Concrete, clay, Kent peg and slate — how to tell which covering you have, what each is good at, and why matching matters on repairs.
Knowing what your roof is covered in is genuinely useful — it tells you how long it should last, what a fair repair looks like, and whether the tiles on the scaffolding are the right ones.
Concrete Interlocking Tiles
The most common covering in Medway. They interlock so they don't need mortar at the sides, which makes them relatively quick to lay and replace. Look for a uniform, grainy surface and a repeating pattern of shapes. Lifespan 40–60 years, though the surface coating wears and the granules end up in your gutters toward the end of that.
Clay Tiles
Warmer in colour and less uniform than concrete, with variation between tiles. Much longer-lived at 60–100+ years. You'll find them across older properties in Medway. They're more expensive to replace, and colour matching on a weathered roof takes care.
Kent Peg Tiles
The traditional covering of the South East, and a feature of period homes around Rochester and the older parts of Chatham and Strood. Small, hand-made, hung on oak pegs rather than nailed — hence the name. Beautiful and very long-lived, but they need a specialist: the wrong fixings, the wrong mortar or a modern covering dropped onto a peg-tiled roof spoils the appearance and often the performance. Listed properties often require them to be matched.
Natural Slate
Smooth, flat, dark, and laid in overlapping courses with no obvious texture. Lifespan of 75–150 years depending on the slate — Welsh slate lasts longest. Individual slates fail through nail fatigue rather than wearing out, which is why a hundred-year-old slate roof can look perfect and still shed slates after a windy night.
Why Matching Matters
On a repair, the replacement tile should match in size, profile and ideally colour. A mismatched tile is obvious from the ground and often performs differently — sits at a different height against its neighbours, or holds water where it shouldn't. On older or conservation-area properties this isn't just about looks; Rochester's conservation areas and listed buildings have requirements about materials.
Not Sure What You've Got?
Send us a photograph from the garden, or a picture from your phone up at the roof line, and we'll tell you what it is and what that means for repairs. Free surveys across all Medway towns.
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Costs and timings in this article are guides for Medway and Kent properties. Every roof is different — a survey is the only way to get an accurate figure.