New roof installation - structural problems incurred

[Jonesinrome]

Hi,

Currently having a new roof installed and they have found rotten timbers and some structural issues. They have done the front side already which also had issues and have asked for an additional 1k to cover the extra work and materials involved with changing some of the timber and adding some insulation. The front side took 3 days in total.

The back side is much bigger, about double the size and they said it looks a lot worse and they may need to hire a structural engineer. They said all the rafters might need replacing as well as the gable wall end, he said it's difficult to price but is going to be a lot of extra work and it will be a big cost.

Could someone look at the pictures and tell me how bad it looks, and what kind of extra cost this is going to incur. Feeling quite worried about this as was not expecting that there would be big structural problems. This is the first time I have used these builders, they seem to be trustworthy.

Many Thanks fo your help and advice

 

[Mr Chibs]

I'm not a roofer, but some years ago, found myself in a similar situation, don't go worrying over this.

I replaced the roof timbers, added restraints etc and the 'loose' bits of the gable wall was knocked down and rebuilt. I was dreading this but it was fairly straightforward.

Mine was an old property and the gable was single skin.

What are the structural problems they have found?
What have the roofers 'done' on the other side?

 

[Jonesinrome]

Hi,

Thanks very much for your reply and reassurance.

Yes it is also an old property about 150 years and I don't know when the roof was last changed.
On the other side they just changed some of the rotting timbers and treated others, then added breathable membrane and natural slate tiles.

He said a lot of the timbers at the back are twisted or bowed out of shape, so either they will reinforce them or they may all need replacing, I think he feels unconfident in making this decision himself as he will be liable if it's wrong so wants to get a structural engineer in for a second opinion, which will add to the cost and time.

I want to do it properly, but just worried about cost building up quickly, as a new roof with all these added extras is so expensive already and I had to do it now as had a leak issues that I had hired multiple roofers to fix with no success over the past year. Obviously a new roof has been over due but I only moved into it 5 years ago.

I will try not to stress about it, just hope it ends up being more straightforward like you say.

 

[kp00110]

Sounds to me like he wants to do a proper job vs. ripping you off for unneccasary work. Would you be happy if timbers ok but twisted, and you get a bit of a wavy roof, maybe slates dont sit as nice etc?

 

[datarebal]

It's not the first time the roof has been stripped.
150 years you would expect timbers different to modern properties .
There are some repairs needed but not shocking .simple in fact .
Some careful packing will limit waveyness . Any pictures of the side that finished ? It'll tell a lot

 

[Jonesinrome]

Thanks, Yes, I'm not sure why it would be so much worse to the other side as it looked similar underneath. The finished product looks really good at the front.

 

[Koolpc]

If in doubt, get an SE in to check it over first. Well worth the cost.

 

[datarebal]

Certainly some work is required , mainly around the brick gable end and chimney .
The side that has been done has a very short rafter and any historic distortion would be small. this makes it easy to slate.
To slate an uneven roof takes a fair bit of skill and more time.

Do you know what slate was used on the roof so far?

 

[Jonesinrome]

Thanks for your reply. It was natural slate at the front and synthetic slate at the back. We are being quoted an extra £15500 to fix these remedial works on top of the original 12k quote, this includes a temporary roof scaffolding, treat old timbers, add new ridge board, add timbers next to original timbers to support, fit new struts, new supports in loft space, add insulation to existing to bring up to spec, re build gable end and add wall tiles, fit barge board up gable end . Seems huge. Going to get a structural engineer for a second opinion.

 

[datarebal]

a temp roof can be a few thousand, your kind of stuck

which natural slate? there will be a label on the pallet

 

[Jonesinrome]

Spanish

 

[Jonesinrome]

a temp roof can be a few thousand, your kind of stuck

which natural slate? there will be a label on the pallet

Spanish

 

[Koolpc]

I had spanish slate put on our roof several years ago. (Sold house few years ago)....it looked lovely.

 

[datarebal]

I can see they are Spanish ...