My Parents Need A New Roof

dclaxton

Hi Everyone,

I'm looking for some advice and guidance on this one so any help would be greatly appreciated.

My parents own their own home and have lived there for nearly 30 years, my dad has recently retired and they've only finished paying the mortgage a year ago. My dad receives pension credit and my mum is unable to work and has copd (trouble breathing). The roof has recently been leaking and after an initial repair it needs replacing, it must be at least 40 years old!

They have worked so hard to pay for the house but unfortunately they don't have the money to replace the roof. Are there any schemes or grants that may be able to help? And could anyone recommend a reputable roof company.

I am looking to take out a loan myself to try to help but I don't think it would be enough to cover the entire cost.

Thank You in advance
Dean

dotdash79

Are you sure it need a totally new roof?

Have you had any quotes from a decent roofing contractors rather than some wide boy with a van and a set of ladders?

missprice

Are you sure it needs replacing?
What kind of roof is it?
What tiles?
Is the leak damage actually looking worse than it is.
Have you had a few roofers out to look?

dclaxton

dotdash79 wrote: »

Are you sure it need a totally new roof?

Have you had any quotes from a decent roofing contractors rather than some wide boy with a van and a set of ladders?

We've got a few different contractors coming round to have a look at it but a few tiles are cracked and it's a very old roof that has done well to last this long.

dclaxton

missprice wrote: »

Are you sure it needs replacing?
What kind of roof is it?
What tiles?
Is the leak damage actually looking worse than it is.
Have you had a few roofers out to look?

It's a standard roof with plain tiles, the house is semi-detached built around the 1930's if that's of any help. Sorry I don't know much about roofs.

There's a couple of different contractors coming out to look this week. I will update with prices and information once they've been.

dotdash79

What size roof is it? How complex is it? Whats slate covering would you be using?

You might be able to save based on reusing the tiles, doing some labour yourself?

dotdash79

http://www.tradeadvisor.com/a/cost-guides/guide-to-roofing-costs

JohnB47

dclaxton wrote: »

It's a standard roof with plain tiles, the house is semi-detached built around the 1930's if that's of any help. Sorry I don't know much about roofs.

There's a couple of different contractors coming out to look this week. I will update with prices and information once they've been.

That's about the same age as ours. We have terracotta tiles and I've replaced them myself as they've cracked. So, what is the actual problem with your roof? Slipping tiles, broken ones? Bear in mind that its often not profitable for anyone to 'fix' a roof, even though that's the simplest thing to do. They may suggest a complete reroof instead. You can't really blame them.

I would suggest just looking at the roof and trying to identify what exactly the problem is, and what is needed to fix that, rather than completely replacing all the tiles. That age doesn't seem too old to me, although there are lots of factors.

27col

A roof would have to be in a very severe state of dereliction to require replacement. Most roof materials are extremely long lasting. 40years is no length of time for a good roof. I suggest a second or even third opinion before paying for a complete re-roof.

Clive_Woody

Agree with all of the comments above, do not let your dad be talked into getting a whole new roof unless you are 100% sure that it needs to be replaced.

pc1271

A roof tile will pretty much last forever unless it's physically damaged, and even then you would just replace the individual tiles: they're about 40p each and really easy to swap out once you get on to the roof. I can't imagine you'd need a whole new roof unless it's had a long term leak which has caused the timbers underneath to rot or have a LOT of damaged tiles.