Always assess your roof's condition before installing solar panels — if the roof needs work within 10 years, re-roof first to avoid £500-£1,500 in panel removal and reinstatement later. A pre-solar roof survey documents the roof's baseline condition and prevents disputes over leak attribution after installation.
Solar panel installations across Kent have accelerated sharply. What many homeowners discover too late is how panels interact with roofing warranties — and what happens when panels go onto a roof that was already in poor condition.
Solar panels are attached via a rail system bolted through the tile covering into the roof structure. Each fixing point penetrates the tile and underlay. A correctly installed system on a sound roof, properly flashed, should not leak. An incorrectly installed system, or a system on an already-failing roof, creates ingress points that are difficult to diagnose and even harder to attribute to a single responsible party.
Pre-solar roof survey from £120. Written report confirming suitability for panel installation.
Book Roof SurveyIf your roof has a workmanship guarantee and solar panels are installed by a third party, the roofing contractor's warranty is typically voided for any leaks at or near the panel penetration points. The solar installer provides their own warranty on their installation. When a leak occurs, distinguishing between the two is rarely straightforward.
Get a professional roof condition survey before committing to solar installation. The survey costs £120–£200. If it identifies maintenance requirements, address them before the panels go on. If the roof needs re-roofing within 5–10 years, do it before the panels — removing and reinstalling panels for a re-roof adds £500–£1,500 to the cost.
Re-roof first, then install solar. The roofer guarantees the new roof. The solar installer works on a newly warranted surface. Both warranties are clear in scope. Some solar installers recommend the opposite sequence for commercial reasons. This is not sound advice from a building maintenance perspective.
Pre-solar roof survey. Written report confirming suitability. From £120.
Book Roof SurveyEvery solar panels roof warranty job starts with a free inspection and written quote before any work begins. We do not start work until you have confirmed the written quote. Our standard rates apply across Ashford and the surrounding Kent area.
We cover all Ashford postcodes and the surrounding towns: Folkestone, Canterbury, Maidstone, Tenterden, Hythe and the villages across the Weald. Emergency cover is available 24 hours a day on 01233 877 146.
No call-out fee across our full service area. Written quote before work starts. For solar panels roof warranty work the quote is provided on the same visit as the inspection in most cases. You pay only for work carried out.
All re-roofing work and major repairs carry our written 10-year workmanship guarantee. Lead flashing work is guaranteed for 10 years. Minor tile repairs carry a 2-year guarantee. The guarantee is provided in writing at completion and transfers to a new owner if the property is sold.
We are registered with the National Federation of Roofing Contractors. Verify our registration at nfrc.co.uk. We carry 5m public liability insurance on every solar panels roof warranty job. Insurance certificate available on request before work starts.
Ashford's housing stock spans five decades of construction: Victorian and Edwardian terraces in Newtown and the older town streets, 1930s semis in Kennington and Willesborough, post-war and 1960s estates at Bockhanger, Stanhope and Park Farm, and more recent development across the southern suburbs.
Each era presents different characteristics. Victorian clay tile on period properties requires matching reclaimed material and lime mortar at any repointing work. 1960s concrete interlocking tile on the estates is now 50-65 years old with corroded nail fixings on most unmodified properties. Understanding which housing era a property belongs to is the starting point for any assessment.
These estates are Ashford's highest-volume source of roofing work. The 1960s-70s concrete interlocking tile stock is now 50-65 years old. Nail sickness is present on the majority of unmodified properties. If you live in one of these areas and have not had roofing work in the last 15 years, a free assessment is worthwhile.
The Victorian terraces in Ashford's Newtown area and the older streets around the town centre require period-appropriate specification: reclaimed or reproduction clay tile, lime mortar at chimney repointing, and conservation-aware approach to any work on visible elevations.
Free survey and advice across Ashford and Kent. Call 01233 877 146.
Call 01233 877 146If your roof needs work within the next 10 years, the order of operations is straightforward: address the roof first, then install the solar panels. Removing and reinstalling solar panels for access to re-roof costs £500-1,500 in additional labour. Installing solar on a roof that will need re-roofing within the panel lifetime (25-30 years) creates a cost you know you will incur.
The financial argument against this sequence — that deferring solar installation defers the generation income — does not hold up at the margin. A roof survey costs £120-200. If the survey confirms the roof is in sound condition with no work required in the next 10 years, the survey cost was justified and the solar installation proceeds with documented assurance. If the survey identifies work required, completing that work first is the correct sequence regardless of the income deferral.
