Quote to repair parapet wall repair on Victorian house £10,500?!

[krypro4]

Hi,

I'm not an expert on any of this so apologies if I'm not explaining things well!

I have a Victorian house which has parapet wall on the roof dividing my property from the neighbours. A couple of days ago we had some heavy rain and I heard the odd drip coming from the attic so went to investigate. I found that several beams at the ridge of the roof were wet and a few were dripping.

The parapet wall clearly needs some attention as it is cracked in a few places. This isn't a picture of my roof, but I found this online which looks very similar to my roof and the condition of the parapet. (I might be able to take pics on the weekend if it's helpful).

The guy who came to give me a quote basically said what I thought he'd say – that the parapet is cracked and needed rendering. He also noted that the render looked quite porous and I suspect he's right – I guess it might be an old lime render given the age of the house.

Anyway, he's given me a quote to install scaffolding, hack the render off, rerender with a water proofed sand/cement mix, and to extend the drip edge of the coping stones (there is no edge currently). Specifically:

- Cut 18mm osb board and mechanically fix to coping stones
- Fix code 4 lead welting at joints increasing drip edge to coping stones

Additionally, he also quoted for a new valley where my front and back roofs meet, although I'm not convinced this is leaking look looking inside the attic – it's all from the ridge below the parapet. He didn't like the look of it though and advised it be replaced.

I have no idea what a reasonable price is for this work... I had assume the repair might be ~£6,000, but I'm kinda shocked that it's over £10,000 seeing as the tiles themselves and the rest of the roof seems fine – just a little dated.

I guess I thought I was being quite conservative thinking it might be as much as £6,000 since I've seen others online say they had their parapet's repaired for around £2,000. £10,000 seems kinda absurd, but maybe I just don't understand the work / materials required here?

Obviously I'm not looking for quote or anything, but does this at least sound like it could be reasonable?

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

How much are the other two quotes?

 

[krypro4]

I'm getting another quote on Tuesday. I suppose I'll get a sense for what's a fair price after I get a few opinions.

From what I've been seen the first guy is quite pricey – although to his credit people seem to think he does a great job. I'm not convinced the parapet wall needs its drip edges extended, or that an improved valley is necessary. Perhaps if the house was built today that's what would be done, but the house has been standing for over 100 years as it is so I honestly doubt these improvements are necessary.

I also probably should have mentioned he offered a fixed price which means he's probably adding a little cushion to the quote.

 

[mattylad]

It also depends upon which part of the country you are in.
Also, as this is a dividing wall is it shared? How is this issue affecting your neighbours and will they be liable for a contribution to it's repair?

 

[foxhole]

Trouble with many Victorian properties is the roof tile to wall is sealed with just a mortar fillet which breaks up quickly with roof movement .

 

[krypro4]

I had another guy come take a look this morning... He also seems to think that the drip edge of the wall needs extending, but recommended I use lead instead of rerendering. I tried to explain that it doesn't make much sense to me why a house that's been standing for 100 years need would need its parapet wall extending since it's clearly been sufficient so far. I also can't see evidence that my neighbours have had this done either. He said he'll quote for whatever work I ask for but this was his recommendation, which is fair enough I guess.

I haven't got the quote yet, but he was clearly indicating that it would be quite pricey and probably somewhere in the ballpark as the first guy... I said that ideally I was looking to spend £6,000 and was quite surprised by how expensive this repair is and he said he'll see what he can do give me a good price.

I'm still confused why it's working out expensive though given what I've read from others online, but if anyone does find this wondering if ~£10,000 is a fair price for fixing a cracked parapet wall, it might not be too far off.

The only positive development was that this guy suggested that my neighbour might be willing to split the cost, especially if they're having similar issues. This was something I explicitly asked the first guy about and he said my side was independent from my neighbours property and that there's no point talking to them.

 

[opps]

Where are you based? That may have a big impact on the price...

You will need scaffolding at both the front and back of the property. Based on London prices, I am guessing that a regular roofer will be able to get the scaffolding (two towers) for about £700, so long as they are willing to only have one lift and use really long ladders. That does however make it more difficult to take the coping stones and other materials up.

If you are in west london, I can give a number for Colin the pointer.

 

[datarebal]

Actual Pictures would help.
Scaffold at reasonable cost we use jss based in Lymington . And they go anywhere . We currently have scaffold up in Portsmouth Fulham , and Salisbury . Costs always seem fair .

 

[foxhole]

You could have a new roof for that kind of money

 

[krypro4]

Apologies for the delay. Believe it or not it's taken weeks to get quotes back from the other two roofers I spoke with... I don't know if anyone watched the latest episode of South Park, but I think they're on to something... (

)

Anyway, one guy came back with £6,200 and other with £7,200. Both are pricey, but compared to the first quote these two almost look cheap.

I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on lead capping vs torch on felt? Both have suggested removing existing render and re-rendering, but the £7,200 quote includes lead capping while the cheaper quote is for torch on felt. The guy who suggested felt said that lead capping would blow off in high wind and be a waste of money.

Where are you based? That may have a big impact on the price...

I live in Bristol. Like a lot of Victorian properties the house is narrow and long, with the parapet wall spanning from the front to back. The length of the wall may partly explain the price – it's probably a bit under 20m.