15 year old house requires completely new roof

threlfaw

Over the last couple of years we have noticed chunks of roof tiles falling to the ground and recently the issue appears to have gotten worse.
On further inspection by a couple of roofers the situation is pretty bad and rather then repair the damaged tiles and ridge they have advised that the whole roof is replaced with a better tile. The tiles are of substandard quality and have been imported from Turkey we believe, they are not of British Standard or have no stamps to suggest they are.
They literally crumble in your hand, every tile that was pulled off the roof splits and breaks, I'm surprised more haven't fallen to be honest.
So after a rather large quote to complete the job I was wondering if there is anyone to blame for this.
I believe the house to be approx.15 years old and I have lived there for almost 8 years. Is this not something that should have been identified when the Building Survey was performed on mortgage application? A roof should last at least 30 years and I would never have expected to replace on in such a relative short space of time.

k3lvc

Is it only your house or is it an estate where others are having the same issue ?

Irrespective it's unlikely anyone is 'to blame' and even less likely that you'll get anyone else to pay for it. If there was no visible damage to tiles at the time of survey then a surveyor isn't going to check the provenance of the tiles

30yrs isn't an unreasonable expectation but plenty will be either side of that and 15yrs isn't a short period - especially at a time when profit comes before quality

It falls to you now whether you're going to stay there and therefore make the best job of it, or whether you're not going to recoup the costs so just get repairs done

Bendy_House

15 years isn't a short period?! That's the BARE minimum for even a THATCHED roof, and a tiled one should be good for 50+ years.

Whether someone can be held accountable is another matter. 

Threlfaw, do you have LP on your house insurance? I wonder if they could guide you as to your options? I wonder if even your insurance could cover this? Unlikely, but this ISN'T wear and tear, it's clearly a faulty product.

Do you know - or can you find out - who built your house, and if they are still around?

I don't know if roof coverings needed to meet a certain BS 15 years ago, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did.

And the builder got these tiles from somewhere, most likely a builders merchants, so THEY would almost certainly have had some comeback on these too? Unless your dodgy builder sourced these independently, from an equally dodgy site...

Photos? And as asked above, anyone else will similar tiles in the 'hood?

Section62

threlfaw said:

So after a rather large quote to complete the job I was wondering if there is anyone to blame for this.

Either or both of -

1) The person who specified the tiles.

2) The person responsible for checking the specified tiles had been supplied.

Neither of which is of any use to you now in relation to getting financial 'compensation' or similar.

At a guess, it might be that cheap imported tiles were used which weren't made to be sufficiently resistant to frost.  Repeated freeze/thaw causes the surface to 'spall', exposing the (typically) more porous core of the tile to an increased degree of freeze/thaw.  An early warning sign is seeing larger quantities of 'flakes' of tile in the gutters.

GDB2222

"I wonder if even your insurance could cover this? Unlikely, but this ISN'T wear and tear, it's clearly a faulty product."

Buildings insurance covers against specific perils, eg fire, flood, subsidence. Faulty roof tiles won't be covered, I'm afraid. In any case, policies normally exclude deterioration over a period of time from cover. 

threlfaw

Thanks for the replies.
I'd already spoken to my insurance and a surveyor came to take a look and he said immediately that it isn't covered as it is wear and tear and a cheap, ineffective product.
The house was built as a part of a two house project by the land owner who lives behind my property. I don't want to go accusing him of being responsible. As far as I'm aware he created a small building company which consisted of him and a few other  people who built them both. They obviously sourced 'used' or imported tiles and they are completely substandard.

threlfaw

Some Pics:

GDB2222

threlfaw said:

Thanks for the replies.
I'd already spoken to my insurance and a surveyor came to take a look and he said immediately that it isn't covered as it is wear and tear and a cheap, ineffective product.
The house was built as a part of a two house project by the land owner who lives behind my property. I don't want to go accusing him of being responsible. As far as I'm aware he created a small building company which consisted of him and a few other  people who built them both. They obviously sourced 'used' or imported tiles and they are completely substandard.

He quite possibly was responsible for the choice of tiles, but you can't sue him. 

Can I ask whether the other house also has problems with the tiles? You might get a slightly lower price if both houses are done at the same time.

threlfaw

GDB2222 said:

threlfaw said:

Thanks for the replies.
I'd already spoken to my insurance and a surveyor came to take a look and he said immediately that it isn't covered as it is wear and tear and a cheap, ineffective product.
The house was built as a part of a two house project by the land owner who lives behind my property. I don't want to go accusing him of being responsible. As far as I'm aware he created a small building company which consisted of him and a few other  people who built them both. They obviously sourced 'used' or imported tiles and they are completely substandard.

He quite possibly was responsible for the choice of tiles, but you can't sue him. 

Can I ask whether the other house also has problems with the tiles? You might get a slightly lower price if both houses are done at the same time.

Funny you ask, the neighbour came over yesterday to speak to the roofers to ask their availability for similar work!

stuart45

It's a really steep pitch and the brickwork is done in Flemish bond. Makes the house look quite old.

Bendy_House

Yes. It's a real shame it's such poor tile, because it looks stunning. Apart from all the dodgy bits.

Yup - not a cheap roof to replace :-(