Pros and Cons of Metal Roof?

MissBailey

Hi all,

We're viewing a property tomorrow that has what appears to be a metal roof (no details on the listing). It's ex council and all the houses on the street are the same. Can anyone advise whether there are drawbacks to having this type of roof?

Thanks

Fire_Fox

Transference of heat, is it difficult to mortgage? My metal window frames are a major contributor to condensation.

warehouse

I would imagine heavy rain would be quite noisy. In our first flat we had a flat roof that we replaced with fibreglass and the noise was like a drum when it rained, (but we honestly didn't mind as long as it didn't leak).

Werdnal

Never heard of it before, but you learn something new every day!

Have you a Rightmove link for it?

MissBailey

Thanks for the replies.

This is a link: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-20884845.html

WestonDave

I'd hazard a guess that its not actually metal but corrugated asbestos (or modern replacement) which to some might look like metal although metal roofing does exist (there is an estate in Bath that has distinctive copper roofing which has all gone green!). I'd also guess its one of the prefab types of construction which might mean its hard or impossible to get a mortgage on.

By the sounds of it I'd be having a good look in the loft before getting too attached to it - find out what the roof actually is, and what the state of the supporting construction is underneath. Ask the agent specifically what the actual house is constructed from - e.g. precast concrete sections. If its all non standard then expect to struggle to get a mortgage so don't get too far in with it.

WestonDave

Well that told me! (last post was cross posted with the link). The rust on next doors roof is a giveaway that it is in fact corrugated iron - hopefully galvanised but that is also a pointer to likely problems as it all looks about the same age.

Would be seriously worth talking to the next door house (the one not attached to this one) as they appear to have updated their roof to another material. Find out what they've got and whether it was expensive - however it may have been done by the council/housing association if they owned the complete block with the one you are looking at not having been done due to private ownership.

Rest of it looks normal enough but this http://mwupropertybrochures.s3.amazonaws.com/513628.pdf suggests a non standard construction that you will need to check out and check whether your one has been sorted out.

MissBailey

WestonDave wrote: »

Well that told me! (last post was cross posted with the link). The rust on next doors roof is a giveaway that it is in fact corrugated iron - hopefully galvanised but that is also a pointer to likely problems as it all looks about the same age.

Would be seriously worth talking to the next door house (the one not attached to this one) as they appear to have updated their roof to another material. Find out what they've got and whether it was expensive - however it may have been done by the council/housing association if they owned the complete block with the one you are looking at not having been done due to private ownership.

Rest of it looks normal enough but this http://mwupropertybrochures.s3.amazonaws.com/513628.pdf suggests a non standard construction that you will need to check out and check whether your one has been sorted out.

Thanks for your replies Out of interest, how did you come by the link?

The house next door is the only one on the street that we could see that had updated their roof. We took this to be a positive sign on a 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' basis. Good suggestion to ask them about it though.

I've seen stuff about non standard construction come up before. Is the main downside of this that it's difficult to mortgage?

Sorry for the newbie questions! We've only been looking a month!

Slinky

Well I thought I'd seen most things, but a corrugated iron roof on a 3 bed house? That's a good candidate for the 'Take a look at this' thread.

I'd run very quickly in the opposite direction. Can't imagine any 'Pro's' seeing as you asked!

Owain_Moneysaver

This suggests it may be a BISF house, in which case this site will be invaluable.

If the roof is corrugated asbestos then many lenders won't lend, but apparently Halifax will. I'd strongly recommend a structural survey from a Chartered Structural Engineer (IStructE not RICS) with knowledge of this sector.

See also, also and this page 9 onwards

WestonDave

Does look like they may have had remedial work done on them which will help - found the link looking for Caldy Road and non standard construction!

The only real pro is going to be that for its size etc its going to be cheaper than something built from normal brick/block and tiled roof - if that type of construction had particular benefits then it would be being used now rather than having been a relatively shortlived post war means of replacing vast numbers of bombed properties in a short space of time with a shortage of skilled labour due to wartime casualties.