Anyone know about roof repairs/replacement?

[allnewname]

Can anyone advise about my roof. House was built in 1979, we’ve had it a year. We’ve already spent a few hundred on repairs that came up in the survey and an unrelated repair after a leak (related to squally rain). Another leak started last night, through the loft and into a bedroom, again with the windy rainstorm we had – not a massive leak but presumably needs a repair. Do we keep patching it or bite the bullet and replace? The tiles are really unusual ones which seem to get hard to find, so if there is a big repair to do, this would be an issue.
A related issue is that we were just about to have solar panels put on this elevation. On one hand, I don’t want to put panels up, then they’re in the way next time a leak appears. On the other, the panels might actually protect the roof from further problems, on this elevation at least.
How long should a roof last? Does the last year of repair costs suggest that it is starting to fail and we’d better to cut our losses?
If anyone knows about roofs, I’d be grateful – we have a quote for replacement (ouch!) but getting objective advice is difficult.
Thank you so much.

First unless you are in a conservation area you dont necessarily have to use the same tiles. What do the houses around have? If you want to change speak to the local planning department. It's more likely to be regarded as not needing planning permission if you stick to a similar colour. If the tiles are hard to find and expensive may be worth changing even if they say you need planning permission.

Second a tiled roof should last 50-100 years. However once you start paying hundreds for repairs I'd say best to bite the bullet and get on with it, especially if you want to put solar panels up there. Multiple leaks suggests that the roofing underlay is failing and you cant easily fix that without taking it off and replacing.

Get more than one quote.

Probably no help but I lived in a 100 year old house with the original slate tiles. A common problem with old roofs is nail fatigue. Over the years I probably paid out close to £2000 having the odd repair done (every time there was a gust of wind and a bit of rain). I was told by one roofer that the tiles themselves would last another 100 yrs but the roof would need to stripped and whilst we could re-use the tiles, we'd still need more to take account of breakages etc.

I think you definitely need to get more than one quote and probably a proper unbiased roof report.

Can you get some drone shots of it and see for yourself?

Thank you everyone. I’m not sure that a diy drone job would help as the tiles themselves aren’t really the problem. More the mortar etc. can see better from the loft really. Will look into a roof report. Thank you

We had to replace the rear if ours due to nail sickness. The big giveaway is if you look along the roof, the slates (I assume is same for tiles) don't should all sit together nicely. It's easier to see than looking at them straight on. Use binoculars or zoom in with your phone.

Even if the tiles are slipping in high winds there should not be leaks, that's why you have a waterproof membrane under the tiles. It runs down into your guttering and should direct water into the gutter. The tiles usually interlock and/or overlap so cover the membrane so sunlight doesnt degrade it as fast. Once you have leaks that membrane is faulty. Yes the tiles could probably come off and be reused, it's normal to allow 5-10% for breakages. However they are probably original and if hard to source now that it is only going to get worse.

If you have a lot of seaagulls or crows or magpies around they sometimes stab through the membranes building nests. But multiple leaks = faulty membrane. The labour cost is a big part of the job, tiles are typically £2 each or less. You probably will also need battens replacing, this is the wood the tiles rest on.

There are various different types of underlay - here is one example https://www.screwfix.com/p/glidevale-protect-vp300-pitched-roofing-underlay-grey-20m-x-1m/642CF?tc=KA1&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=19822797737&gbraid=0AAAAAD8IdPx4g_JWOHyGTsvrgD-92yYtL&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI3M-N2aifkwMV3JVQBh065gqUEAQYBiABEgJ5zPD_BwE

Nails are used on slate roofs and may break before the slates, there shouldnt be tiles on a tiled roof. Video here

If there’s any chance of renewing the roof on off on solar and get it done at the same time. You can have panels inset which looks much better than on top of roof covering, saves on the cost of tiles/slates under the panels as panels are directly fixed to roof battens and you don’t need caging around to stop birds getting under the panels.

Thanks will read all these properly, very helpful.