What actually happens during a re-roof
A typical Teesside re-roof runs three to five working days: scaffold up, old covering stripped, structure inspected, new breathable underlay and battens, covering laid, ridges and verges finished, site tidied. The house stays weathertight every night, and you stay in it throughout.
Last updated: August 2026.
Before day one
Scaffolding goes up a few days before work starts, and the skip arrives. Inside, anything stored in the loft wants covering or moving, the strip is dusty and daylight will briefly be visible from up there. Cars move off the drive where the skip and deliveries need the space. That is the full extent of the disruption you can control in advance.
Day one: the strip
The old covering comes off, tiles or slates into the skip, sound slates palleted carefully if they are being reused. By day's end the roof is down to its structure: rafters and old battens exposed. This is the only day the house is vulnerable in principle, and it is managed by stripping in sections and felt-covering anything left open overnight. In practice, weathertight every night is the professional standard and anything less is a red flag.
Days two and three: the rebuild
With the structure exposed, anything dubious gets attention: a sagging section packed and braced, a rotten rafter foot spliced. Then the roof goes back together in layers, breathable membrane lapped and fixed, treated battens gauged for the covering, and the new slate or tile going on from the eaves up. Valleys, abutments and leadwork are formed as they are reached. This is the noisy phase, and the phase where progress is visible hour by hour.
Final days: ridges, verges and the tidy
Ridges and verges finish the covering, bedded traditionally or clipped into dry systems. Ventilation details go in, the gutters get checked, the scaffold comes down, and the site is swept, magnets across the drive for stray nails included. You get the paperwork: workmanship guarantee, manufacturer warranties, and building regs certification where applicable.
Weather and honesty
Teesside weather interrupts roofing, that is reality. A good contractor watches the forecast, never strips more than can be re-covered before rain, and tells you straight when a day is lost. What you should never hear is that the house was left open overnight because the schedule slipped.