Advice with dodgy roof (long)

nicebelvoir

Hi All,

I've got a problem with a dodgy roof that wasn't fixed properly by a builder, wondered if anyone had any advice?

The story is, it's a flat roof on the side of the house. The ceiling underneath it started to sag slightly then one day it leaked. Got some roofers in and asked them to fix the roof which meant to fix the problem with the sagging ceiling (which I guessed was caused by the woodwork being damp) and re-felt the roof. I said I'd redo the ceiling, reboard it and so on. The roofers came and did the job and laid a nice new roof.

I was happy for a while, it looked like a good enough job and I stupidly assumed the ceiling was still sagging because the plasterboard had warped.

Fast forward several months and I still haven't gotten round to fixing the ceiling. Stormy weather comes round and the roof leaks again. Phone builders a million times and they never show. I do what they want and forget about it for a while till it starts to leak again.

I've removed the plasterboard and gotten a good look at the roof and it's obvious they did a bodge job the first time. Instead of replacing the damaged timber beam that was sagging they just built it up with extra timber to make the roof flat, boarded over it and laid the felt over that. The leak has caused more damage and the beam has sagged further. There may have been more long term damage as the plasterboard had a plastic sheet backing which could have prevented smaller leaks showing up.

Looking at it now the beam needs removing and the boards above it look mouldy and damp and probably need removing too.

I've gotten the roofer to say he'll come round again, we'll see how that goes.

The problem is, the original written quote doesn't actually mention fixing any timberwork, it just says they'll re-felt the roof.

So, it looks like I may have a case to force him to fix whatever is causing the leak, but what about the rest? I don't have a written quote for doing it originally but surely the way the original problem was "fixed" shows they were deliberately bodging the job and should have done better. On top of that it looks as though the further leaks have caused more damage.

Anyone think I've got a decent chance of following this up in a court if the roofer refuses to fix it? Or am I expecting too much?


cheers,
nicebelvoir

hethmar

Dont know - depends whether the amount they charged would demonstrate that the work you required had been included in the quote. If it was cheap then I think you will be on a hiding to nothing. Did you get at least 3 quotes for the work? "Re-felting" the roof is different to actually making repairs to the original timbers and THEN refelting.

latecomer

I agree with the above but if they didn't fix the leaks when refelting then you might have a case to get the damage caused by them fixed.

nicebelvoir

hethmar wrote: »

Dont know - depends whether the amount they charged would demonstrate that the work you required had been included in the quote. If it was cheap then I think you will be on a hiding to nothing. Did you get at least 3 quotes for the work? "Re-felting" the roof is different to actually making repairs to the original timbers and THEN refelting.

Yeah, I realise I'm a bit stuck with the written quote. If I remember correctly I had three quotes, one didn't seem to want to do the work much and gave a high quote and the other was within £50 of the one I went with. I also went with this guy because at the time he was more reliable, it was a nightmare getting anyone to come round to quote, had many that never turned up. So I think there were two very close togther and the other was about £400 more.

What about the subsequent damage caused by the bad initial repairs?

hethmar

Did you keep the other guys quote and was it more detailed, including the work on the timbers?

Oh yes, they would have to do remedial works if the roof they laid is leaking and make good any damage caused by their workmanship. They should be prepared to do that. I thought you were more concerned about the timbers that had not been replaced.

Give them a chance to put it right, any court would require you to have allowed them to do that. If they wont or cant then you could seek legal advice - check your insurance policies, they often have legal lines included or legal cover insurance as an add on.

Good luck, I know how frustrating this sort of thing can be.