Flat Roof Costs

Having lived at my present home for more than 8 yrs it is disappointing to find that the new flat roof installed on the extension by previous owners has been leaking for the past few months. Unfortunatley the builder that provided the guarantee has gone out of business so I am unable to claim against the 10 yr guarantee - plus, as I was not noted as the owner at the time, it is claimed I may not have been able to uses the guarantee anyway. Aside from that, I would really appreciate some advice. What sort of costs are we talking? I have had one quote for £1,300 plus VAT (the size is as follows: 11\\\'4 x 7\\\'1.) This seems a little steep given my upstairs neighbour has his roof re-pointed (taking more than 2 weeks to compplete) and cost only £1800.

Quote from 1996 was for £550 - replace roof using three layer hot bitumen method with lead flashings to parpet walls.

Help!

The quote will reflect the materials to be used among other things and for the standard Polyester Roofing felts available nowadays you can easily pay around £45 a roll. For this quality you obviously get many more years life out of it so saving on future maintenance costs , as you're finding out now . It will help if you get at least another 2 quotes to compare because a quote that is 8 years old will have no bearing on what you could be charged nowadays.

bluerinse said:

my upstairs neighbour has his roof re-pointed (taking more than 2 weeks to compplete) and cost only £1800.

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Just the roof? That's either a very large roof or a slow roofer. BTW. material costs for repointing are miniscule. Just sand, cement and water. Fifty quids worth of these materials would go an awefully long way on a repointing job.

Materials for your "little" job is likely to run into hundreds. The quote you have, doesn't sound particularly cheap, but, if they are using quality materials, it doesn't sound outrageous either. It also depends on your locality. If you live in Belgravia, it's a positive bargain.

BTW. One of my mates (a builder) employed a roofer for a project he was managing. This roofer had excellent time keeping, and put in all the hours, but just seemed to be taking an awefully long time to get the roof done. He could be heard all day, hammering away on the roof, but progress was very slow. Finally, my mate decided to sneek a look at his technique to find out what was taking so long.

He could hear which side of the roof he was working on so made his approach from the other side. Peering over the ridge, there was this roofer, flat on his back, sunglasses on, can of beer in his hand. His arms were at his side, and in one hand he had a hammer. There he was just rythemically tapping the roof while he sunbathed! He was off the roof and the job within minutes!