We're buying a late 1800s detached house, it's quite substantial but fairly simple in shape... a big square box with another long thin one attached (kitchen,etc).
The roof is original and when our surveyor phoned to give me the key points this is one thing he raised... propensity for sliding slates and possible "nail sickness" which I assume simply means the nails are rusting away and the slates are holding themselves in place? He mentioned the back-mortar is missing in many places or loose/crumbling.
There was a very bad gale over the winter and it survived but longer term is an issue. He mentioned one solution is to basically re-hang the slates... take them off, install new battening (address any hidden issues to the main timbers) and put them back on. I think I understand all that as a layman - is this basically the same as having a new roof except we reuse our slates so the job is the same size? Or is there a difference in approach? Other than cost issues (let's come on to that) what are the pros and cons? Can a roof be 'patched up' other than the odd slate or is it basically an all-or-nothing job?
Now, on to costs which is a factor as we've agreed a purchase price (north of £500k). My late parents had their roof replaced on a substantial Cornish farmhouse about 3 years ago. It's a very similar age and they had all the slates replaced brand new. I seem to recall it cost about £5000 with a local guy but I might be mistaken. Does that sound a reasonable kind of ball-park figure?
Back onto the re-hang vs brand new issue... how does this impact costs? You've got to buy new slates but then old ones are in demand for repairs and renovations. Our place is not listed so we can go brand new or do what we want.
Sorry for the long question but there's a fair bit of information. I would not necessarily say we want to go haggling on the price as it was quite clear the roof was old and would require maintenance... or should I? I'm not looking to find things to knock the price down, just after suggestions on likely costs and what others have/would do in this situation.
Cheers.
The roof is original and when our surveyor phoned to give me the key points this is one thing he raised... propensity for sliding slates and possible "nail sickness" which I assume simply means the nails are rusting away and the slates are holding themselves in place? He mentioned the back-mortar is missing in many places or loose/crumbling.
There was a very bad gale over the winter and it survived but longer term is an issue. He mentioned one solution is to basically re-hang the slates... take them off, install new battening (address any hidden issues to the main timbers) and put them back on. I think I understand all that as a layman - is this basically the same as having a new roof except we reuse our slates so the job is the same size? Or is there a difference in approach? Other than cost issues (let's come on to that) what are the pros and cons? Can a roof be 'patched up' other than the odd slate or is it basically an all-or-nothing job?
Now, on to costs which is a factor as we've agreed a purchase price (north of £500k). My late parents had their roof replaced on a substantial Cornish farmhouse about 3 years ago. It's a very similar age and they had all the slates replaced brand new. I seem to recall it cost about £5000 with a local guy but I might be mistaken. Does that sound a reasonable kind of ball-park figure?
Back onto the re-hang vs brand new issue... how does this impact costs? You've got to buy new slates but then old ones are in demand for repairs and renovations. Our place is not listed so we can go brand new or do what we want.
Sorry for the long question but there's a fair bit of information. I would not necessarily say we want to go haggling on the price as it was quite clear the roof was old and would require maintenance... or should I? I'm not looking to find things to knock the price down, just after suggestions on likely costs and what others have/would do in this situation.
Cheers.
