NewBuildRoofinginBournemouth&Poole
A roof on a property that has never had one. Built to the drawings, to current building regulations, and to the programme you are working to.
- Built to the drawings and to manufacturer spec
- We work to your programme, not around it
- 15 to 20 year guarantee on the finished roof
Get a quote
Tell us about the build and when you need the roof on.
- 1–2 wksTypical run on a house
- 40–60 yrLife of a new tiled covering
- 5.0 ★From 21 Google reviews
- BothOwners on every job
What new build roofing involves
A new build roof is the one job on this site that starts with nothing to take off. The carpenter has put up the structure, and our work begins at the membrane and finishes at the ridge. That sounds simpler than a re-roof and in some ways it is. There is no strip, no surprise rot, and no working around a house full of people. What replaces those is timing. A roof is the point at which a build becomes weathertight, and everything after it, plastering, first fix, floors, is waiting on you. Turning up when you said you would matters more here than anywhere else we work. The other difference is that it gets inspected. A new roof is built to the approved drawings and signed off by building control, so the ventilation, the fixings and the membrane all have to be right on paper as well as on the roof.
- Built from the membrane up, to the approved drawings
- Ventilation and fixing specification correct for building control
- Programme dates agreed before we start, and kept
New build roof, membrane and battens
Step 1We price off the drawings
Send us the plans and the spec. We price the roof properly rather than guessing at it, and we will flag anything in the detailing that will cause trouble later.
Step 2We book to your programme
You get a date, and the date is the date. Everything after the roof is waiting on it, so we do not take a job we cannot start when we said.
Step 3We hand it over weathertight
Covered, detailed, and ready for building control. Guarantee issued and the site left clear for the next trade.
Regs
Built to current building regs
40–60 yr
Life of a new tiled covering
15–20 yr
Our guarantee
5
Towns we cover
How a new build roof differs from a re-roof
Worth understanding if you have only ever had a roof replaced, because the two jobs are priced and programmed very differently.
| New build roof | Replacement roof | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts with | Bare structure from the carpenter | Stripping the existing covering |
| Unknowns | Very few, it is all new timber | What is under the old covering |
| What sets the date | Your build programme | Weather and our diary |
| Inspected by | Building control, against the drawings | Nobody, unless it is structural |
| Access | Scaffold usually already up for the build | Scaffold erected for the roof |
| Biggest risk | Holding up every trade behind you | Rot found once the roof is open |
Swipe to see every column
What goes into the finished roof
The specification on every new build roof we cover.
Proctor Air breathable membrane
Over the rafters before the battens go on, lapped and supported properly. It sheds anything that gets past the covering and lets the roof space breathe.
Ventilation to the drawings
Cold roofs need air moving through them or you build condensation into a brand new house. Eaves and ridge ventilation set out to what the design calls for.
Treated battens, correct gauge
Graded and treated battens, spaced to the covering going on rather than to whatever is on the van.
Dry ridge and dry verge
Mechanically fixed rather than bedded in mortar. On a new build this is now the expectation rather than an upgrade.
Lead in the right code
Abutments, valleys and any chimney detail done in lead of the correct gauge, dressed in properly rather than sealed over.
A 15 to 20 year guarantee
Issued on completion. If something goes wrong inside that period you call us and we come back out.
Straight answer
What a new build roof costs
Priced off the drawings
A new build is the one roof we can price accurately without climbing on anything, because the drawings tell us the area, the pitch and the covering. Send us the plans and the specification and you get a written price rather than a range.
- Priced from the approved drawings and spec
- Materials, labour and the detailing all in one figure
- We will flag anything in the design that will cause trouble later
- A firm start date, agreed before you accept
If the design is not finalised yet, we can give you a budget figure to work with and firm it up when the drawings are signed off.
How the job runs
Timed around your programme, because everything behind the roof is waiting on it.
Drawings and spec
You send us the plans. We price the roof and raise anything in the detailing that is going to be a problem on site.
Dates agreed
We book a start date against your programme and confirm what needs to be in place before we arrive, mainly the structure signed off and the scaffold up.
Membrane and battens
Breathable membrane over the rafters, then treated battens set to the gauge the covering needs.
Covering
Tiles or slates laid to manufacturer spec, working up the roof course by course.
Details and ventilation
Dry ridge and verge, lead to abutments and valleys, and the eaves and ridge ventilation completed as drawn.
Handover
Roof weathertight, site cleared for the next trade, and your guarantee issued.
New roofs we have covered
Our own work. No stock photography.
Captions name the covering used and the town.
What customers say
We are a new company and we are building this up honestly. These are the jobs people have been kind enough to comment on.
Sam Young
Southern Counties Roofing completed a full re roof for me. I was very pleased with outcome and there professionalism. Would deffo recommend.
