Buying a house with a stone slate roof - worth the risk?

itsamystery_2

Hi,
I've just been to view a property with a stone slate roof and found out that it is in need of repair. The roof is bowing and will need a specialist to repair/replace it.

Anyhow, my question is... is it worth the risk on buying the property?

The EA told us that the house has had two offers of £168k (property valued at "offers over £175k") and that one of the potential buyers is having a structural survey on Monday.

The EA reckons the roof repair would be around £12k-15k to repair and, with all the other 'bits' that need doing inside (new bathroom, kitchen, window repairs), maybe another £20k to get the house in order.

The roof doesn't currently leak, is wind tight, and isn't in immediate danger of collapsing.

The house has only been on the market 10 days, having had a previous sale fall through from March.

Any advice etc. on this would be welcome. And thanks.

whalster

I would bet that it has had a bow in it for a good long while and may have oak spars/timber truss I did an extension on a nursinghome 20 years ago the extension had 32 tonnes on it .
If they are diminishing course they will average 1 tonne to 9 sq yards you will roughly loose a 1/3 of them and they are around £550 per tonne mixed now although larger sizes only will be vastly more
so you can now work out from the size how many you will need
also if they are diminishing course you can use broken large sizes for further up
hope this helps

G_M

How old is the property?
How long has the roof been there?
Has any recent work been done - eg an additional room added in the roof-space?

By 'stone slate' do you mean slate? Slate is a perfectly common roofing material and has been used for hundreds of years!

What do you mean by "in need of repair"? Complete replacement roof slates? (expensive); Or replace a few broken/missing ones?

As for the bowing, if it is recent (esp if a new room was added by a cowboy, and structural beams removed in the process, to make space) then it may need reinforcing. If it's been lik that for 50 years, with no change, I wouldn't worry!

Get a structural survey done so you know what extra work (and cash) is needed.

Asking people on an internet forum who have not seem the roof is.......

As for " is it worth the risk on buying the property?" that depends what extra work is needed, what extra budget you have, and whether you want to take on a renovation! For some people it's worth it, for others, it isn't!

itsamystery_2

OK, fair enough.

It's on a Georgian house. It's thick slate on a normal roof - no additional space. I'm told by the EA that the roof will need completely replacing but it's not urgent. The slates look fine, but the weight of the roof means there is a dip in the centre.

I know that asking people on internet forum isn't ideal but it's no worse a question than some of the other ones I've seen on here.

Having never been in the position of fixing a roof, I thought I would see if anyone else could offer their experience/advice.

G_M wrote: »

How old is the property?
How long has the roof been there?
Has any recent work been done - eg an additional room added in the roof-space?

By 'stone slate' do you mean slate? Slate is a perfectly common roofing material and has been used for hundreds of years!

What do you mean by "in need of repair"? Complete replacement roof slates? (expensive); Or replace a few broken/missing ones?

As for the bowing, if it is recent (esp if a new room was added by a cowboy, and structural beams removed in the process, to make space) then it may need reinforcing. If it's been lik that for 50 years, with no change, I wouldn't worry!

Get a structural survey done so you know what extra work (and cash) is needed.

Asking people on an internet forum who have not seem the roof is.......

As for " is it worth the risk on buying the property?" that depends what extra work is needed, what extra budget you have, and whether you want to take on a renovation! For some people it's worth it, for others, it isn't!

G_M

itsamystery wrote: »

OK, fair enough.

It's on a Georgian house. It's thick slate on a normal roof - no additional space. I'm told by the EA that the roof will need completely replacing but it's not urgent. The slates look fine, but the weight of the roof means there is a dip in the centre.

I know that asking people on internet forum isn't ideal but it's no worse a question than some of the other ones I've seen on here.

Having never been in the position of fixing a roof, I thought I would see if anyone else could offer their experience/advice.

Remember the EA
a) works for the seller, not you and
b) is not an expert

so do not rely on anything he tells you. In fact ignore it totally! Get your own professional (surveyor? structural engineer? reputable builder?) to advise you.

DVardysShadow

G_M wrote: »

Remember the EA
a) works for the seller, not you and
b) is not an expert

so do not rely on anything he tells you. In fact ignore it totally! Get your own professional (surveyor? structural surveyor? reputable builder?) to advise you.

I agree. And make sure you understand exactly what the material is, because the materials for some types of stone roofing are not now available in any quantity whatsoever. I am thinking of Collyweston slate in particular. And if there are requirements attached to the building, tripling any estimate is unlikely to cover it.