Most people who have a roof replaced stay in the house. Few have anywhere else to go, and a re-roof does not usually make the house unlivable. It does change the days, though. There is a crew on the scaffold from early morning, there is hammering overhead, and the loft, which has been quiet for years, becomes a place where dust drifts and light shows through gaps. This guide describes what daily life is like with a roof being replaced above you, and what you can do beforehand to make it easier. It covers the noise, the dust, the weather protection, the security of the house with scaffold up, and the practical things that tend to catch households out, such as pets, children, home working and the school run. Nothing here is alarming. The aim is to let you plan around the work rather than meet it by surprise.
The first morning and what a working day looks like
The crew arrives early, and the first sounds are boards being laid and ladders being positioned. Scaffold is usually already up by then, so the roofers begin stripping at once. In the first stage you will hear the old covering coming off in sections: slates or tiles being lifted, stacked and passed down a chute or carried to a skip. That is the noisiest part of the job, and it tends to be loudest in the hours after the work begins.
Once the slope is stripped, the sound changes. Battens go on, and the repeated tap of a nail gun or a hammer takes over. Laying the covering is quieter than taking the old one off, but it is steady and it goes on all day. By the time the ridge is being fixed, most of the heavy work is behind you.
The days follow a rhythm. The team works the roof in sections so that no more is stripped than can be covered before the crew leaves. Breaks, deliveries and each new stage change the sound as the hours pass. Our page on the roof replacement process sets out the stages in order, which helps if you want to know what will be happening on a given day.
It also helps to know that the noise travels differently depending on the house. In a terrace, the party walls carry the sound next door, and the neighbours will hear it as well. In a detached house, the top floor takes the brunt of it, and the ground floor is much quieter.
Noise, and how to live with it
You cannot make a re-roof quiet, but you can arrange the day around it. If someone works from home, plan for a different location during the stripping stage, and for headphones at other times. A quiet room at the opposite end of the house is better than the best ear defenders in a room under the slope. If you have a baby or an older relative who rests in the day, consider whether they can be elsewhere for the first couple of days.
Pets react to noise in different ways. A dog may bark at every footstep on the scaffold, and a cat can bolt through any open door. Think about boarding or day care for a nervous animal during the loudest part of the work, and check that the house has no gaps that a frightened pet could slip through. Small animals in cages should be moved to the quietest room.
Children are often fascinated by the scaffold and the crew, and it is worth setting a rule early that the roofers are working and that nobody goes outside the safe area. The back garden, where the skip and the material stacks sit, is not a place to play while the work continues.
Tell the neighbours before the work begins, and give them an idea of the start date and a rough length. The contact details of the person in charge on site are better shared with the people next door than left for them to find. It makes a small noise complaint into a short conversation.
Remember that the sound has an end. Once the covering is on and the flashings are being dressed, the hammering eases, and the last days are mostly quiet detail work.
Dust, debris and the loft
The loft is where the work shows most. While the old covering is off, dust and grit fall through gaps in the ceiling boards and around any hatch that does not close tightly. Old roofs hold a surprising quantity of debris: dried mortar from the verges, broken pieces of old felt, insects, and in some houses a century of settled dust. When it is disturbed, some of it comes down.
The most useful thing you can do is empty the loft before the work starts. Boxes, suitcases and old furniture stored up there are going to get dusty, and they also get in the way of the roofers when they need to see the rafters. Our page on clearing the loft before the work explains what to move and where to put it. If there is a water tank, boiler flue or wiring in the space, tell the crew where it is.
Inside the rooms below, cover the furniture directly under the roof with dust sheets, and take anything breakable off shelves and walls on the top floor. Close the doors on the rooms that are not in use, and keep the loft hatch shut as far as possible. A rolled towel along the bottom of a bedroom door stops the worst of it. It is also kind to leave windows closed on the scaffolded side, because the roofers kick up dust of their own on the outside.
