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Hi
Not sure if anyone on here can help but we need a roofer to do several repairs to our 1912 mid terrace with a valley. It had a new roof put in roughly 16 years ago with a Velux window.
The main problems are:
The first roofer stated the lead valley had hairline cracks in it. - we had had that cromapoled only 3 years ago and the pointing down the sides redone for £320, so I wasn't too pleased that it needed doing again already.
He also utterly condemned the roofer's work from next door, saying they should never have put in a bonding gutter between two terraced roofs and that the roofer's hadn't tied the felting across to our roof and it was flapping down, waiting to leak in the future.
He said they should have taken 1 metre of tiles off on both sides to overlap the felting and tile across both roofs.
He said he couldn't take out the bonding gutter now it was done though but could correct the felting for £500.
The second roofer was an 'old timer' sort who went up in my loft on my request and said the felting and roof overall was fine and he suspected the problem to be the lead valley cracks and pointing and that it really needed replacing but he could cromapol it again if we wished. He agreed that the fascia needed replacing too. He mentioned lead being more expensive than fibreglass and quoted for fibreglass in the end.
The third roofers mainly talked about a garden they'd just done and confirmed the second roofer's analysis but didn't see a problem with the bonding gutter at the front. Instead they said the front gutter was dipping and needing sorting out.
The fourth roofer with loads of 5 star reviews from Yell, said we had loose ridge tiles and picked one up in his hand and said we might as well replace the full 5 metre strip for £660 (which was an additional issue we never expected and no one else mentioned).
He also wants £960 to replace the valley with fibreglass and £460 to do the rear fascia and gutter, so about Two grand!!!
He also said there had been several poor repairs on tiles, with cement holding broken tiles together and that the ridge tiles had likely come away as the previous roofers had watered down the pointing mix, instead of doing 3 parts sand to one part cement and that it was a common thing. I don't get why anyone would skimp like that on cheap materials and suspect that's another scare tactic.
So my other half wants me to get on and hire someone but I don't know who's opinion to trust as the only thing they agree on is the valley and fascia needing work.
I'd really like a new lead valley too over fibreglass, which they're only giving a 10 yr guarantee on but don't know how much more that would be and what is the deal with old lead recycling? Do roofers make money on that? Is that why they'd like to replace it? Can't lead be properly repaired?
Help?
Not sure if anyone on here can help but we need a roofer to do several repairs to our 1912 mid terrace with a valley. It had a new roof put in roughly 16 years ago with a Velux window.
The main problems are:
- a long horizontal damp patch along the landing ceiling that separates the landing from the rear large bathroom (that may once have been a third bedroom). Had dripping water coming from the light fitting, in the middle of the landing 3 months ago, after the first rain after next door's roof had been redone. Then recently, in the corner of the landing meeting the bathroom (after their roofers had come back to repoint a bonding gutter they had put in between our two roofs.).
- we also have damp patch horizontally along the upper external wall of the bathroom where the guttering is. We have seen that the old wooden fascia is rotten and is leaking water behind it. All the lining paper is wrinkly in the bathroom too.
The first roofer stated the lead valley had hairline cracks in it. - we had had that cromapoled only 3 years ago and the pointing down the sides redone for £320, so I wasn't too pleased that it needed doing again already.
He also utterly condemned the roofer's work from next door, saying they should never have put in a bonding gutter between two terraced roofs and that the roofer's hadn't tied the felting across to our roof and it was flapping down, waiting to leak in the future.
He said they should have taken 1 metre of tiles off on both sides to overlap the felting and tile across both roofs.
He said he couldn't take out the bonding gutter now it was done though but could correct the felting for £500.
The second roofer was an 'old timer' sort who went up in my loft on my request and said the felting and roof overall was fine and he suspected the problem to be the lead valley cracks and pointing and that it really needed replacing but he could cromapol it again if we wished. He agreed that the fascia needed replacing too. He mentioned lead being more expensive than fibreglass and quoted for fibreglass in the end.
The third roofers mainly talked about a garden they'd just done and confirmed the second roofer's analysis but didn't see a problem with the bonding gutter at the front. Instead they said the front gutter was dipping and needing sorting out.
The fourth roofer with loads of 5 star reviews from Yell, said we had loose ridge tiles and picked one up in his hand and said we might as well replace the full 5 metre strip for £660 (which was an additional issue we never expected and no one else mentioned).
He also wants £960 to replace the valley with fibreglass and £460 to do the rear fascia and gutter, so about Two grand!!!
He also said there had been several poor repairs on tiles, with cement holding broken tiles together and that the ridge tiles had likely come away as the previous roofers had watered down the pointing mix, instead of doing 3 parts sand to one part cement and that it was a common thing. I don't get why anyone would skimp like that on cheap materials and suspect that's another scare tactic.
So my other half wants me to get on and hire someone but I don't know who's opinion to trust as the only thing they agree on is the valley and fascia needing work.
I'd really like a new lead valley too over fibreglass, which they're only giving a 10 yr guarantee on but don't know how much more that would be and what is the deal with old lead recycling? Do roofers make money on that? Is that why they'd like to replace it? Can't lead be properly repaired?
Help?
Last edited:
, the actual damp is directly below the valley, not the ridge tiles. 
No roofer did that work. There was no need for it.