Homebuyer's Report missed major roof problem

northern_at_heart

Just wondering if we have any comeback and whether it's worth pursuing...

We bought our house (Victorian terrace, 1890s) just over 2 years ago. The kitchen is at the back of the house and was converted from a bathroom more recently. It has a mono pitched slate roof with a Velux skylight. All was fine for the first two 2 years. But over the last couple of months we've been getting some damp in the kitchen high up on the far external wall where the roof ends. The plaster high up the wall is disintegrating, paint flaking off and white mould marks etc. A stain at the edge of the ceiling is slowly spreading.

Having had an insurance surveyor and two builders/roofers round to work out what's wrong, we now realise the roof of the kitchen is far too flat. Apparently the minimum pitch for slate roofs is 15-25 degrees and ours is less than 10 degrees. The rain has basically been blowing back up between the slates because it can't drain off properly. It's also sagging in the middle.

It looks like this is going to cost us thousands to fix, either by increasing the pitch of the roof (which has its own problems as there is an upstairs window in the way) or by re-roofing in a new material (tile) and losing the Velux window. Apparently the Velux should never have been installed in a roof that flat either. We will also have to get a lot of the wall render removed, dried out and replastered inside and out.

As the Homebuyer's Report didn't mention the insufficient roof pitch, the sag or the inappropriate Velux (it said the roofs had been inspected from outside the house and were in good condition. It did say the render on the side wall was in need of repair, but not the end wall with the damp damage) do we have a leg to stand on? And where would we start in taking it up with the surveyors or with RICS? We don't want to delay getting it fixed (a couple of months' dithering has already meant it's got worse) but as this is going to cost a LOT to put right, we would have allowed for this when making our offer in the first place.

Building Control at the council don't have anything on record at our address since 1990 (they are checking earlier records as we speak) so it looks like this never went through their controls. Do you think this will be a problem for us, or if we get it all fixed and inspected/approved if necessary should we be OK when it comes to sell the house?

Thanks for any help you can give us.

ceegee

We bought a house last year, with a similar "problem". We didn't realise that the pitch of the kitchen roof was particularly "shallow" and the surveyor didn't mention anything in his report.

It is not a kitchen extension; the house was built that way (1961 bungalow). Like you, rain blew in under the tiles and there were damp issues arising from this.

Enter my lovely builder, who has totally renovated the place. His simple and effective solution (he has had to do this to several other houses over the years!) is to re-batten (existing battens were rotten!) and re-felt, using non-permeable felt, and to use TWO layers of felt instead of one, making absolutely certain that the bottom layer protrudes out from under the top layer, but that they both protrude adequately from under the tiles.

I hope my explanation makes sense! It seems to have done the trick!

olly300

Homebuyers reports miss things like this out. The surveyor would look with a pair of binoculars at the roof and if it looked OK from where they are standing on the ground would write down what you have got. Likewise with the damp if they can see it they report it, if they can't see it they don't report it and won't go lifting things up to find it.

That's why they aren't actually suitable for the property you have purchased.

They are only suitable for most flats, and houses less than 50 years old.

You should have got a full structural survey.

The surveyor would then have a duty to get up on a ladder or go into the loft space, and have a good look. Then if s/he didn't know what they were looking at they would advised you to get the appropriate specialists to look at it.

northern_at_heart

Thanks - this is a small single-storey extension on the back of the house and the whole roof of this extension is clearly visible from outside the house. No binoculars or ladders needed! We can touch the edge of the roof when standing in the back garden.

There was no damp visible then, so I'm not saying they should have picked that up, but the insufficient pitch is clear from looking at it (now we have had it pointed out).

But yes, we will get a full structural survey if we ever buy an old house again.

Having said that, it's the new extension (less than 50 years old) that's the only part of the house causing our problems. I guess they were built to a higher standard back in Victorian times!

olly300

With an extension there is an issue with whether it's been built properly i.e. deep enough foundations, how it's attached to the main house, etc

With a Homebuyers Report the surveyor doesn't have a duty to flag up these concerns, but with a Structural Survey they have otherwise they are negligent.

Also some extensions are originally done as conservatories. The roof is then tiled and it becomes a proper extension years down the line so no planning is needed. They then don't tell building control as they don't think they have to.

I suggest you get everything done properly so when you want to sell if you get someone clued up, you don't have issues.