The short answer
Sometimes. Sound slate, handmade clay or stone slate often comes off in fit condition to relay, with the broken ones swapped for matches. Most concrete tiles make poor candidates, since the surface wears and they are heavy and brittle to handle. Reuse only pays when the covering has years left in it and the battens, underlay and fixings beneath are all renewed.
What decides whether a tile can go back on
A covering is reusable when three things are true. The units must be whole and flat, free of cracks, laminating layers and deep surface decay. They must be of a type that can still be matched, because a roof relaid with a third new tiles in a different colour looks patched. And they must have years of life remaining, otherwise you pay for scaffold and labour twice within a decade.
That last point drives most decisions. Scaffolding and labour make up much of the cost of any roof job, while the covering itself is only part of the bill. If you relay tired tiles on new battens, you spend the larger share of the money and keep the weakest part. At the survey we photograph a few tiles in close detail, so you can judge their condition from the pictures rather than taking our word. Our roof replacement page sets out how a full job runs when reuse is not an option.
Natural slate: the best candidate
Slate is the covering most worth saving. MyBuilder's slate guide, updated 21 August 2026, says a well-laid slate roof can last 80 to 100 years or more, and that Welsh slate regularly passes the century mark. A slate that has done fifty years is rarely finished. What fails is usually the fixing: iron nails rust through, the slate slips, and the roof leaks while the slate itself stays perfectly good.
This is called nail sickness, and the cure is to strip the roof, discard the damaged slates, and relay the good ones on new battens with fresh underlay and corrosion-resistant fixings. MyBuilder prices reclaimed slate roofing at £110 to £150 per m², against £100 to £180 per m² for slate overall, so the saving on a good roof is real but not dramatic. Expect to buy some matching slates to make up the numbers.
Clay tiles and stone slate
Handmade clay peg tiles from older houses can last far longer than the sixty years often quoted. Peg-tiled roofs of several centuries still exist, as a 2008 Building Conservation Directory article records, so age alone is no verdict. A sound clay tile is an asset, particularly where a new one will not match the colour, camber and texture of the originals. Pantiles and plain tiles are sorted at ground level, and any that have shattered in frost are rejected. Hairline cracks show up when a tile is tapped: a clear ring points to a sound tile, a dull thud to a cracked one.
Cotswold stone slate is the extreme case. Cotswold District Council's 2000 technical guidance quotes an English Heritage policy that favours newly cut stone slates over second-hand stock, and says any reclaimed slates should stay with the building they came off. Experience recorded there is that about half of a stone roof's slates have often perished by the time it is stripped. For a listed or protected roof, speak to the conservation team at the council first.
Concrete tiles are usually a different story
Concrete tiles are common on post-war and modern Swindon estates. Marley says they are expected to last around 60 years, though that is not a guarantee, and MyBuilder says they typically need replacing after 30 to 50 years. Over time the surface layer erodes, the colour fades and moss gets a grip. They are also heavy and, once lifted, break easily at the nail holes.
Reuse can still work on a fairly young roof where the underlay has failed, since the tiles are in good shape. In that case, we strip carefully, count the breakages and tell you how many replacements are needed. If the profile is out of production, a close match may be hard to find, which is when a whole new covering is the cleaner answer. See our page on what a new roof costs for national guide figures.
What has to be renewed underneath
Relaying only works if everything beneath the covering is sound. Battens that have been soaked for decades are replaced. Underlay that is torn, perished or missing is replaced with a modern membrane. Rotten boards, wall plates and rafter ends are repaired first, which is where our guidance on replacing roof timbers picks up.
Since BS 5534:2014 the ridge and hips are not left to mortar by itself; a mechanical fixing goes in as well. Verges and eaves are checked against current practice. Because insulation and ventilation can be touched by the work, see loft insulation during a re-roof. Old tiles that were never nailed properly are fixed to today's standard when they go back, so a relaid roof is not weaker than a new one.
What happens to tiles you do not reuse
Tiles that fail the inspection are sorted. Sound ones that do not suit your roof can sometimes be sold to a reclamation yard, particularly slate and handmade clay. The rest are crushed for hardcore or sent to a transfer station, as described on our page about roof replacement waste. Where a few good tiles remain, they can also be kept back as spares for future repairs, which is useful on a roof whose profile is no longer made.
Our written quote, sent once we have seen the roof, says whether we advise relaying or a new covering, and why. We do not strip a sound slate roof for the sake of a bigger job. A decade-long written guarantee covers our workmanship, and the rubbish is gone before we are. Phone 01793 626096 to arrange a survey.