New Roof or Repair

Adam106

The new to us 2 bed semi we have bought was built in 1938 and has a natural slate roof, with no insulation or breathable membrane/felt.

The roof is not water tight and is letting water into the house, the front of the house is worse then back and the side of the house.

The rooms on the first floor also suffer from condensation.

I have narrowed my choice of repair to either a new man made tile roof or a good repair of existing roof

New Roof:

* Comes with Loft Insulation
* Breathable Membrane/felt
* Man made tiles - assuming fiber cement tiles
* Building regulation - reroof inspection
* Dry ridge system
* New roof battens
* Life expectancy : 15 -30 years I assume
* New lead to Chimney
* Bonding Gutter - To adjoin to neighbors Slate Roof
* 2 year guarantee

Average quote cost £4-5K (doesn't inc scaffolding)

Can't afford natural slates - Average cost £6-7K



Good Repair to existing Roof:

* Fully re-bed and point Ridge and Hips tiles
* Replace missing/slipped/broken slates with Welsh Slates (been told Welsh Slates are the best)
* Extend Slates into Gutter and fit eaves guard (Currently the slates are not reaching the gutter and water is sweeping down the brickwork)
* Re-point Chimney Stack and replace flashing
* 12 Month guarantee (Classed as a major repair)

Cost £1150 - Only one company willing to do a repair

My Opinion Pros and Cons

New Roof Pros:

* 15 year maintenance free - Roof tiles ( I am assuming this number as I think it will be unlikely it will be 30 years) - As reading online fiber cement tiles do start to become brittle over time and loose their color. After this might need a new roof

* Dry Ridge tiles maintenance free

* Breathable membrane - double protection against the rain

* New roof battens

* Loft Insulation - means warmer house

* Possibly cure condensation problem

New Roof Cons:

* probably need a new roof in 15-20 years. Which sort of makes the dry ridge tiles pointless

* Can't really afford £4-5K at the minute - would make a big dent in savings, plus there are other expensive repairs left on the house

* Only 2 year guarantee - What does this actually cover, no roofer really goes into detail explaining this. I have had one roofer offer a 10 year insurance backed guarantee - but again what are the terms to this?

Repair existing roof Pros:

* Slates could easily last another 30 years - As its natural slates

* Roof becomes watertight again

* Save a lot of money - Can use saving towards other repairs

Repair existing roof Cons:

* Only 12 month guarantee - After 12 months will I need to consider a new roof or repair again

* Roof not insulated - Not sure I am too bothered about this- As I don't think the house is that cold at the moment

* Possibly still have condensation issue - More roof vents or trickle vents on windows might cure this problem (dehumidifier is really helping at the moment)

* No breathable membrane/felt - means no double protection against rain

* Mostly like the ridge tiles and hips might need pointing again in a few years

To summaries I keep going back and forth between the two, as I want the best but can't afford the best, so stuck between these two options.

Unsure if I even need a new roof, as most roofers might be proposing a new roof over a repair, as a repair to a slated roofer is possibly more of a skilled job then fitting man made tiles.

Part of me thinks that existing slates have already seen 80 years of good use, will they really last much longer? But then again its only costing me £1K for a good repair, which could see me right for another 5 years or lot more, but then is it worth spending £1K on a roof for 5 years or spending £4-5K for a roof for 15 years.

This also won't be our forever house, we would like to buy a bigger house in a few years and rent this one out.

What would you go given the options......?

Thanks to all for reading.

Grenage

Personally, I'd just get it relaid and the duffers replaced.

need_an_answer

Why can they not use the existing slate tiles with the new roof option?
We did just that 2 years ago and from memory there was just a 10% amount of tiles that had to be repurchased via a reclamation site in order to match into existing tiles.

We had already gone through at least 2 patch in type repairs in the 7 years beforehand and TBH the only thing that made the real difference was the new roof scenario.

our house was built in 1937 and similarly had no membrane or felt previously.

10 year guarantee is about what you should be getting on a new roof,in terms of how long that new roof will last,given the fact that the existing one went on 10 the 1930's then there is nothing to suggest that the new one wont give that one a run for its money.

unless the slate is physically damaged then there is no reason why it actually needs replacing 80 years old or not,it's very durable!

macman

It's the addition of roofing felt that will make a waterproofing difference. So I'd suggest, as above, looking at stripping the existing slates for reuse. However, fibre cement tiles will do the jobs, unless you plan to still be in the property in 30 years time.
Welsh slate is very expensive-there are cheaper 'real' options.

teneighty

Have any of the roofers actually told you why the roof is leaking?

The existing natural slates should still have plenty of life left in them, probably another hundred years at least. What normally happens is the nails rust which lets slates slip and that's how the rain gets in.

If it is just nail corrosion then Option 3 would be strip the roof, save all the slates and do everything for the new roof quote but instead of using cheap and nasty new fibre cement slates re-use the existing natural slates with an allowance for say 10% replacement new slates to cover breakages etc.

The roofers might have kept quiet about this option because they probably hope to sell on the old slates and make a tidy profit.