Roofing (ridge/dry ridge? etc.)

Hub_prores1

I have recently moved to a new property, and need to do some work on the ridges. For reference, we have 96 ridges and everyone who's provided a quote has said it's ~2 days work.

So far, I've got 3 quotes and they're all wildly different, so I hope someone can help sense check these a bit!! Thanks in advance for the help.

Company 1: 
- £1300 for dry ridge (using existing tiles)
- £750 to repoint ridge
- £1150 to rebed ridge
- £190 to repoint the valley
- £200-300 for new ridges (depending on choice)

Company 2: 
- £4650 for dry ridge (using new tiles), changing any other broken tiles, repointing the valley and the lead flashing.

Company 3: 
- £8800 for dry ridge (using new tiles), would require scaffolding. 10 year guarantee included.

Please help - very confused..!

tacpot12

There is nothing obviously wrong with Company 1's quote, but what do you know about them? 

Have you checked out their reviews and their information on Companies House, e.g. turnover, number of directors, director's addresses, etc.

Can you get a reference for them from a customer from about a year ago? (Ask to see the customer's payment into their bank account, and ask the customer for their reciept and check the amounts match up to stop any funny business.)  This delay means that any faults in the work will have had time to show themselves, and the date of the transaction can't be forged easily. 

FreeBear

Hub_prores1 said: Company 1: 
- £1300 for dry ridge (using existing tiles)
- £750 to repoint ridge
- £1150 to rebed ridge
- £190 to repoint the valley
- £200-300 for new ridges (depending on choice)

Unlikely that the ridge tiles could be reused if they are bedded down on mortar. Had to have all new tiles when I had my ridges done.

Did have a few companies quoting for dry ridge, but I'm skeptical about the longevity of the fixings. Based on comments from a few other roofers, they were claiming to having to go back and redo dry ridges after 10-15 years. My ridges, bedded in on mortar had lasted ~100 years, so it shouldn't need doing again until 2120 at the earliest.

Hub_prores1

tacpot12 said:

There is nothing obviously wrong with Company 1's quote, but what do you know about them? 

Have you checked out their reviews and their information on Companies House, e.g. turnover, number of directors, director's addresses, etc.

Can you get a reference for them from a customer from about a year ago? (Ask to see the customer's payment into their bank account, and ask the customer for their reciept and check the amounts match up to stop any funny business.)  This delay means that any faults in the work will have had time to show themselves, and the date of the transaction can't be forged easily. 

Will check Companies House, that's a good idea. I know they're quite a new company, but could still ask to see previous work or get references (just a bit harder to check for longevity!), but thanks for this!

FreeBear said:

Hub_prores1 said: Company 1: 
- £1300 for dry ridge (using existing tiles)
- £750 to repoint ridge
- £1150 to rebed ridge
- £190 to repoint the valley
- £200-300 for new ridges (depending on choice)

Unlikely that the ridge tiles could be reused if they are bedded down on mortar. Had to have all new tiles when I had my ridges done.

Did have a few companies quoting for dry ridge, but I'm skeptical about the longevity of the fixings. Based on comments from a few other roofers, they were claiming to having to go back and redo dry ridges after 10-15 years. My ridges, bedded in on mortar had lasted ~100 years, so it shouldn't need doing again until 2120 at the earliest.

Even though our roof is only 30 years old the mortar is crumbling *badly*. Parts have already been repointed by previous owners, but one of the roofers (from Company 2) was just able to pick tiles straight up off the main ridge with no resistance! 

Company 1 did say there may well be tiles which broke/would need to be replaced - but they quoted for new tiles as well. Company 2 said it might be possible to use existing tiles but they wouldn't recommend it due to likely breakage, so their quote is only for new tiles.

I share your skepticism about the longevity of fixings for a dry ridge system - but also our mortar seems to have barely lasted, so it's definitely an option we're considering. 

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Overall I think I'm just confused at how different the quotes are for theoretically similar jobs (with the exception of the scaffolding). Maybe the best option is to go back to the companies and ask for breakdowns of the quotes, so we can understand more about labour/material costs (etc). to get a bit more of a comparison?!

Thanks for all the help!