Roof repair quote - re-bedding verge and ridge tiles

charlesmilani

Hello.

I have some repair work that needs doing on the roof of my house - a 2 bedroom semi-detached in the home counties area and have had a few quotes in but the price seems on the very high side of what I was expecting.

The repair work is: mortar on the gable end verge is cracking and coming away (parts are sticking out after the storm earlier in the year) and the ridge tiles need re-bedding as the mortar is stating to fail (one came off in the same storm). The barge boards on the gable end also needs replacing as they are wooden have have some cracks in them. All tiles and other parts of the fascias and soffits are in fine condition.

So quotes to re-bed the verge tiles at the gable end, re-bed the ridge tiles, and replace the barge board have come in at £3100, £3300. The two quotes both include scaffolding as the access is a bit tricky, but even including the scaffolding (maybe £1000?) the prices seem pretty high. Wondering whether it's not a particularly desirable job so are pricing it high. Seems half or more of the price of an entirely new roof?

I did ask for another quote but haven't heard anything from that roofer - he seemed to be more cautious in what needs replacing saying not to commit to re-bedding the ridge tiles or replacing the barge board until he knows for sure it needs to be done.

I'm struggling to know if I should go ahead with the work or whether I'm missing something - wondered whether anyone had any opinions on it.

Thanks!

FreeBear

charlesmilani said: So quotes to re-bed the verge tiles at the gable end, re-bed the ridge tiles, and replace the barge board have come in at £3100, £3300. The two quotes both include scaffolding as the access is a bit tricky, but even including the scaffolding (maybe £1000?) the prices seem pretty high. Wondering whether it's not a particularly desirable job so are pricing it high. Seems half or more of the price of an entirely new roof?

To strip, refelt, and refit the original tiles, I would expect quotes to come in at £7-10K. Scaffolding would be a fair chunk of that cost, so look at doing any other high level work at the same time (i.e. painting the exterior).

Whilst some of the ridge tiles may come off without damage, there is a very good chance that most of them will get broken in the process along with a few of the tiles. This means that most (all ?) of them will need to be replaced. But done right, they should last 75-100 years before needing any more work. Just don't use a dry ridge system - At best, the plastic components have a working life of 25 years, and some are not even lasting that long.

In the current climate, £3-3.5K doesn't sound too bad for the Home Counties.

charlesmilani

Thanks for your reply, that makes me feel a bit better about it.

Looking at the felt from the loft space, it looks in decent condition (no daylight or visible holes anywhere) but thinking about your above answer, is it unwise to spend £3k re-bedding the tiles if at some point soon the felt will need doing too? The house is 30 years old and the roof is the original and the felt original, too. Is the felt likely to last much longer? The tiles are concrete tiles so I'm guessing they have quite a bit longer to last - the roofer said they would last a lot longer, although I didn't think to ask about the felt.

FreeBear

Concrete tiles have an estimated life span of 30-60 years. Your roof covering could be coming up for replacement, or it could last another 50 years. Personally, if the existing tiles are still in good condition, I wouldn't bother stripping the roof just to replace the felt.