Reputable solar installers carry out a roof condition assessment before installation. They check structural adequacy and obvious tile condition. They do not carry out specialist roofing surveys. Perished underlay, early-stage nail sickness, and deteriorated lead flashings not yet leaking are typically not identified in a solar pre-installation check. A specialist roof survey before panel installation fills this gap.
Adding solar panels is a material alteration to the building that must be notified to your buildings insurer. Most policies require notification of structural alterations. Panels that are not notified may not be covered for storm damage, hail or impact. The insurer may also have specific conditions about MCS certification of the installer. Confirm your insurer's requirements before installation.
For context on how roofing costs compare across the range of work we carry out, here are realistic price ranges for the most common jobs across the Ashford area. All prices include labour and materials. VAT is not applicable on most domestic residential roofing work.
| Job Type | Typical Cost |
|---|---|
| Single tile replacement | £150 – £300 |
| Ridge repointing (per 4m) | £200 – £400 |
| Lead chimney flashing replacement | £500 – £1,100 |
| Full re-roof (3-bed semi, concrete tile) | £4,800 – £7,500 |
| Flat roof replacement (GRP, up to 20m2) | £900 – £1,800 |
| Full gutter clear (semi-detached) | £80 – £160 |
| Fascia and soffit replacement (semi) | £800 – £1,800 |
| Roof condition survey | £120 – £200 |
Free written quotes on all work. No call-out fee. Call 01233 877 146 to book.
We are a family-run roofing business based in Ashford, covering the town and the surrounding Kent area. We have been working on roofs in this area since 2003. Every job is carried out by our own employed team — we do not subcontract labour. The people who quote are the people who work.
We are registered with the National Federation of Roofing Contractors (NFRC). Our registration can be verified at nfrc.co.uk. We carry £5m public liability insurance on every job. Our insurance certificate is available on request before any work starts. All re-roofing work carries a written 10-year workmanship guarantee. Lead flashing work is guaranteed for 10 years. The guarantee is transferable to a new owner if the property is sold.
We cover Ashford and a broad area of the surrounding Kent countryside: Folkestone, Hythe, Canterbury, Maidstone, Tenterden, and the villages across the Weald and Romney Marsh. Emergency cover is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Call 01233 877 146 for any roofing emergency. For non-urgent work, we aim to survey within 5-7 working days and have the quote in writing within 48 hours of the survey.
We do not charge for call-outs or surveys. Every job gets a written quote before a single tile is moved. The quoted price is the price on the invoice unless we identify and agree additional scope with you during the work. For re-roofing projects where deck condition is unknown before stripping, we include a clear provisional allowance for batten replacement rather than presenting you with a surprise on invoice.
These are the questions we are asked most frequently when homeowners call us for the first time. If your question is not here, call 01233 877 146 and we will answer it directly.
Yes. All call-outs and surveys are free of charge across Ashford and the surrounding Kent area. The written quote we provide after the survey is also free and carries no obligation. We do not charge for surveys even on properties where we ultimately recommend no immediate work.
For emergency calls where water is actively entering the building: same day where call volume permits. For the most urgent calls — active ingress, safety hazard from displaced tiles — we aim to attend within 2 hours. Out-of-hours emergency cover is available 24/7 on 01233 877 146. For non-urgent work we survey within 5-7 working days.
Written workmanship guarantee on all work. 10 years for full re-roofing and lead flashing work. 5 years for ridge repointing. 2 years for minor tile repairs. The guarantee is provided in writing at completion. It transfers to a new owner if the property is sold. We are NFRC registered and carry £5m public liability insurance.
For most standard concrete interlocking profiles we carry matching tiles on the van. For conservation area repairs requiring reclaimed clay tile or matched Welsh slate, we source from Kent and Sussex demolition salvage and confirm match quality before committing. We show samples on any repair where visual matching is important before starting work.
We cover Ashford and all of the surrounding Kent area: Folkestone, Hythe, Canterbury, Maidstone, Tenterden, and the villages across the Weald. If you are outside Ashford town, call us and we will confirm whether we cover your postcode. Most Kent postcodes within 25 miles of Ashford are in our standard service area.
Last reviewed: July 2026
If your roof needs work within 10 years, yes. Removing and reinstalling panels for a re-roof costs £500-£1,500, so addressing the roof first avoids that future cost.
Reputable installers carry out a basic assessment, but they are not specialist roofers. Perished underlay and early nail sickness are often missed without a specialist survey.
Yes. Solar panels are a material alteration that must be notified to your buildings insurer. Unnotified panels may not be covered for storm or impact damage.
Attribution becomes disputed between roofer and installer. A pre-installation roof survey documenting the baseline condition makes resolving a later leak much simpler.