Help - roofing problems - outside my scope of ability

Hi

Just had a surveyor around to value our house for a prospective purchaser. He's indicated to them that 'the roof is at the end of its useful life and should be replaced.'

Now - I do know that there has been the odd bit of water ingress, and each time we've noticed a problem it has been rectified, and I do agree that the nails originally used to keep the tiles in place are somewhat corroded, causing repeated failures.

I obviously need to grasp the nettle here and get this sorted so I have a couple of questions.

Points to note

The house is approximately 150 years old (buit circa 1865)

It's in Scotland, so there are sarking boards below the tilies, I expect some of these will be rotten, and will require replacement.

As far as I can tell through visual inspection, the trusses are fine.

Approximate surface area would be about 150 sq.m. with around 75 m of lead flashing needed for valleys/ridges etc

Questions

Other than a complete replacement, are there any other options open to me?

Do roofers normally quote a price per square mtr to re-roof, or just an overall cost? And either way - does anyone have ANY idea of what a sensible quote would be?

The reason for asking is that there's a time constraint, and it's probably not feasible to undertake the work before the purchasers want to move in, so this is in effect a price negotiation. They want to allow £30-40,000 (figure apparently quoted by surveyor) and I'm pretty sure I can get it done for less than £15,000 by any reputable roofer (if such a person exists :) )

Anyone got any ideas?

Thanks in advance

Tim

Reply to
Tim
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I had my roof done 40sq M for =A3450 this was the roofing only I supplied all the bits n bobs including the slate, Slates I used were secondhand Welsh (Of course!!) and i got them 20 X 12 I think they were for 60p each (which is cheap) S/H Welsh slates are usually =A31 - =A31.40 each.

Reply to
Staffbull

Three estimates from roofers, take the average and reduce the asking price by that amount?

Reply to
Handy

Or a percentage thereof. I've never been much persuaded by the argument that the full cost of any work should be borne by the vendor, unless that work is of such a critical nature that the rest of the property would be severely compromised or rendered uninhabitable were it not done immediately. If a buyer wants the security of a brand new roof plus guarantees, they should be prepared to stump up a fair whack themselves. If "Tim's" neighbour had an identical house, but with a new roof, are we to believe his buyer would pay up to =A330-40K more for it ? Hardly seems likely.

150m2 sounds like about 100m2 of floor area, very roughly. A neighbour re-roofed a similar sized house (large 4-bed Edwardian detached) a few years ago for about =A35K with concrete tiles. (Very little flashing needed, though.) Estimates were up to =A38K, and rosemary (clay) tiles might have come in at twice that. I agreed to a =A33K reduction when I sold my house, on the condition of the roof. Might not have had to go that far if the market had been a little more buoyant.

--=20 "Never use a preposition to end a sentence with."

Reply to
John Laird

My roof is about half the size, perhaps slightly less. I was quoted for:

(a) scaffolding (b) remove old slate (c) apply breathable membrane sarking (d) install good old slate on front elevation (e) install new artificial slate on rear elevation (f) reflash one chimney with stepped flashing (other chimneys were fine)

My quotes were between 2100 and 2500. The work was in Reading, not known for its plentiful supply of cheap tradespeople.

40K is, IMHO, taking the absolute piss. 10K sounds expensive to me, unless there is a LOT of sarking board needing replacing.

Christian.

Reply to
Christian McArdle

You can build a house for =A340K !!!

Reply to
Staffbull

I take it this is slate. Slate roofs eventually start to need more and more maintenance at some point, as nails corrode through, and at some point it ends up cheaper in the long term to reslate. If you show us a pic of the roof we might have some idea if its getting to that point.

Of course. Complete replacement is not an option I'd consider if had a roof that worked fine. Good option may be to recommend the buyer has survey done by someone who knows something about slate roofs. And leave it at that.

well, then you know your buyer+survey is talking complete ballcocks.

Way less, but from what you say there appears to be no reason to do any work anyway.

NT

Reply to
meow2222

It can't come to more than 4K, and if *all* the boards need replacing, about

5K, depending on the materials you choose.. modern tiles would probably be best and cheapest. although slates look good, they are very expensive, most roofers sell the slates that they remove and this will often pay for the new tiles, ask any roofers if they will take this into consideration.

