Roof leak? Builder misdiagnosed problem

[Severeign]

A while back our roof developed a leak which saw water dripping through the ceiling where the bay window meets the house. I hired a building company who said that it appeared to be due to the state of the flat roof on the bay window, they stripped that roof and installed a new roof. The very next day there was heavy rain and water came pouring through the ceiling in the exact same place as it had done before. The final bill for that job was over £1000 and yet I’m no closer to having the problem fixed than I was before the work was done. To be fair to the company they have been cooperative and have agreed to come and investigate further but my question is about where I stand given that there is an outstanding bill for work that didn’t need doing and hasn’t solved the problem. All thoughts and advice gratefully received.

 

[opps]

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[oldbutnotdead]

Anything in writing? If the job quoted for was to fix the leak then they haven't fulfilled the contract. I suspect the job quoted for was to reroof the bay window- which they've done but unless the leak has a different cause (water in the cavity from failed tiles/felt, overflowing gutter, blocked bay window drain) they haven't performed the job satisfactorily so they need to come back and either fix their work (good odds they haven't flashed it properly to the wall) or find the real cause (which, sadly for you, would probably be chargeable)

 

[blup]

They said it appeared to be the roof, if it's something else, you haven't got a leg to stand on. Worth getting an independent surveyor's report to diagnose the cause. As an example a neighbour, many years ago, got a builder to look at water that was seeping through a retaining wall. The wall was replaced at a cost of £15,000 and a couple of months later the problem returned. It was a leaking lead pipe. If he had a plumber out it probably would have been diagnosed correctly, or at least the possibility of a leak might have been raised.

Blup

 

[diy_fun_uk]

They said it appeared to be the roof, if it's something else, you haven't got a leg to stand on. Worth getting an independent surveyor's report to diagnose the cause. As an example a neighbour, many years ago, got a builder to look at water that was seeping through a retaining wall. The wall was replaced at a cost of £15,000 and a couple of months later the problem returned. It was a leaking lead pipe. If he had a plumber out it probably would have been diagnosed correctly, or at least the possibility of a leak might have been raised.

Blup

I had this exact thing (or close) in a BTL years back. Damp patch on wall. 3 x quotes. One company said it was rising damp, quoted £3k to repair. Other two said leaking downpipe on external wall was causing the issue. Got this repaired (can't recall cost, was prob £300ish) and over next few weeks, wall dried out.

I agree it'll be nigh on impossible to get anything back from them. Whether they genuinely thought their repair would solve the issue or not, all they need to say is 'in our opinion we concluded this was the correct course of action.'

 

[mrrusty]

So, single bay window with flat roof. I'll make a guess - window directly above. as @oldbutnotdead says above, a likely source of leaks is the corners of the window above. In theory anything getting in to the wall should run out above the bay roof either over a lead tray in a solid wall, or a cavity tray, or a lead cavity tray, but if that has failed, water getting in to the wall above around the window will appear exactly where you describe.

 

[datarebal]

Picture

 

[^woody^]

You instructed them "to determine and fix the leak". They didn't.

Instead, on the advice of a 'professional, expert firm' £1000 of unnecessary work was done.

The work is incomplete and therefore the invoice should not have been issued and should not be paid until the correct work is done and the fault resolved.

Then you want a new invoice to reflect the cost of rectifying the original/ actual cause only.

 

[datarebal]

To be fair to the company they have been cooperative and have agreed to come and investigate further

See how it goes they might be an good company and deal with it.