Survey complete, how much for roof repairs?

corum_uk67

Hi, iv'e had a homebuyers report carried out which returned three urgent actions.

1 - guttering blocked and causing damp to one section of internal wall (vendor assures me he has dealt with this)

2 - some roof trusses on one slope have distorted and the metal fixing plates dislodged, recommended action is to upgrade trusses, add bracing (to comply with current building regs) and repair metal plates

3 - replace bannister rail (vendor removed it entirely, which i prefer aesthetically so not bothered about this one)

Any ideas how much the roof repairs will cost, sounds expensive?

Thanks.

poppysarah

Ring a builder. Sit down when he tells you. Big sucking in of breath with this one. If it's expensive it'll be because they have to strip down the roof completely. And they're bound to uncovered other bits and pieces that need doing too.

maninthestreet

No. 2 on the list sounds expensive. Get a 2 or 3 written quotes from local reputable builders, and use this to negotiate on the purchase price of the house.

hethmar

It doesnt say the roof needs replacing, just a few trusses by the sound of it. But no point in guessing the cost, get a few quotes.

GDB2222

hethmar wrote: »

It doesnt say the roof needs replacing, just a few trusses by the sound of it. But no point in guessing the cost, get a few quotes.

It depends how the poor builder is meant to get to the trusses, though? The obvious thing to do is to scaffold the outside of the property, with a weather shield over the roof, take off all the tiles, the battens, the flashings and the felt, so as to expose those trusses. Then add timber strengthening and bolt it all together as required, then replace everything again. I have no idea of the size of the property, but say £10 - 20k for that? You'd need 2 or 3 estimates.

Alternatively, the builder may just be able to squirm around inside the roof space to repair the trusses, in which case £1k may be more than enough to do it.

Plus allow a contingency figure for the problems you'll find on the way.

corum_uk67

thanks for the reply's folks.

i was kind of banking on the repairs being done without stripping the roof off.

can anyone recommend a reputable but cheap (if there is such a thing) roofer/builder in the plymouth area?

Debt_Free_Chick

Scaffolding alone is going to cost £1-2k (depends on the building). I had scaffolding for a detached house and it cost £1,500 - mates' rate!!!!

As the trusses support the roof - what's above them - it's difficult to see how they could be renewed without removal of the entire roof. But then, I'm not a builder/roofer so maybe there is a way.

For an estimate and/or a recommendation, why not go back to the surveyor who did the report?

corum_uk67

ok cool, i'm planning to give the surveyors a ring tomorrow to get some more info.
from my research it looks like a common potential problem with roof truss design at the time (late 60s and early 70s).
hopefully by 'upgrading' the trusses he means adding in some wind bracing and replacing the detached brackets. if it does mean stripping the roof the sale's probably off (oh well there goes the booking fee and survey costs ho hum)..

Sonofa

"2 - some roof trusses on one slope have distorted and the metal fixing plates dislodged, recommended action is to upgrade trusses, add bracing (to comply with current building regs) and repair metal plates"

From the limited description it sounds like some internal remedial work is required to modify the trusses, correct the distortion, strengthen them and stop it happening again.

I very much doubt it would require opening the roof up or mean substantial costs, dependant on the size of the roof/number of trusses involved, although I would assume if due to a design flaw all trusses will require modification.

I think you may need to get a surveyor to specify exactly what needs doing before asking a builder to quote.

Mutton_Geoff

You had the survey done, so we can safely say you're the buyer. I'd get three estimates and pick the worst case scenario and knock that off your offer.

Roof trusses are often repaired from the inside. The roof isn't pushed back to it's original position, simply secured to prevent further distortion though you might want to consider a complete re-roof in your revised offer for the place.

GDB2222

Mutton_Geoff wrote: »

You had the survey done, so we can safely say you're the buyer. I'd get three estimates and pick the worst case scenario and knock that off your offer.

Roof trusses are often repaired from the inside. The roof isn't pushed back to it's original position, simply secured to prevent further distortion though you might want to consider a complete re-roof in your revised offer for the place.

The trouble is that there's such a huge difference between the cost of the internal repair and the full monty. If the internal repair is done and the roof is going to be permanently in a sagged position, this may affect the future value of the property, even though it may not bother the OP too much. He really needs more advice from a surveyor about the effect on value of the two options.