I live in an older semi detached. Recently my neighbour had a new roof, which joins onto ours. I can;t actually see my roof from my Garden so didn't really know what had been done. I had it ll checkced over about a year ago because of its age, my builder said it was fine and should last a while yet.
Last week I had a water patch appear in a bedroom and some wet beams in the loft. These were directly under the roof valley, not near the join between the two houses, so I didn't assume it was connected to the work that had been done. I was just about to phone a builder to talk about a valley replacement
then my other neighbour (from now on, the good neighbour) asked today "are you aware there is still a lot of crap on your roof from when the work was done".
1) The valley is full of old tiles and concrete
2) There are tiles missing from under the ridge
3) We agreed to remove a chimney at the same time the roof was being done... that's the uneven patch towards the other end
I have spoken to them, rather politely and they are going to get the roofers back to take a look - Personally I think it now needs a whole new valley, repairs to the timbers in the loft, and redecoration of the room below - but what can I realistic expect them to do? and what are the options if they don't play ball. I want to keep it civil if possible
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Kinda wish I had made more effort to check the work before they left, but the bits off roof I could see looked fine.
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That valley looks like a pile of arse. What's going on with the flashing? Is it still underneath and lapped on the hidden tiles or just boded and overlaid on top?
It has been windy of late though. Best keep it civil, but don't drop any buzzwords like wind in though. Keep it civil before you detonate their car.
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What's going on with the ridging on the left as well? What were the previous tiles? Is there any flashing under that concrete? Where is it leaking from? The ridge?
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"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
They may have patched the area that looked shoddy, and cleaned up the mess that they'd originally left behind, but that might not have been the point of ingress (despite the appearances).
The other issue is I changed home insurance 2 weeks ago. Do I go to the insurer from when the roof was done, or the insurer from when we found the leak?
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If it was my place and I had a mortgage on it, I'd be out there on the scaffold or a ladder at the end of each night while they were doing the work. Trust no one.
That is a sticky spot for the insurance. Your best bet would probably to get your own reputable and experienced roofer mate in to have a look. You need to make one fast! Or get up there on a ladder with a standoff for a closer look.
At the moment I still feel an independent assessment of the work already carried out is the fairest next step. if it is my roof just being old, fair enough. Although I suspect the independent assessment will confirm I have been fucked over
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It should really have had a bonded gutter with flashing going under tiles on both sides for completely mismatched thickness tiles, but that is a lot of flashing and work. Much easier to slap a load of mortar on there
Get in touch with building control and get an inspector out from the Council, that way the neighbour knows it's impartial or use your Uncle, they are not to know and he'll be able to tell you in three seconds. You have been fucked over, if the timber isn't soft, it's a new leak.
But how long is that join between roofs going to last? 5 - 10 years absolute tops. at some point in that time I will need to replace the join between the whole roof if I want any piece of mind
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