortfall with matched reclaimed stock and agree the approach with you before a tile is lifted.
