Do you have to empty the loft for a new roof?

An old roof has been quietly collecting debris since the day it was built. Dust blown in through the eaves, flakes of mortar, bits of old nail, soot, droppings, cobwebs and scraps of torn felt all lodge on the timbers and in the gaps between tile and rafter. Lift a tile or slate, and much of it moves.

Roofs built before modern underlays often have no continuous lining at all, or only an old bitumen felt that is split and brittle. When the covering comes off, there is nothing to catch the debris, so it drops straight into the roof space and onto the ceiling insulation. Even where there is a felt, taking it away releases dust and sharp offcuts. Nailing the battens off creates a further shower.

A careful team sheets over the work and clears as it goes, but no one can promise a loft stays spotless during a full strip. The sensible answer is to plan for dust and keep your belongings out of its path. Our guide to removing old roofing felt explains what comes off and why.

Think about what would be upsetting or costly to clean, and take that out of the loft before the scaffold goes up. In practice, that means:

• Clothes, bedding and soft furnishings, which hold dust and are hard to wash completely.
• Papers, photographs, books and documents.
• Electronics, including old computers, stereos and games consoles.
• Christmas decorations, toys and keepsakes in cardboard boxes, since cardboard soaks up dust and any damp.
• Anything fragile, such as glass, ceramics or mirrors, which can be broken by falling debris or by people moving about.

Allow a few days to do this properly, because many lofts hold more than owners remember. Rather than carry everything downstairs at once, stage it in a spare room, the garage or a storage unit. If you cannot move it all, tell us when we survey so we can plan the order of work around it.

Old stored items can also hide damage. Boxes stood against a rafter or under a leaking valley are often the first place a damp stain shows, so a clear loft helps the survey as well as the strip, because we can see the timbers, the underside of the covering and any daylight at the edges.

Some items are fine to leave. Heavy furniture, sealed plastic crates, suitcases, empty frames and tools that can be wiped down are the usual candidates. Group them in the middle of the floor, away from the eaves and the rafters, where the work happens.

Cover what stays with heavy-duty dust sheets or polythene, taped down at the edges, so grit has no way in. Cover a cold water tank too, and make sure its lid fits. If wiring, pipework or a boiler flue runs through the space, leave it clear so that it can be reached and is not knocked.

Loft boards laid over the joists may need lifting where they touch the roof structure, and insulation between the joists can be flattened or soiled. Both are matters we deal with as part of the job, and we will say before work starts whether the insulation can be reused or should be replaced, something you can read more about in our page on loft insulation when you re-roof.

Do not move anything you suspect is asbestos. HSE's guidance is to assume there is asbestos somewhere in a property that dates from before 2000 or was refurbished by then. Old boards, sheets or lagging are therefore a job for a specialist, and you should leave them alone.

The rooms under the roof need attention as well. Dust works through light fittings, loft hatches and small gaps in ceilings, and a fine layer can settle on beds and furniture. Close the loft hatch, seal its edges with tape if you can, and cover furniture on the top floor with dust sheets. Pull beds away from the walls.

It is wise to switch off or unplug ceiling-mounted items that are not needed, and to stay out of any room with a ceiling directly under the main work area. Ask about the working hours, too, because there will be noise and vibration, and people who work from home may prefer to arrange a quieter spot.

Bungalows and houses with roof rooms behave differently, and you can read about those on our page about re-roofing a bungalow. If the loft is a living space, the plan will need extra care, and we cover it at the survey.

Good preparation saves arguments later. At the survey, tell us what is in the loft, whether there are boxes you cannot move and how easy it is to reach the hatch. We note it on the day and take it into account when we plan the sequence.

Our price reaches you on paper once the survey is done, illustrated with pictures of the rafters and covering we found, and a decade-long guarantee on our workmanship is written down too. When the last tile is fixed, the scaffold, offcuts and old covering are carted off, leaving you a tidy house and a sound roof. If any corner of the loft needs vacuuming afterwards, we are happy to tell you the best way to go about it, including which areas of insulation to leave undisturbed and where it is safe to put your feet.

To see how long the job takes, read how long a re-roof takes, and for the overall cost picture see what a new roof costs. For our full service, see roof replacement.