Roof worries found on Survey!

donut_breasts

Hi,
I have just had a survey on the 1900s victorian house I am looking to buy. We have a concern about the roof and how much it will cost us to repair. Can anyone help me make head or tail of this:

ROOF COVERINGS:
The roof slopes are covered with natural slates, sealed to wall abutments with cement fillets. The slates are old and showing signs of erosion and displacement. A number of slates have been replaced probably due to corroded nail fixings and further slippage is inevitable. To prevent leakage, the roofs should be overhauled soon by a roofing contractor. Whilst expensive and comprehensive recovering is not yet justified, future maintenance costs will be higher than normal. It may, therefore, be more cost effective to re-cover the roofs entirely and quotations for such work should be
obtained prior to purchase commitment to assess the cost of this work. The cement fillets are cracked in places and should be repaired soon to prevent leakage. When the roofs are re-covered, replacement of the cement fillets with lead flashing is recommended.
The rear slope could not be seen externally and an inspection prior to purchase commitment would necessary and is advised to confirm the condition of the slates, cement fillets and any roof gutters.
We recommend the installation of protective wire guards at eaves level to minimise the risk of consequential damage from slippage of roof coverings which may occur in the future.


Thanks everyone

Werdnal

Sounds like you'll need a new roof, perhaps not imminently, but within the foreseeable future. Present survey to your vendors and re-negotiate price accordingly.

When we bought our current home in '93, our survey was nearly as thick as a telephone directory, and saved us £15K on the price we had previously offered!

taxsaver

I've lived in old houses with slate roofing for the majority of my adult life. I personally would not be worried by that report as it's simply mentioning things that I would expect from such a roof of that age. Is there any sign of water penetration (usually brown stains) on any of the upstairs ceilings? Ask the surveyor if he inspected in the roof-space and if so did he see any signs of water ingress. Also ask him if he could see much daylight when in the roof void and whether or not it was felted.

Often with an older slate roof (when iron tacks were used to fix the slates) the nails start to rust and a few slates might slip, this is often dealt with as and when needed by inserting lead 'tingles' to hold the slates in place and thus maintaining the roof for many more years; all part of the character.

hcb42

Either get a quote for some repairs or take a chance on it.

Similar thing on my roof, still here 6 years later, no major outlays, no leaks no nothing

DON79

sounds like my roof too! it is still here 5 years after we moved in... very minor leak easy sorted so far and nothing else. we know it needs done though

geoffky

negotiate with the sellers over it..get them to pay some towards it.

hazyjo

If it's any help, had a new roof put on my last 2 bed Victorian terraced house. Cost around £4,000-4,500 I think for the roof and guttering (East London).

Might be worth getting a roofer in for a quote. I seem to remember getting £2,500 off my last one when I bought - the cost of an overhaul. Ended up getting the whole roof done 4 or so years later. You could see daylight through the roof, there were leaks, and it really did need doing.

Be aware, not everyone will drop though so don't expect it. More common for them to offer to contribute half rather than all of the cost.

Jx

G_M

I can't really see what you're worrying about. You knew it was an old house, well, surprise, it has an old roof!

But slate lasts for ever pretty much. OK, some nails corrode. When/if one or more slates slip, you get in a roofer for £50 and he fixes them.

Surveyor admits "expensive and comprehensive recovering is not yet justified, " and you could live there quite happily for 5, 10 +++ years with the same roof.

paulsad

Yes don't worry - surveyors have to cover their backsides so seldom give you good news IMO.

Seanymph

What worries me is that he doesn't mention what's UNDER the slates....... I know two local victorian houses people have bought and in both cases they had to take the roofs off in that sort of condition to felt underneath (is it felt - I'm not a builder and can't remember the detail from their description).

There is fabric under batons and slates now - in both cases there was no fabric and they had to have the entire roof off, fabric then batons then new roof.

Your surveyor doesn't mention it - the survey I had on a house around that age recently (that we didn't buy) mentions the lack of fabric too.

G_M

No houses that age had felt. It is a more modern concept. Pretty unnecessary. Think about it? What does it do? Stop leaks? :rotfl:

OK, when it's windy a bit of dust and crud might blow under the slates and get in. Well, it's not like you're living up there is it? My attic is full of dust and cobwebs.

Oh, and my roof has no felt. Never has. Lifting the roof to install it would just be an excuse for a roofer to charge me a fortune.

Oh, and the reason your surveyor hasn't mentioned it is probobly .... that it isn't relevant.