Welsh slate repairs, re-nailing and full re-roofing across Cheltenham period properties. Reclaimed slate sourced for conservation areas and listed buildings. Free surveys, no call-out fee.
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📞 Call Now: 0124 235 2251Slate roofing in Cheltenham means natural Welsh slate repair, matching and re-roofing on the town's Regency and Victorian stock. Because good slate outlives its nails, a strip-and-relay often reuses 70–85% of your original slate from around £5,000, versus £10,000+ for a full re-slate. Free survey, 10-year guarantee. Call 0124 235 2251.
Cheltenham's Regency and Victorian housing was originally roofed in Welsh slate. Most of it is still structurally sound — the failure is almost always in the iron fixing nails, not the slate itself. We know this stock and know the right solution for each property.
Individual slipped, cracked or delaminated slates replaced with matched material. Reclaimed Welsh slate sourced for conservation area properties. From £150 per repair.
Get a Quote →Where slates are sound but iron nails have corroded, re-nailing with copper or stainless fixings extends the roof life by 30–50 years at a fraction of replacement cost.
Get a Quote →Complete re-roof in natural Welsh slate. Matching slate sourced to existing profile. Conservation area and listed building experience throughout Cheltenham.
Get a Quote →Reclaimed Welsh slate sourced by quarry origin for listed Cheltenham properties. Test patches carried out before full quantity ordered.
Enquire →Free survey of your Welsh slate roof — we assess nail condition, delamination rates and valley condition. Written report confirms repair, re-nail or re-roof.
Free Survey →Storm-displaced Welsh slates need same-day attention. We carry matched slate profiles for common Cheltenham types. Emergency response 24/7, no call-out fee.
Call Now →Cheltenham's Regency and Victorian roofs are overwhelmingly natural Welsh slate, and slate behaves differently from tile. The key question is almost always the fixings, not the slate — because good slate outlives the nails holding it by decades.
When it is not the answer: If the slate itself is sound Welsh slate and only the iron nails have failed, you don't need new slate — a strip-and-relay refixes your original slate with new copper or stainless nails, typically returning 70–85% of it to the roof. Read the full guide.
Cheltenham's Regency town centre — Montpellier, Lansdown, Pittville — was roofed predominantly in Penrhyn Blue Welsh slate. The Victorian terraces of St Paul's, Fairview and the inner suburbs followed with Ffestiniog and Delabole slate. Much of this original slate, now 100–150 years old, remains structurally sound.
The problem is almost always the iron fixing nails. Victorian roofers used cut iron nails which have corroded, causing slates to slide. Re-nailing with copper or stainless steel fixings — at roughly £400–800 per slope — restores the roof to full function and extends slate life by three to five decades. We always assess whether the slate warrants retaining before recommending replacement.
In Cheltenham's six conservation areas, replacing Welsh slate with a different material on a visible elevation may require conservation area consent. We assess compliance at every survey and will never recommend a material substitution that creates a planning risk.
We establish whether the slate is sound Welsh slate with failed fixings (relayable) or genuinely spent, and whether it's a repair, a strip-and-relay or a full re-slate you need.
A fixed price specifying the slate — matched new Welsh, reclaimed, or your own relaid — with new copper or stainless fixings and renewed leadwork.
Slate re-roofing and relaying need scaffold to the working elevation; we arrange it, any permit, and a firm start date.
We refix or replace slates with correctly-sized copper or stainless nails to BS 5534, renew the underlay and battens on a relay, and re-form valleys and flashings in matched lead.
Full clearance, a walk-round of the finished slate roof, and the written guarantee with your materials warranties.
| Job | Typical duration |
|---|---|
| Replace slipped/broken slates | 1–3 hours |
| Repair a section of slate | Half to 1 day |
| Strip-and-relay existing slate | 1–2 weeks |
| Full Welsh slate re-roof | 2–3 weeks |
Slate work is dried-in with membrane each day on larger jobs; sustained wet weather can extend a relay but never leaves the roof exposed overnight.
Individual slate replacement can be done from a roof ladder, but any section repair, relay or re-slate needs scaffold for safe access and to protect the brittle slate. Scaffold is specified for: section repairs, strip-and-relays and full re-slates — anything beyond swapping a few slates - always itemised in your written quote, never a hidden extra, and we arrange it.
Cheltenham's Regency terraces in Montpellier and Lansdown have railings, lightwells and shared party walls that limit rear access, so pavement scaffold and skip space usually need a permit. Pavement scaffold and skip permits go through Cheltenham Borough Council; allow a few working days on streets like Montpellier Street, the Suffolks, the terraces off St Paul's Road where space is tight.
| Job | Typical range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Replace slipped/broken slates | £150–£350 | Per visit, matched slate |
| Section slate repair | £400–£1,000 | Incl. access |
| Strip-and-relay existing slate | £5,000–£10,000 | Reuses your Welsh slate |
| Reclaimed Welsh slate re-roof | £8,000–£15,000 | Close period match |
| New Welsh slate re-roof | £10,000–£18,000+ | Full natural slate, new lead |
Worked example: A strip-and-relay of a Lansdown terrace's front slope, refixing the sound Welsh slate on copper nails with new underlay, battens and lead: around £6,400.