Ignore the surveyor and tell them that you are pulling out of the sale if they insist on this ridiculous figure, get a few quotes and offer to reduce the price by an average based on these, he's trying to use scare tactics.

Reply to
Phil L

Because they're required by Scottish building regulations, and if the rottens ones weren't replaced the roof would be lumpy.

Owain

Reply to
Owain

I'd find out what the regulatory body for surveyors is and threaten to report him, watch his eyes closeley and you can tell how much bullshit he's been sprouting as they avert from your eyes and dont return !!!!

Reply to
Staffbull

So, according to the report, was the one on the house I bought nearly a decade ago. It still keeps the water out.

Tiles or slates? It makes quite a bit of difference to the price. Roofers charge ridiculous amounts for slate. About 20 years ago, I was able to drive from Sussex to North Wales and buy a ton of newly cut best Welsh slates, including an ovenight stay for two of us, for a lot less than I could have bought low grade second hand slates locally. I doubt the situation has changed much since.

...

It depends a lot on the state of the roof. Remedial work can extend the life of a roof by quite a lot, but eventually it will need replacement. If the roof is original, there is a fair chance it needs complete replacement by now.

I've only had cost for the job quoted, which includes incidentals, like scaffolding. For a three-bedroom detached house in SE England, two or three years ago (I felt, perhaps, I really ought to get it done in case the survey had been right), I got quotes around £6k

Colin Bignell

Reply to
nightjar

How was youre trip to sunny Bethesda :-)

Reply to
Staffbull

Id say you should be able to get it done for under ten grand..

Get quotes from reputable companies and send copies to their lawyers.

If COURSE they are trying it on, everyone does.

Flood them with YOUR bullshit. Bullshit baffles brains.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

In the end its a bloody negotiation, who says the house is worth anything anyway? The man who is prepared to pay for it. Finding out

*what* they are prepared to pay for it, is the art of negotiation.

If a buyer wants the security of a brand new

Those figures sound reasonable. Competent roofers on a price, will have it all stripped off in no time, nail in new bits of wood, and felt and slap the slates down faster than you can say 'anyone for a pint then?'

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

I had my *thatched* roof BUILT for under 25 grand, and that is about 100 sq meters.

A sllightly smaller tiled roof came in - with expensive tiles - under ten grand. Thats the lot - paper battens, soffits..cemented ridge tiles and so on.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

I'm not too good on foreign geography. Is that the same as Blaenau Ffestiniog?

I got a guided tour of the factory work area, which was incredibly interesting. I regretted not allowing time to go on the public tour down the mine though.

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Bignell

Reply to
nightjar

Tim wrote: e

I've followed this thread through and the one factor that no-one has addressed and is critical to Scotland is whether you are in a conservation area which would probably insist on the Scots tiles that are currently on the roof be replaced; then the cost does go seriously sky high !

I would doubt from experience that there will be any deterioration of the sarking - and the cost of replacement of any small bits will be insignificant in the scheme of things. There is an argument that the requirement for a membrane under the slates is false anyway as all that it does is to trap moisture if there is a leak and exacerbate rotting - there are hundreds of old Scottish sarked roofs which are in fine condition - been there and worked on a couple as an amateur. No doubt modern breathable membrane is meant to overcome that.

The problem comes with deterioration of the nails - 'nail sickness' - which shows up as slates coming off and unless you've got a serious dose of this, I would suggest that the most likely sources of leaks is at the flashing (the cement work at the chimneys. etc) which does give much more bother than the slates.

Get a professional roofer to look at it and give a report; certainly at

150 years the slating is gertting on (please note 'slating' rather than 'roof' as it is the slates that will require attention). But other posters are also correct in that there is no reason why you should be bearing the whole cost as the condition is currently deflating the value of the property but will enhance it for the purchaser.

Rob

Reply to
robgraham

Ah, thats closed down since a while, its a slate mining museum now, the only open slate quarry in NW now is Mcalpine's in Bethesda, Blaenau is more gloomy !!! :-)

Reply to
Staffbull

isn't the one on the horse shoe pass still open ? Ant.

Reply to
Antix

Not to my knowledge no, I think mcalpines have it sewn up around here, they are making a fortune as any new build on Anlgesey and I'm pretty sure Gwynedd as well must have Welsh slate if slate is used as a roof, and supplying the rest of the UK with top quality slate, Chinese and Spanish are crap by comarison

Reply to
Staffbull

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