Roofs and flat roofs
Mortar torching has fallen in one bay of the loft and the other bays still hold. What of the tiles in the fallen bay was not stripped?
The tiles in the fallen bay were not stripped. Mortar torching has dropped in that one bay, and the other bays still hold, so the underside of those tiles is bare where the mortar used to be. Torching is the mortar applied from the loft side. Its loss does not mean the tiles were taken off and relaid, and the survey did not strip them to see the nails or the battens. The note is fallen mortar in one bay. The covering above that bay stays unstripped, beyond what could be seen from inside the loft.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
Old roofs were sometimes torched with mortar under the tiles to cut wind and dust. When that mortar falls, you see the undersides of the tiles, and you may feel a draught, but you still have not turned the tiles over. The other bays holding their torching show the loss is local. A local fall can be age and vibration in that bay, not a whole-roof strip. The survey looked from the loft. It did not scaffold the slope or record each nail.
Ask a roofer to look at the slope over the fallen bay from outside, and to say whether those tiles are still held, before anyone strips them. Tell the solicitor only one bay has lost its torching and the tiles there were not stripped by the survey. Do not assume a full reroof from a single bay of fallen mortar. The survey has not specified that. The other bays still hold, which is part of keeping the note local.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which bay has lost its torching, and which bays still hold?
- Were the tiles over the fallen bay left unstripped?
- Was the view from the loft only?
What are the typical next steps?
- Treat fallen torching as one bay, not a stripped roof.
- Ask a roofer to check the tiles over that bay from outside.
- Do not read the other bays as failed because one has dropped.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
If you can see daylight in that bay, have the tiles gone?
Daylight can show through a gap once the torching has fallen. It does not mean the tiles were stripped. The survey did not take them off, and the other bays still hold their mortar. A chink of light is a reason for a roofer to look from outside. It is not a record that the covering has been removed.
Does sound torching in the other bays date the whole roof?
No. Mortar that still holds does not date the tiles, the nails or the battens. The survey has not stripped any bay, including the one where the torching has fallen. Holding mortar means those bays have not dropped their torching. It does not reset the age of the covering, and it does not say the fallen bay's tiles were renewed.