New roof still leaking - who is responsible for damage?

Ewan1977

Long story short, we got a new roof on our property in November 2011 and in July 2012 we spotted that a small section of it was leaking. Called the slater and he said he would fix it.
Two months passed and he still hadn't fixed it ("I've got loads of other jobs, but I will get to you...") and all this time whenever there's a really heavy downpour, it still drips water into the loft.
In October he said that he thought it was fixed but, after another downpour, the same leak remained.
We went on holiday for two weeks in November and were obviously concerned it might leak while we were away. The roofer assured us he would send someone out to fix it before we left.
That worker never came and we left without it being fixed.
A worker finally came out in December and said he had fixed it, but later that day there was a downpour and started leaking again.
Phoned to complain but the roofer said he wouldn't be able to get back until after Xmas.
Comes back in January and says he will fix it - bit still waiting. Roofer is blaming snow (fair enough) but still no firm date.
I asked him about damage to our bedroom ceiling (where water has been leaking in) and he said in no uncertain terms that he would NOT be responsible for the damage (ceiling needs repainted to get rid of water stains). Said we'd have to take it out of our own house insurance.
I'm just wondering if anyone knows where we stand with this? I don't necessarily want to pay a £250 excess just for some paint, but feel he should be the one who pays.
Should I take it further?
Thanks for any help

Furts

Hi Ewan

Did you check out the roofer before he started? Did you monitor and check his work as he went along? Did you check his work before paying him? Did you have a contract or order with him? Was he a cash in hand merchant or was he paid on a credit card? Is he a legitimate business?

Were I in your situation I would need more info before I could make suggestions on the way forward. Ultimately, if the roofer is a true rogue and/or you have been naive this may have to be a lesson in life.

Ewan1977

Yeah the work all looked good. As I say, it was about eight months after he had completed the roof that it started to let in water.
So by that time he had been paid (in cash). The work he carried out was all fine, except for the small section that is letting water drip in whenever we have torrential rain.
He is also a legit business, definitely not a cowboy.
We don't really have a complaint about the work carried out and I can even accept that mistakes happen on jobs. The problem I have is the time he has taken to rectify what I assume is a relatively easy thing to sort. If it had been repaired in July, August or even September we would not have had this ongoing saga and the worsening damage that comes with it.

teneighty

It sounds to me like the delays are completely unacceptable. I would write to him and give him 7 days to rectify the faults otherwise you will employ a new roofer and recover the costs from him.

The damage to the ceiling, if caused by the roof defect, is the responsibility of the roofer as a consequential loss. However it may just need to dry out and be redecorated if the leak has only been going on for about six months, any longer and it will probably start to do more serious damage.

Although you claim it is a reputable business your post sounds more like the work of a cowboy. I would get a new roofing company in to have a look and quote for any repairs. Be upfront and tell them the issue and maybe offer to pay for their time to inspect the roof.

Good Luck

[Deleted User]

Agree with all of that except this:

teneighty wrote: »

and maybe offer to pay for their time to inspect the roof.

A reputable roofing company wouldn't expect that and I don't think it's necessary.

teneighty

Fair point mc100, I see now that I didn't explain myself very well.

I was thinking that if you call out a roofer to provide an independent opinion on the roof defect and remedial work with a view to using it as leverage against the original roofer then it is only fair to pay the roofer for his time. If the new roofer subsequently does the repairs then I would expect them to knock that payment off their bill.

I find if you treat good contractors fairly they will generally treat you fairly, bad contractors (and bad customers come to that) will just take liberties.

If you are just asking for a straightforward quote then that should be free of charge.