Slate roof replacement. Am I being screwed?

[Koolpc]

I remember when i had a bungalow's roof stripped etc. It had welsh slate on it. The roofer told me the whole lot was worth under £200. He said he would take that off of the bill.

The welsh slate was replaced with Spanish slate.

Anyway, i managed to get a hold of the people who buy the welsh slate as i heard my roofer talking about them.

They called round. Graded all the welsh slate and i pocketed just under £1k for the lot! This is going back approx 15 years ago now.

My roofer didnt say anything when he found out i had already sold them!

 

[catlad]

Am I being screwed over?

Yes!
Nobody in the right mind would change from real slate to man made fibre cement slates.
Keep your original slate and put them back on in 25yrs when your new roof is knackered.

 

[Notch7]

So this roofer came along and gave you what you considered a reasonable price. He tried to change to concrete but agreed with your wishes not to. He has carefully removed the slate tiles as opposed to just smashing them off (perhaps he has costed their resale value into the reasonable price ) and you are miffed because you think he is pulling a fast one but at the end of the day he is carrying out the contracted work, remove and dispose of tiles and replace with fibre cement slate. If I were him I would tell you to take a walk or to pay him for the extra time involved with carefully removing the existing tiles.

I’m sorry but you’ve missed the point.

The roofer advised the customer to have his roof stripped of high quality traditional Welsh slate and replace it with a fibre cement slate with a far shorter life span……and he did that because he knew he could make a couple of grand on it.

 

[Dereekoo]

I’m sorry but you’ve missed the point.

The roofer advised the customer to have his roof stripped of high quality traditional Welsh slate and replace it with a fibre cement slate with a far shorter life span……and he did that because he knew he could make a couple of grand on it.

And the customer was happy to accept the quote/proposals. If the roofer had just smashed the slates off or he had said I can get a bit of money for the removed slates which I will split with you this thread would not be happening

 

[Notch7]

And the customer was happy to accept the quote/proposals

The customer was falsely persuaded that the best option was to have the roof stripped of its Welsh slate and replaced with an artificial slate.

The roofer also told the customer that the existing slate could not be salvaged……so why did the roofer remove the slates without damaging them?


The customer might’ve been happy to accept the quote, but that was based on being given false advice.

If the roofer had just smashed the slates off or he had said I can get a bit of money for the removed slates which I will split with you this thread would not be happening

So what you are saying is had the roofer been honest and not said one thing and done another, the customer might not have twigged…..it’s not supporting your argument, is it?

I appreciate we often get householders coming on this forum accusing tradesmen of ripping them off when they aren’t, but this is not one of those occasions.


In my opinion the roofer should have discussed the 2 options, explaining the pros and cons of each:

1) removing the slate, then refitting with bought in extras as required
2) removing the slate then fitting new fibre cement slated

Personally I think re roofing with natural slate is the best option, I may be wrong but it would be nice to hear the opinion of a professional roofer what they think.

 

[JaguarShark]

And the customer was happy to accept the quote/proposals. If the roofer had just smashed the slates off or he had said I can get a bit of money for the removed slates which I will split with you this thread would not be happening

To be honest, this thread would not be happening if the roofer hadn't taken me for an idiot (which I admittedly was) and tried to take it one step further by changing the fibre cement slate to concrete tiles, which after one quick google, I can see requires planning permission and a structural engineer, so he outed himself as a dodgy tradesman. He nearly got away with it.

That prompted me to do more research, which led me to realise I was being ripped off and lied to about the slate.

He literally told me over the phone that the slate that they had carefully removed and stacked was only good for scrap. He didn't admit that he wanted it for another job until I told him I was going to keep it.

 

[colind86]

Sorry to be an added bearer to bad news, but permavent should be counter battened when using man made slates or a non breather underlay should have been used.

 

[colind86]

 

[JaguarShark]

Sorry to be an added bearer to bad news, but permavent should be counter battened when using man made slates or a non breather underlay should have been used.

Right, I knew there'd be corners cut. Thanks for flagging. How bad could this potentially be? They're giving a 25 year guarantee on the roof but that doesn't mean much to me after what's happened.

Realistically, should I be forking out and getting someone else to fix this disaster? Or should I keep a close eye on the roof in case of water damage? I'm guessing it will just mean that the battens could rot much quicker and the roof needs replacing again.

 

[colind86]

To be fair it’s expensive felt that’s been used but it’s likely to lead to condensation in your loft space. They specify you need cross flow ventilation and a non breather felt when using man made slates.

 

[blup]

So this roofer came along and gave you what you considered a reasonable price. He tried to change to concrete but agreed with your wishes not to. He has carefully removed the slate tiles as opposed to just smashing them off (perhaps he has costed their resale value into the reasonable price ) and you are miffed because you think he is pulling a fast one but at the end of the day he is carrying out the contracted work, remove and dispose of tiles and replace with fibre cement slate. If I were him I would tell you to take a walk or to pay him for the extra time involved with carefully removing the existing tiles.

Fair enough. but the sharp practice, or dishonesty if you will, is surely misrepresenting to the customer that the slate was of no value. They could have been largely re used, and with proper battening and felting, the roof would have become water tight again.

 

[JaguarShark]

To be fair it’s expensive felt that’s been used but it’s likely to lead to condensation in your loft space. They specify you need cross flow ventilation and a non breather felt when using man made slates.

Do you think I should get it redone? As in get someone to redo the battens or replace the felt?

Realistically, is this going to cause issues in the next 10 years?

 

[colind86]

Industry standards are industry standards! We don’t all agree with them and sometimes it’s overkill but they guarantee stuff. Permavent is a felt that requires no additional ventilation with all roofing tiles/ or natural slates. Just not fibre cements! As for will it cause problems in the next ten years… I can’t say yay or nay. It ll keep the water out but might bring the water in.

 

[JaguarShark]

Industry standards are industry standards! We don’t all agree with them and sometimes it’s overkill but they guarantee stuff. Permavent is a felt that requires no additional ventilation with all roofing tiles/ or natural slates. Just not fibre cements! As for will it cause problems in the next ten years… I can’t say yay or nay. It ll keep the water out but might bring the water in.

Thanks for your advice. It makes a bit of sense now that he originally wanted to use concrete roof tiles.

At this point I think I just have to keep an eye on it and hope they come good on the 25 year guarantee.

If I had the money, I'd be getting a different roofer to put the slate back on. Perhaps in a few years time.

 

[colind86]

No company gives a 25 year guarantee.