Question answered
How long does relaying a stone roof take?
The short answer
Relaying a stone roof takes longer than re-covering a tiled roof of similar area, and no single figure fits every house. Timing is driven by how many stones must be lifted, sorted and graded back into diminishing courses, how the timbers beneath turn out, whether consent is needed first, and the weather. We agree dates with you when the survey has shown what the job involves.
A relaid stone roof is slower work than a tile roof of the same size, and nobody can give one number that suits every house. These are the things that set the time.
Why stone is slower than tile
Tiles are made to a size. Horsham stone is split from the rock and comes in random dimensions, so no two slates on the roof are alike. Nobody lays a stone course from a pallet. Each piece is picked up, judged by eye and set against its neighbours.
The Stone Roofing Association describes the traditional pattern as random-sized slates, big ones at the eaves and smaller ones working up towards the ridge. Building that pattern is a matching job as much as a laying job. A slate that is a little too large for its course throws out every course above it, so the fitter lifts, swaps and tries again until the run lies flat and looks right.
That is the first reason a relay takes longer. The second is weight. Stone is heavy and awkward, so it is moved in smaller loads and with more care than a bundle of tiles, and both effects grow with the area of the roof.
Sorting the stone comes before laying it
On a full relay the old covering comes off first and is graded by size on a protected platform or on the ground. Cracked and laminated pieces go to one side. What is left is stacked in size order so it can return to the roof in the right sequence.
For the Stone Roofing Association, reuse is the starting point, and the roof's own slates go back before anything else is considered. So the sorting is not wasted time. It is how a roof keeps its character, and it is why a relay runs well beyond a simple strip and re-cover.
If the sorted pile falls short, the gap has to be filled. The association prefers suitable new Horsham stone, if any is available, and discourages lifting stone from other buildings when there is any alternative. Reports in 2019 spoke of a supply crisis, so finding the shortfall can add waiting time before the job even starts. Our page on Horsham stone supply covers that side.
Timbers, battens and the lap system
Horsham District Council's conservation area appraisal for the town calls Horsham stone roofs steep, with strong timbers underneath to take the load. Once the stone is off, that frame is exposed for the first time in many years. Rotten battens, tired rafter feet and wet wall plates all tend to show up at this point.
Timber repairs add days, and nobody can price them from the ground. We photograph what we find and talk it through with you before carrying on. It is also why our price is set on the roof as it turns out to be, not as it looks from the pavement.
The lap system matters too. Stone roofs were laid either double lap or in the single-lapping style particular to Horsham, with Welsh slate shadows set in mortar at the joints. Double lap is the form the association prefers to see kept or brought back. A switch from single to double brings a fresh look at the roof loading and building control approval, and all of that has to be settled before work can start.
Consent and scaffold come before the first slate
On a listed building, work that alters what makes the roof special needs listed building consent. Like-for-like repair in place is treated differently, and our guide to Building Regulations for stone roofs sets out how the pieces fit. Where consent applies, the decision date is outside our hands, and the roof simply waits for it.
Access is the other early step. West Sussex County Council licenses scaffolding that obstructs a public pavement. The scaffold firm makes the application, and the council asks for at least 10 working days' notice. In the city, Brighton and Hove has its own licensing. Timing like this is easy to forget when you are picturing a start date, yet it can move the whole job back by a couple of weeks.
None of this is slow because anyone is dawdling. It is lead-in time, and it is far better to hear about it at the survey than on the morning the crew expects to start.
Weather, sections and what to expect on site
A relaid roof is never opened up all at once. Work moves slope by slope, or bay by bay, so that any area stripped in the morning is covered and weathertight by evening. A run of gales or driving rain off the Channel can stop work for days, since loose stone and an open roof do not mix.
Chimneys, valleys, hips and abutments slow the pace further. Each junction needs its own lead and its own cut stones, and these details take longer than the open slopes. Hips in particular call for cut and mitred pieces all the way down.
If all you have is a slipped slate or two, none of this applies. A single stone can often be swapped as a small repair, covered in replacing a single stone slate. For the wider service, see Horsham stone roofing, and once the survey is done we put the programme in plain words so that you know what happens each week.
Relaying stone: timing questions
Can a stone roof be relaid one slope at a time?
Often yes. Taking one slope or one bay at a time keeps most of the house covered and spreads the effort over more days. The order depends on what the timbers turn out to hold and which way the weather comes from. Each section is closed up before the crew leaves.
Does a stone roof take longer to relay in winter?
It can. Short days, wet spells and wind cut the hours when stone can be handled safely, and frost makes careful work harder. We plan around the forecast rather than promise a fixed finish date, and we tell you if the weather moves the programme.
Tell us about your roof
Describe what is happening and we will call you back to arrange a visit.
- Photographs of what we find
- A written quote with one total price
- Or call 01903 299063
10-year workmanship guarantee, in writing.