The short answer
A guarantee on a roof repair normally covers the workmanship on the repair itself: the tiles refixed, the flashing replaced, the valley relined. It does not cover the rest of an ageing roof, new faults elsewhere, storm damage or neglect. Ask for it in writing, with what it covers and for how long, and check whether it is a workmanship promise or something backed by an insurer.
Why a patch carries less cover than a new roof
When a roofer strips a roof and lays a new covering, everything above the rafters is new. The roofer controls the materials, fixings, underlay and detailing, and can stand behind the whole system. A repair mends one fault in a roof built of old parts, and those parts keep ageing around it.
So the cover is narrower. It cannot promise that the tiles beside the repair will hold next winter, or that the lead on the far side of the chimney will not crack. It can only promise that the work done is sound. A roofer who offers identical cover on a patch and a full re-roof is overselling or hiding the limits, and the limits are what you need to see.
What a workmanship guarantee usually includes
A sensible workmanship guarantee covers the labour and the materials fitted for the repair. If the new flashing lifts because it was fixed badly, or refixed tiles slip because they were not secured properly, the roofer puts it right. That is the heart of it.
Look for four things. The scope should name the repair, not just say roof. The period should be stated as a number of years. It should be in writing, with the date of the work and what was done. And there should be a plain way to make a claim: a phone number, an email, a person to ask for. A guarantee that sits on a verbal promise is hard to use when the roof is leaking.
Ours runs for 10 years, is given in writing and rests on the business itself. It is not an insurance policy, a distinction that matters if a firm ever stops trading.
What no repair guarantee covers
There are limits that apply to almost every guarantee of this kind, and a good one states them. Storm damage is not workmanship, so a tree through the roof or a gust that strips a ridge is a matter for your home insurance rather than a guarantee. Ordinary wear and tear on the rest of the roof is not covered either. Neither is damage from someone else working on the roof afterwards, such as a satellite dish installer or a chimney sweep, nor the effect of blocked gutters and valleys that nobody clears.
A manufacturer warranty on a product is another thing again. It covers a fault in the material, not the way it was fitted, and it is not a lifespan. Our roof sealant repairs page explains why a sealant repair is often a stopgap that a guarantee sensibly excludes or limits.
For storm damage, the Financial Ombudsman Service explains how insurers' decisions are judged and points out that many policies leave out gradual damage. No roofer can promise a claim will succeed.
Damp that has already got in
A repair stops water getting in, but it does not dry out what is already wet. Insulation that has been soaked may stay damp for months, and rafters or battens that were wet for a long time may have started to decay before anyone noticed. If damp patches appear on a ceiling after the repair, that is not automatically a failure. The plaster may simply be releasing the water it absorbed before the work.
Tell them apart by watching for a stain that grows or new ones that form after rain. Our page on wet loft insulation explains what happens to insulation that has been soaked and when it needs replacing. A repair guarantee does not usually stretch to that, though a good roofer will warn you at the survey if soaked insulation or timber is likely.
Listed buildings and older roofs
Older roofs make the limits plainer. A repair to a Cotswold stone slate roof or a Victorian slate roof sits among covering that may be a century old, and the materials around it can be fragile. Replacing one slate can disturb its neighbours. A guarantee on the repair can honestly cover the slates and flashing we fit, but it cannot extend to the old slates that crack when they are lifted.
On a listed building, works that affect its special character need listed building consent, so a repair that goes beyond like-for-like needs checking first. Our page on listed roof repairs sets out how that works. Whoever does the work should explain what the guarantee reaches on a roof like yours.
Questions to ask before you accept a repair guarantee
These are worth putting to any roofer, including us.
- What exactly does the guarantee cover, and what does it leave out?
- How many years does it run, and does that apply to labour and materials?
- Is it a promise from the business, or backed by something else?
- What do I do if the repair fails, and who do I contact?
- Does it still stand if I have the gutters cleared or someone else goes on the roof?
If the answer to the third is vague, treat it with care. A written, plain-English guarantee from a contractor who explains its limits is worth more than a long certificate that no one can act on.
If a repair we have done is not holding, our page on a roof that is still leaking after repair explains how to use it. The roof repairs hub lists the other repair questions we answer, and a conversation about your own roof starts on 01793 626096 or through the enquiry form.