Hiring a carpenter for a roof

[davidmiller]

Hello. I'm a bit naive about woodwork things, so bear with me.
I'm really struggling to get a roofer to even quote for a job. The ones I've spoken to do the tile and batten bit and get a carpenter in to cut the roof. But don't even turn up to give a price.
So I'm thinking about going straight to the chippy.
I'm not sure if many carpenters take on roofing jobs so do I ring some up on the off chance or try and find someone with roofing in thier advert/business cards etc. Any other advice would be welcome. Cheers.

 

[blup]

Is it a new roof on, say, a diy extension, or a replacement roof?

If you have no contacts or recommendations, it can be almost impossible to get the right person willing to take on a small or unusual job. Trawl through mybuilder or similar, some perfectly good tradesmen advertise there (certainly the younger generation) and there are smaller firms that offer building and carpentry services. What may seem straightforward to you might be flagged up by a builder as being unusual, difficult (hidden costs) or out of the ordinary, they are sensitive souls and have to like you and the job.

Good luck!

Blup

 

[Deleted member 174758]

They are two very different trades with different tools and different skills, so I think you'll struggle to find someone who is competent and experienced in both carpentry and roofing. I'm not saying they don't exist, just that they are rare.

Consider this, us wood butchers build the roof structure (cut roof or truss roof, or composite, or flat roof, etc) which can include box gutters and valley gutters, balconies, extra trimmers for Veluxes, etc and we even ply it (sarking boards). Some of this work can be done by either trade (e.g. trimmers, valley gutters, installing Veluxes, etc), but other stuff requires tools and materials which are unfamiliar for many chippies (e.g. lead, mortar pargings, slates, etc). I've worked on my own roofs (cleaved stone, slate and tile plus flat roofs), but there's a world of difference between DIYing on your own house and taking on a job that you have to guarantee

Additionally, you are in the worst time of year to find a chippy - mid-July to mid-September is the "happy time", when every school, college and university in the country closes down - and they all want repair, refurbishment and refitting work done before the new term starts, which means that there's a lot of competition for labour (and that the rates go up - this week I've been offered more to be on the tools than some site managers get, and more than I ever earned as a joinery foreman)

 

[Notch7]

Hello. I'm a bit naive about woodwork things, so bear with me.
I'm really struggling to get a roofer to even quote for a job. The ones I've spoken to do the tile and batten bit and get a carpenter in to cut the roof. But don't even turn up to give a price.
So I'm thinking about going straight to the chippy.
I'm not sure if many carpenters take on roofing jobs so do I ring some up on the off chance or try and find someone with roofing in thier advert/business cards etc. Any other advice would be welcome. Cheers.

are there any extensions going on around you nearby?

if so drop in and ask the builder -and if he says "oh yeah John does all our roofs", then you can ring John and say "I got your number from Bob, could you come and pitch a roof for me"

networking


In every area, tradesmen all know each other

 

[davidmiller]

Thanks fellas. I'll just have to get busy looking. Not ready for the roof yet but could do with a quote or two.