Slate repairs take no deposit under £500. Relays and re-slates are on staged payments — nothing before materials and scaffold are on site.
Slate work carries a written 10-year workmanship guarantee; a properly relaid Welsh slate roof on new copper or stainless fixings will typically give another 80–100 years of service.
If a fault appears in covered work, we come back and put it right. No quibbling, no re-charge.
A slate repair is quiet ladder work; a relay or re-slate means scaffold and a skip for a week or two, with strip-off the noisiest part — we keep the site protected and tidy. You do not need to stay home for external work - we just need power and access agreed in advance.
Slate can be laid in most conditions, but we protect exposed battens and underlay from driving rain during a relay and dry each section in daily. Cheltenham's sheltered vale position brings damp Cotswold-edge autumns and heavy leaf fall from the town's many mature trees, which keeps north-facing slopes slow to dry.
"Re-nailing on our Victorian terrace in Fairview. They inspected the slates properly — slate in excellent condition, just corroded nails. Re-nailed with copper fixings, job done at a fraction of replacement cost."
"Reclaimed Penrhyn Blue sourced for our listed Lansdown property. Test patch first, only ordered full quantity when we approved the match. Exactly right for a listed building."
"Emergency slate repair after a storm. Called at 8am, on site by 11am. They carried matched slate on the van. Six slates replaced permanently same day."
A full Welsh slate re-roof on a Cheltenham Victorian terrace typically costs £7,000–14,000. Individual slate repairs cost £150–500. Re-nailing a single slope costs £400–800. All quotes are free and written.
Yes. We maintain relationships with reclaimed slate merchants who categorise by quarry origin, colour and texture. Penrhyn Blue, Ffestiniog Dark Grey and Delabole Cornish slate are the most common types on Cheltenham Regency and Victorian stock. We take a sample from your roof before ordering.
Original Victorian Welsh slate is typically 100–150 years old and often structurally sound — it is the iron fixing nails that fail, not the slate. New Welsh slate correctly installed should last 80–100 years, significantly longer than concrete tile in Cheltenham's climate.
Nail sickness is corrosion of the iron fixing nails used on Victorian Welsh slate roofs. The nails corrode and slates slide down. The slates themselves are usually sound — re-nailing with copper or stainless steel fixings typically extends their life by 30–50 years at a fraction of full replacement cost.
Replacing like-for-like Welsh slate generally does not require consent. Changing to a different material on a conservation area property visible from a public highway may require consent. Listed buildings always require listed building consent. We advise at the free survey.
Natural Welsh slate is quarried stone lasting 80–100 years — the only acceptable material on listed buildings and most conservation area properties in Cheltenham. Fibre cement slate lasts 30–40 years and may be acceptable on non-conservation area properties. We always advise which is appropriate for your property.
Yes. We source reclaimed Welsh slate by quarry origin, colour and thickness for listed building matching requirements. We carry out a test patch before ordering the full quantity to confirm the match is acceptable.
We assess whether your Welsh slate roof needs repair, re-nailing or replacement. Written report, honest advice, no obligation.
0124 235 2251Slate is the defining historic roof covering of Cheltenham's Regency and Victorian architecture, and matching it is skilled sourcing work. The town's period terraces — Montpellier, Lansdown, the Suffolks, Pittville and the streets around the Promenade — were roofed predominantly in natural Welsh slate, laid at steep pitches. Welsh slate varies in colour, size and thickness by quarry region, so replacing slipped or delaminated slates on a listed or conservation-area roof means matching the original as closely as possible, often in reclaimed slate.
The most common slate problem we're called to in Cheltenham is nail fatigue and delamination on roofs that are 150 years old or more. The slate itself is frequently still sound — Welsh slate can last well over a century — but the iron nails fixing it corrode and fail, and individual slates then slip. On these roofs we assess whether targeted re-fixing and matched replacement will see the roof through, or whether the fixings are so far gone that a full re-slate in reclaimed or new matched Welsh slate is the better investment.
For conservation-area and listed properties, the material match is not just aesthetic but often a planning requirement, and getting it wrong can mean redoing the work. We source reclaimed Welsh slate to satisfy Cheltenham Borough Council's conservation team, use copper or stainless fixings that outlast the old iron nails, and lay to the original coursing so the repaired roof reads as continuous with the historic streetscape.
Historic England and the SPAB advise that historic slate roofs be repaired like-for-like in natural slate, conserving sound original slates and matching replacements by source and size — on Cheltenham's listed and conservation-area properties this is frequently a planning requirement, not just best practice.