Kris Pass
Great job, thanks guys. Would highly recommend.
Clive Curley
Nice guys to deal with and a good price a1
Our projects
Jobs written up properly. What we found, what we did and how long it took.
What people ask before booking us in
Mostly about programme, because that is what a roof holds up.
Will you actually turn up on the date?
Yes, and if weather moves it you will hear from us rather than find out. We do not take a job we cannot start when we said we would, because everything behind the roof is waiting on it.
Will it pass building control?
It is built to the approved drawings, with the ventilation and fixings the design calls for. If we think something on the drawings will not work in practice, you hear about it before we start rather than at inspection.
Do you work with our builder?
Yes. Most new build roofs we do sit inside somebody else's programme, and we would rather talk directly to whoever is running it than pass messages through you.
What goes wrong on new roofs
A new roof should not be leaking or sweating in year one. When one does, it is almost always one of these.
Damp in the loft of a brand new house
What it actually isVentilation, not a leak. A cold roof needs air moving through it at the eaves and out at the ridge. Close that off and the moisture from a house that is still drying out condenses on the underside of the membrane.
What it needs
Membrane sagging or torn between rafters
What it actually isLaid too tight or not supported at the eaves. It needs a slight drape to carry water to the gutter, and if it is drum tight it tears at the fixings the first time the timber moves.
What it needs
Water tracking in where the roof meets a wall
What it actually isThe abutment detail. New or old, this is where roofs leak. It wants lead chased into the joint, not a bead of sealant run along the top of the tiles.
What it needs
Cracked mortar along the ridge within a couple of years
What it actually isA mortar bedded ridge on a new build. New timber moves as it dries, mortar does not, so it cracks. Dry ridge is fixed mechanically and does not care.
What it needs
None of these are expensive to get right first time. All of them are expensive to fix afterwards.
Why the roof is the point a build stops being a gamble
Until the roof is on, a building site is weather dependent. Once it is on, the inside of the building becomes a different job entirely: plasterers can work, floors can go down, first fix can start, and the programme stops being at the mercy of the forecast. That is why the roof is the milestone everyone watches.
It also means a roofer who does not turn up costs far more than the roof. Every trade behind you is booked against the date the building goes weathertight, and moving it moves all of them. We would rather turn a job down than take one we cannot start when we said, and if the weather forces a change you will hear it from us the same day.
The technical side of a new roof is less dramatic than a re-roof but less forgiving. There is no rot to discover and no surprise structural work, so what is left is specification: the right membrane, laid with the right drape and lapped properly, ventilation that satisfies both the drawings and physics, battens of the right grade at the right gauge, and lead of the right code at every abutment.
Those are the things building control looks at, and they are also the things that decide whether the house has damp in the loft in three winters time. A new build that sweats is almost never leaking. It is almost always breathing badly, and that is designed in rather than caused by weather.
So we price off the drawings, we say plainly if a detail on those drawings will not work in practice, and we build what was approved. If you are working to a programme, tell us the date the structure will be ready and we will tell you honestly whether we can hit it.
Questions about new build roofing
Can you price from drawings?
Yes, and it is the most accurate way to do it. The drawings give us the area, the pitch, the covering and the detailing, so you get a written price rather than a range. Send us the plans and the specification.
How long does a new build roof take?
It depends on the size and the complexity of the roof rather than on anything being stripped. A straightforward house roof is usually a week or under. Cut roofs with valleys, dormers and multiple abutments take longer, and we will tell you which yours is when we price it.
Do you work for builders or only homeowners?
Both. Plenty of new build roofs sit inside someone else's programme, and we are happy to deal directly with whoever is running the site rather than passing everything through you.
Who provides the scaffold?
On a new build it is usually already up for the rest of the construction, so we work off yours. If it is not, we will price it in. Either way it needs to reach the ridge with a proper working lift.
Does the roof need to meet building regulations?
Yes. A new roof is inspected against the approved drawings, and the ventilation, fixings, membrane and structure all need to be right. We build to the spec that was approved, and we raise anything that will not work before we start rather than at inspection.
Can you match the roof to the rest of the street?
Usually. Planning conditions sometimes specify the covering anyway. Where they do not and you want it to sit in with the neighbouring properties, tell us and we will price the closest match rather than the cheapest tile.
What about an extension rather than a whole house?
That is a slightly different job, because the new roof has to be tied into the existing one and the join is where these leak. We cover that on the extension roofs page.
Where we cover new build roofs
Based in Bournemouth, working across the conurbation and the towns just outside it.
Send us the drawings and we will price the roof
Tell us when the structure will be ready and we will tell you honestly whether we can hit your date.
Get a free quote
Tell us what you need and we'll come back with a price. No pressure, no hard sell.
Prefer to talk? Call Southern Counties Roofworks Ltd on 07895 305286