Roofers not fixed leak & tricky to get hold of

jbondo

Hi,

We purchased a house in January 2020 which at the time had a leak somewhere, after some investigation and cutting into the roof void to make a 'access hatch' we discovered this was eventually coming from the dormer roof. Start of March we got some quotes to have this work done, we supplied pictures and a description of the issue, the contractor came back saying they can do the work and this is what they can do:

these prefabricated dormer roof's are a nightmare, they cannot be diagnosed without stripping the whole area and seeing what is going on underneath the tiles where they joining the dormer. We have done several of these recently and the procedure we offer is as follows:- Supply and erect scaffolding, strip complete area of dormer surround tiles, top to bottom on affected side, make good failed/incorrect felting and retile and point tiles.

They quoted us which we agreed too. Scaffolding was erected 31/3/20 with the work done and completed the next day 1/4/20. They provided an invoice and stated it was less than expected as it had only taken half a day rather than a full day which they originally quoted. I queried if it had any warranty/guarantee and they stated it does for 5 years, "completed works to carry a 5 year guarantee from this document date." was added to the invoice, the invoice was then paid.

Roll forward to 28/4/20 after a period of dry weather it started raining and I checked the 'access hatch' and could still see it was leaking. I took pictures and sent it to them asking them to come out and have a look. 4/5/20 I got a reply and they came out 6/5/20 to inspect and remediate. They stated they fixed it this time as one of the 'ridges'/'valleys' they did not cement back up.

Roll forward again to 3/6/20 and after more rain, the roof is still leaking, I supplied  them more pictures of where I believe the leak to come from. 5/6/20 It was again raining so got another picture and crucially a video which shows water dripping through the insulation which is acting as a sponge. After hearing nothing I chased up on 12/6/20 and was informed they can do the following Tuesday (16/6/20).

After visting the property twice, I contacted another roofing company who I originally quoted for and asked them for a 2nd opinion, this 2nd opinion stated

The side GRP soaker flashings needed taking out and re-lining the breathable making it all watertight before flashing and tiles get put back in.

Also the valley needs stripping out and re-doing correctly.

I passed this onto the company on 12/6/20 and got a reply 15/6/20 which the reply was a little be shirty, an exact of the reply was:

We have not said that we are not going to return and that we won't sort this issue out, so whilst a second opinion is welcomed it is not anything that we wouldn't ourselves explore in getting to the route of the problem. We have sim ply tried to rectify the problem at the cheapest cost to yourselves when we perhaps should have taken the view in hindsight to strip the whole lot and charge accordingly.

16/6/20 has gone and the roofers have not been, I emailed them last night politely asking when they would round to investigate further and currently awaiting a reply.

Obviously with the current stormy weather I would like this resolved ASAP and have considered going with another roofer, however I am aware I need to be reasonable and allow the original roofers to resolve the issue satisfactory, but it feels like it's getting difficult to do that, after reporting the leak again on 3/6/20 I have not had anyone come to investigate.

I have considered letter before action should they not reply earlier on but they have since the latest incident so can't use that just yet.

Any advice/recommondations would be appreciated.

Thanks!