Neighbour's building work damaged my roof?

[cusack]

Hi.
Hope someone can shed some light on this.
A couple of weeks ago, my next door neighbour (we're a terraced street) had some work done on their roof. We've had no problems with ours ever.

After the rain last night/this morning, water was leaking into my daughter's bedroom. I've just had a look up in the loft and it looks like the waterproof membrane has collapsed down in an area above the leak (I presume where two separate pieces of membrance join), exposing the underside of the roof tiles.

Two questions really. Would it be ok to tack this back up again (and if so, what should I use to do this?)?

And, could this be something that the building work has caused? Does the membrane continue to the other house and could the builders have done something next door to cause it to fall down?

Many thanks

 

[^woody^]

It really needs to be done from the roof. There may be other places of insecure felt too.

If the neighbours work has caused this then they will be liable. Either approach them to have a look and sort it out, or claim on your insurance and let your insurers chase the neighbours for reimbursement

 

[Deluks]

The membrane is a second line of defence. The main issue is that the roof itself is leaking, so it's probable that the job wasn't done properly. Could be loose slates/tiles, a poor flashing job, bad pointing or any number of things.

If you have some binoculars, try and have a look at the roof and see if anything jumps out as being 'funny' looking.

Ultimately, if the leak was caused by the roof work then you are entitled to compensation for any damage/distress you have been caused.


All this is meaningless if the leak originates on your roof, but water can track down and along the membrane so it could be working it's way along from their side.

Is this a modern membrane or older bitumen type felt?

You really need a pro to take a look.