Where the house has a chimney, the flue may hold soot, and work to the stack can bring some of it down. Mention any open fire so that it is not lit during the work, and sheet over the hearth. For more about the mess generally and what happens to it, our page on mess during a re-roof covers cleaning up as well.
Keeping the weather out while the roof is open
The thing most owners worry about is rain. It is a fair concern, since a roof that has been stripped is open to whatever the sky does. The way a re-roof is organised answers it. The roof is worked in sections, with the underlay and a temporary cover going on over the sections that are open. The aim is that the part which has been stripped is made weathertight before the crew leaves each evening, so that rain overnight meets a covered roof and not an open one.
We keep an eye on the forecast and plan the stripping to fit. A settled spell is the right time to open a large area, and a day with a heavy front on the way is not. If the weather turns when the roof is part stripped, the team covers what is open before it stops. Our page on rain during a re-roof goes through what the crew does, and what you can do inside.
It is still sensible to prepare. Put buckets and old towels in the loft in case a gap has been missed, and have a torch to hand. If water does come in, tell the foreman at once, since a quick fix at the time is far better than damp discovered later. Do not go on the roof yourself, and do not let children look out of the loft hatch.
Choosing the time of year helps too. Our page on the best time to replace a roof sets out the trade-offs between the seasons.
Bear in mind that weather also affects the working day itself. Wind and wet can make the scaffold unsafe or the materials impossible to lay, and on those days work may stop, and the programme extends.
Security, access and privacy
Once the frame is up, every window on that elevation can be reached from it, and people understandably worry about that. The most direct measure is to lock all windows on the scaffolded side, and to keep them locked, including in rooms you are not using. Close and lock loft hatches too, as the crew will be coming and going through the roof and not through the house. Anything valuable or sensitive should be moved away from the window side of the room.
The people on site will need some access. Decide in advance whether the crew will use your toilet or whether a portable one is better, and where the water supply is for mixing and cleaning. Keep to a small number of rooms they are allowed to enter. The more defined the arrangement is, the easier it is for everyone, and the less likely that anything gets mislaid or moved.
Privacy is a smaller concern but a real one. The scaffold will put a person on a level with your bedroom or bathroom window, and blinds or net curtains should be closed when you are changing. Roof windows from the loft will be uncovered while the roof is open, so any loft room in use needs a screen.
Check with your home insurer whether they need to be told that work is under way. Most policies have conditions about alterations or unoccupied periods, and it is better to ask than assume. We cannot speak for any insurer, and we do not give advice about policy terms.
The frame itself is explained in our scaffolding guide, including how it is protected.
Getting the house ready, step by step
A short list covers most of it, and the bigger picture sits on our roof replacement page. Do these in the week before the work starts, and the first morning is far easier.
- Clear the loft, or at least the area around the hatch and any space the roofers need to reach.
- Take pictures and mirrors off the walls on the top floor and any external walls, and move fragile items off shelves.
- Cover furniture, beds and carpets under the roof slope with dust sheets, and close the doors of unused rooms.
- Clear the drive, front and back gardens, move cars, and put away pots, furniture and children's toys.
- Switch off, and where possible unplug, anything in the loft that you can reach, and tell the crew about the water tank, cables and any alarm sensors.
- Arrange for pets and for anyone who needs quiet during the day.
- Talk to the neighbours, share the contact name for site, and agree anything that crosses a boundary.
If you plan to add solar panels, now is the time to say so, since the fixing points are far easier to put in while the roof is open. Our page on solar panels with a new roof explains how the two jobs fit together.
Finally, think about the paperwork. A written quote that lists every item, the scaffold, the waste removal and what happens at the end of the job means you know what to expect. Our guide to reading re-roof quotes side by side shows how to check it. Our survey costs nothing and leaves you with pictures of the roof as it stood before the crew arrived, and the finished workmanship carries a written guarantee that runs for ten years.