yeah, he isnt actually saying that -but if they wot allow it then thats an alarm bell for sure
its odd really, people spend less time looking at a house to buy for £500k than they do researching reviews on amazon for a frying pan
Should I be worried about buying a house with this roof?
- Thread starter JPE23
- Start date
its odd really, people spend less time looking at a house to buy for £500k than they do researching reviews on amazon for a frying pan
Sponsored Links
Amazon reviews are for comedic value only.yeah, he isnt actually saying that -but if they wot allow it then thats an alarm bell for sure
its odd really, people spend less time looking at a house to buy for £500k than they do researching reviews on amazon for a frying pan
However, the whole point of instructing a surveyor is to get comment on the condition, state of repair, life and costs of repair up-keep, and then make a decision on that professional's opinion - including getting clarification.
I would not want a surveyor carrying out a survey and then random prospective buyers traipsing around nit picking what their instructed surveyor has already commented on.
It's been surveyed. There are no leaks or immediate repairs, however the roof covering is clearly near life end, costs of which should be allowed for in the offer. I don't know what's so difficult.
Have to agree.
The roof / loft condition is very similar to the place I bought a few years ago. I’m resigned to the fact that it needs replacing and probably sooner than I’d like. If it’s any help to the OP then seeing daylight is not an issue per se and allows for a breezy loft which keeps condensation down. Driving rain can seep in but dries out quickly.
I’ll be doing a loft conversion at some point but if it doesn’t last that long then an early replacement roof will have to happen.
How much do you like the house and location?
Very much but compared to the sold prices nearby AND the fact that most of our initial surplus will be taken up with sorting the roof (on any level) we still think we might be paying too much and we won’t have much spare to do the other things we’d planned prior to knowing the roof is effed.
Sponsored Links
The roof won’t all fail at once. You can very easily replace tiles one at a time and from the inside too (small perks I guess) so you can eek out the lifespan. It’s what we’re having to do as other building work zapped all our money.
I guess the way the market is you can make a cheeky offer taking into account all the issues and what you want to do and see what they say.
I guess the way the market is you can make a cheeky offer taking into account all the issues and what you want to do and see what they say.
- Joined
- 17 May 2012
- Messages
- 10,814
- Reaction score
- 859
- Country
My roof is 88 years old and I can see some daylight in spots, but nothing leaks. Maybe if there was a horizonal rain then some might get in, but in 5 years not seen anything to concern me.
You could always ask to knock 5k off for needed roof repairs, might get lucky.
- Joined
- 7 Sep 2022
- Messages
- 2,964
- Reaction score
- 781
- Country
Stunning lack of insulation byw
People may not know their roof leaks because it soaks into somewhere relatively invisible
How desperately do you want the house?
They'll let their surveyor in the loft but not your preferred builder? Odd
People may not know their roof leaks because it soaks into somewhere relatively invisible
How desperately do you want the house?
With a clay tiled roof of that age, a surveyors report will always say its reaching the end of its life and needs replacing. The reality is that unless the roof leaks or lots of tiles are starting to crack, then the roof has still got plenty of years left in it.
Torching falling off is normal for a roof of that age, and as there is no felt or membrane there will be light gaps. Our 100 year old+ roof is exactly the same and doesn't leak. The surveyors report on our house when it was sold in the early 80s said the roof was at the end of its life. The surveyors report when we bought the house in 2010 said that the roof was at the end of its life. Twelve years later i've not had to replace one tile, it doesn't leak, and when we had an extension a few years ago that was joined into the old roof, the roofer's opinion was that it was good for another 20 years+.
Torching falling off is normal for a roof of that age, and as there is no felt or membrane there will be light gaps. Our 100 year old+ roof is exactly the same and doesn't leak. The surveyors report on our house when it was sold in the early 80s said the roof was at the end of its life. The surveyors report when we bought the house in 2010 said that the roof was at the end of its life. Twelve years later i've not had to replace one tile, it doesn't leak, and when we had an extension a few years ago that was joined into the old roof, the roofer's opinion was that it was good for another 20 years+.
Whilst I genuinely appreciate the time you’ve taken to post this message, it really doesn’t help. Just because YOUR roof doesn’t leak it doesn’t mean this roof won’t or doesn’t.
How much are your energy bills with such a crap roof? How much could they be if you decided to improve the roof? Do you have a usable roof space? Would you need to improve the roof if you wanted to have a usable roof space?
To me, it defies physics that a roof that allows light in doesn’t allow water in any volume. And I am certainly skeptical about pressing ahead with a purchase until I’ve had 2-3 quotes from roofers telling me their views.
I’m not just looking to “maintain” with the bare minimum.
How do you know there are no immediate repairs required? (This isn’t even the issue of the thread anyway)
Okay great, you’ve finally said something useful - the roof covering is near end of life - so how much is that to replace?
This appears to be the crux of your considerations so please let me know what the estimates come out at as I'd be very interested to find out!
Only one person has visited the property and the sellers didn’t like him and thought he was just touting for business. He quoted around £7000 to fix the specific list of repairs laid out by the surveyor, which were:
And around £16000 to completely replace the roof.
I was advised to get a range of quotes and as yet I’ve only had one, through no particular fault of my own. Roofers are extremely tricky to get to turn up and the vendors only gave me very strict timelines to work with (8-9am) which is entirely within their gift.
That's actually cheaper then I thought it would be so will be interesting to see any other estimates for your comparison.
Might be worth an exploratory call to the estate agent to see how open they think the vendors are to offers and give the reasons for market conditions plus the works etc. Nothing to lose
Might be worth an exploratory call to the estate agent to see how open they think the vendors are to offers and give the reasons for market conditions plus the works etc. Nothing to lose
I’ll ignore the aggressive response and have one more go.
Energy bills are all to do with insulation levels, not the roof type or age. It’s not a crap roof, just old, but needs insulating properly because it will be loosing lots of heat through the substandard insulation.
Light shines up hill, water doesn’t flow up hill. That’s why you can see daylight in places but water doesn’t get in.
Literally millions of houses in the uk built 80-100 years ago will have a roof like mine or the one in your photos, and they’re water tight.
it will be dirty and dusty in the roof space, because bits of torching falling off as sand and the lack of felt means that it will be draughty up there. But we store stuff up in the loft, just covered in dust sheets. It’s one of the compromises you make with owning an older property.
I think you need to get your head round the differences between a new house and an old house.
Because I'm sure you would have posted a picture or mentioned it along with your other surveyors comments.
I do know how much the roof would cost to replace, but I'm not going to say as you come across as ungrateful and arrogant so I don't really feel like helping you.
DIYnot Local
Staff member
If you need to find a tradesperson to get your job done, please try our local search below, or if you are doing it yourself you can find suppliers local to you.
Select the supplier or trade you require, enter your location to begin your search.
Are you a trade or supplier? You can create your listing free at DIYnot Local
Sponsored Links
