Roof repairs - jointly responsible?

[David Hearn]

We have a 1930's semi (without sarking). Our neighbour contacted us the other day say that that following the heavy rain, she's got some water marking in the front corner of her upstairs front bedroom - the corner where the two houses meet.

She called in her insurance company who sent a surveyor. They have rejected the claim saying:

"From the inspection of your property, it was identified that water ingress has damaged the ceiling in the front bedroom. Water has entered the property via the roof above. We inspected the roof and found that there was a missing tile and two dislodged tiles at the front edge of the chimney-stack built over the party wall. There was no evidence of storm damage to the roof, which is displaying signs of aging, such as moss growth between the tiles. As you are aware, your buildings policy provides cover for damage to the structure of your property caused by events detailed in your policy documents. The damage described above is considered to be the result of wear and tear, which is not an insured event and therefore XXXX are unable to cover any expenses incurred in its repair."

The neighbour spoke to Age Concern (who were the ones to arranged the insurance) who said that as it was over the party wall section, that both her and myself are jointly responsible for the repair.

This sounds fair, if the leak is caused by the missing tile/dislodged tiles. But I just wanted to make sure about it.

She is going to get quotes from two local roofing people (who are on the list of recommended/approved people provided by Trading Standards). If they come up with other repairs they think are necessary to the roof (ie. elsewhere, away from the middle) - I'll insist on only paying for the work which is related to the party section of the wall - is that reasonable? She seems okay with this, and is aware of people who try to bump up the amount of work.

A picture of the roof is here:

're aware of the missing tile to the left (which is our part of the roof) and we've not had a problem with that - might ask the guy to quote for replacing it whilst he's up there - but it's the bit in front of the chimney stack (which is on the party wall) which is where they're saying the problem is. I can see a missing tile, and water may have been blown up in the high wind/rain we had. The actual water damage is at the front of the room, but may have run down inside the roof, rather than straight down the edge of the chimney.

Also - any ideas of the sort of price I should expect for the work?

Thanks

David

[MarkK]

Possible, but I notice that your gutter is smaller than hers. Maybe it couldn't cope with the deluge and a little water got splashed up under the tiles? Worth popping out to have a look next time you get a deluge!

Mark

[Andy Hall]

This looks as though it's a missing tile issue, as you say, and there doesn't seem to be sign of storm etc. damage so no insurance claim.

Typically you would be jointly responsible for this type of thing and generally if the chimney needed overall repair.

That's fair too. You might want to take an active part in the conversations with the builders so that a) there is fair play and b) to cover what you might want done such as the missing tile further over. That one is sitting in the gutter but one can't see if it's broken. Either way it would be an idea to get it collected from there so that it doesn't drop on someone's head.

I would have thought the whole job ought not to exceed a couple of hundred, including a careful inspection all round the stack etc.

What's the story with the gutters at the boundary? They appear to be separate. Does this result in water dripping off of the tiles at the party wall? Could it be responsible for anything?

[Cicero]

========================= Judging by your picture it would appear that the guttering to the left is smaller than that to the right and it also appears that the smaller guttering is encroaching on to the neighbour's property by about 12" / 15". This would tend to spill any overflow on to the adjacent property.

If this is correct then it may be that your guttering is the cause of the damage to the neighbour's property, in which case you would probably be liable for the full cost of the repair to her property. It would also depend on how the different gutters came to be there and who was responsible for the encroachment / gap.

Cic.

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[tony sayer]

I'd go along with that. Have a look up in the roof under the tile and see if these that much light showing through it.

Course you might be able to bodge it wit a fair old bit of silicone sealant;) While someone's up there they could tie down the TV aerial feeders while their at it!....

[nightjar]

....

If, as it appears, the roof has been there since the house was built, the tiles are probably near the end of their useful life. They get more porous with age and there comes a time when they need to be replaced with new ones. Even if you can get away with some patch repairs now, you ought to be budgeting for a new roof within the next few years.

Colin Bignell