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Hi, a bit of advice here as we are looking at getting our three bedroom terraced house retiled.
We’ve been limping along with getting rotten battens repaired, perished felt and leaks around chimneys fixed but have gotten to the point where it makes more sense to just get everything done. Expenses adding up each year, not fully fixing issues and finding more bits each winter.
- Tiles are likely >40 years old, joists and rafters in the loft look OK
- concrete tiles are Ludlow majors, old style bitumen roofing felt is crumbling
- loft has been boarded out and extra insulation added underneath to be around ~300 to 350mm
So what do I need to be aware of in terms of:
- Building regs, is it best to go through the “competent roofer” scheme so they can self certify?
- Will we need to add in more insulation or ventilation standards, does it make more sense to re-roof than re-tile in this case?
- Are modern dry ridge and verge options better than the old fashioned mortared in tiles?
- Roofer to arrange scaffolding themselves typically and their own skip?
Normally you get quotes for a full turn-key job, they arrange scaffolding, skips etc and handle the whole project inc lead flashing around the chimney etc. When we had our slate roof redone, they just replaced all the slates with new ones (old ones had done over 100 years).
Thanks, makes sense to have it all handled by them as one job.
Was this after the building regs changed in ~2005 or so about trying to match the modern insulation minimums?
I have no idea how it’s followed “in practice” against how the legislation sounds when you read up about it online in without any context.
If the roof faces any direction other than north then it could be worth getting a quote for a solar roof. I.e. the tiles are completely replaced with solar tiles. In some cases these are the same cost as a re-tile. Then add in the saving on electricity. We were about to do this on our East/West roof but then decided to move house and do it on the new house.
The issues you may face are finding anyone with stock/availability to fit it anytime soon, wading through all the grants available and dodgy quotes from roofers who want to re-tile and then get their mate to stick solar panels on.
My mum got her house re tiled after the storms 15 months ago. Insurance was taking forever to get someone due to the high demand so she found a local guy. Standard 1970s 3 bed detached, new felt, battons and tiles (dry ridge) was about 11k I think. She was quoted 6k just for a repair by insurance company so just got the whole thing done. Job was done with no issues other than the sod adding extra on for the guttering that wasn't in the quote apparently.
Ah, had not thought about solar! Ironically the roof with all the leaks is south facing and seems to get all the hammer from the weather/sun. The boss also works in renewable energy actually! 😂
Good point on the details for the quote, will make sure any gutter bits are included.
If your going for the expense of scaffolding, new tiles etc, get a quote for solar from a company that does solar panel tiles. (actual tiles, not bolt on panels.)
It's not cheap but its worth also getting a quote. The price of electric only goes one way.
Solar panels are one of the best investments I've made in the house.
could be worth getting a quote for a solar roof. I.e. the tiles are completely replaced with solar tiles. In some cases these are the same cost as a re-tile. Then add in the saving on electricity. We were about to do this on our East/West roof but then decided to move house and do it on the new house.
this is interesting. What brand? How has it worked out?
Just interested as we were holding out for a Tesla slate-like solar roof and just had a bunch of inline panels installed as Tesla slates seem as obtainable as Bath Olivers.
May be worth considering that there could be asbestos in the sarking felt and the soffits.......
Check your loft insulation is of the current required depth.
It has to be for the work to signed off.
We found out the hard way with a boarded loft.
I know of two different people who have had to have theirs done twice because the first roofers, also different, were cowboys. Re-roofs are expensive so you don't want to pay twice. So take your time to find someone who is recommended.
@johncoventry - You made me check it again, I stupidly measured the extra insulation around the edges of the boards rather than underneath it instead. Looks like that needs adding onto the job list in terms of extra insulation.
@mugboo - Fair point, will ask around and not go with the cheapest quotes etc.
@squirrel - We had an asbestos survey done after buying it, as we have an artex ceiling (negative) and found a couple of old Lino tiles (positive). No problems with the bitumen felt, plus wooden fascia board and soffit.
This has been very useful so far 👍
@prettygreenparrot I'm not sure if the brand but there were two types:
One is a concrete square tile that has a solar plate glued to it. It has all the cabling coming through a hole so they just plug together in series. The other was more like a Tesla roof but a bit more industrial looking.
Fair point, will ask around and not go with the cheapest quotes
Why not? when we got solar we went with cheapest quote. They had best reviews and he was the best for communications prior to install. I've recommended them to lots of others.
On the solar. I would fit in roof panels not the solar tiles, think ahead should anything need replacing it will be easier to get panels rather than a one off manufactured tile.
You must have been lucky, as the cheapest people never seem to have the best reviews!
On the house stuff we’ve had done before the cheapest quotes were so much lower than the others that they didn’t seem realistic and made us worry about things being tagged onto it during the job or the overall quality being compromised.
We had our roof done last year. Detached bungalow 2 extensions 10k. Get someone who only does roofs not a driveway layer who dabbles in roofs. Our cheapo quote man just recruited a load of kids when he got a roofing job
On our estate of 60s built houses about half have been reroofed. I asked who did the good jobs, some were shocking.
U want nice level rows of tiles equally spaced, not just a bodge on the top level as roofer didn't calculate gaps.
V pleased with ours, had to wait a year tho.
@poolman - will have a look around the street, a couple of good ones and a few that are shocking.
A roofer I called was a bit surprised when I politely fobbed him off when he said only needs a “couple of weeks notice”. Sounds like a very similar approach to the one you mentioned! 😂
On the solar tiles vs solar panel option. We had this dilemma recently and have decided on a new roof (concrete tiles large 3 bed semi with new soffits, fascias and flashing round chimney £7000 in Leeds).
Have decided to get separate solar panels as they are slightly more efficient and also the prospect of replacing a broken panel in a few years sounds a lot simpler than lifting roof tiles and associated wiring. Other aspect is thermal, the separate panels reduce thermal gain in the house as they act as a sun screen for the actual tiles so the loft space stays a bit cooler.
I still keep reading this thread title as “roof reptile”!