Roofing advice needed, Please help!!

14 years ago

Hello Everyone,

Me and my partner are currently buying a house, It is a house that backdates to the early 20th century and is a Mid Terraced house in a block of 3 houses.

We have just had the survey done on the house and there is a couple of points that are concerning us and would be really grateful if you could let me know your thoughts and any advice on how major or minor the work is that is required!!!

The survey report reads as is below,

The roof is formed with conventional timber rafters supporting the coverings, the roof structure appears in satisfactory order for it's age with no significant defects. A snow covering has restricted the inspection of the front slope and extension roof. The roof tiles are in need of a comprehensive over-haul. Several tiles are broken and have spalled (eroded) and should be renewed. A fair number of tiles appear to be disintegrating as viewed within the roof space, it may well be more cost effective to replace the roof covering at this stage. The roof is unlined which is not unusual for a property of this age, however, as the roof coverings are nearing the end of their life span, aligning should be introduced when the work is carried out. Mortar has been applied under the roof covering to improve it's weather proofing, it is an old approach to keeping water out but is not an effective solution in the long term, this is virtually all worn away. Action - you should obtain quotations for repairing/and replacing the roof coverings.

Is this serious? Any ideas on the cost of the work needed? Should we be concerned???

I would like to thankyou in advance for any opinions or advice given!!!

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Comments (4)

karen_belle
14 years ago
Is the roof covered with clay tiles or slate shingles?
andrewt11cky
Original Author
14 years ago
I think they are clay tiles, but I am not 100% sure, Does it make a massive difference to our situation??
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karen_belle
14 years ago
Replacing clay tiles might be hard - don't know how easy it is to find them, especially if the profile you have is unusual. So you might be biting off an entirely new roof.

Your deed restrictions might require that you reroof with clay tiles - something to check.

There are new products out that look like clay tiles but are not, and they may be right for you.

Your lender might be concerned about the comments about the roof needing attention. It would be good to get a couple of roofing companies out to provide estimates.
lido
14 years ago
First off, if the roof is snow-covered, how can it be inspected properly?

We've lived in a house that had a clay tile roof. Our roof sprung 1 leak and we were able to repair a 6 ft x 6 ft area very successfully. You can work on them in small sections. Clay tile roofs should NEVER be worked on by someone who isn't a specialist in them. You should never remove clay tiles, which are held in place by nails, and reinstall tiles by punching new nail holes in the roof....the old nail holes are the spots for new leaks. Ludowici in Ohio makes new clay tiles, but since you are in the UK, you probably don't care about that.

You need a tile roof specialist. I would not rely AT ALL on what that inspection report says - tile roofs are special and need experienced people working on them.