I accepted a quotation from a contractor to remove and re-bed ridge tiles on my two roofs, a lower roof and an upper roof, of which the contractor said there is a total of 53 ridge tiles for £600.
I had read a lot on the web about the inadvisability of having cosmetic concreting work done on ridge tiles as it easily breaks up and lets water in so I was very careful to ask for a quotation for removing and re-bedding the ridge tiles.
On the day the work was done, the contractor went off to get some supplies while the men removed the ridge tiles. When the contractor returned they had all the roof tiles off the upper roof and about half off the lower roof which they then left and proceeded to re-bed in the ridge tiles on the upper roof.
In the afternoon, I looked down on the lower roof from above and was horrified to see that half of the ridge tiles were still off but they had not taken off the remaining ridge tiles and were running a line of concrete along them and were quite a way across. I went out and asked them about it and they said they had broken a number of tiles and were doing this as it was “just as good” and that I “wouldn’t see the difference”. I said that the look was not the issue and that he knew I was spending all this money because I had wanted the roof sound as I had said in a number of emails.
He said he would take the lines of concrete off the ridge tiles they hadn’t taken off and remove and re-bed them but only if I agreed to pay extra for the ridge tiles they hadn’t taken off (14) and the rows of flat roof tiles on either side 14 x 2. I said he was contracted to re-bed all of the 53 tiles so there was no case for any extra payment. He said extra payment was needed because what I was asking was unnecessary and the roofer is an expert and what they were doing was perfectly good and we wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. He made me feel very foolish. If I thought an extra payment was justified which I didn’t, I had already told the contractor I did not have one more penny to spend on this work as he had already offered me (and done) more work than originally planned. He was adamant so the ridge tiles were left un-removed and with the lines of concrete on them under protest.
After they had left I looked at the back of the house and was shocked to see a knobbly bump where they had joined the ridge tiles that had been re-bedded and those that had not.
We are pensioners in our 70s and 80s and have found this whole experience immensely distressing and would be grateful for any advice.
Thanks
JDL
I had read a lot on the web about the inadvisability of having cosmetic concreting work done on ridge tiles as it easily breaks up and lets water in so I was very careful to ask for a quotation for removing and re-bedding the ridge tiles.
On the day the work was done, the contractor went off to get some supplies while the men removed the ridge tiles. When the contractor returned they had all the roof tiles off the upper roof and about half off the lower roof which they then left and proceeded to re-bed in the ridge tiles on the upper roof.
In the afternoon, I looked down on the lower roof from above and was horrified to see that half of the ridge tiles were still off but they had not taken off the remaining ridge tiles and were running a line of concrete along them and were quite a way across. I went out and asked them about it and they said they had broken a number of tiles and were doing this as it was “just as good” and that I “wouldn’t see the difference”. I said that the look was not the issue and that he knew I was spending all this money because I had wanted the roof sound as I had said in a number of emails.
He said he would take the lines of concrete off the ridge tiles they hadn’t taken off and remove and re-bed them but only if I agreed to pay extra for the ridge tiles they hadn’t taken off (14) and the rows of flat roof tiles on either side 14 x 2. I said he was contracted to re-bed all of the 53 tiles so there was no case for any extra payment. He said extra payment was needed because what I was asking was unnecessary and the roofer is an expert and what they were doing was perfectly good and we wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. He made me feel very foolish. If I thought an extra payment was justified which I didn’t, I had already told the contractor I did not have one more penny to spend on this work as he had already offered me (and done) more work than originally planned. He was adamant so the ridge tiles were left un-removed and with the lines of concrete on them under protest.
After they had left I looked at the back of the house and was shocked to see a knobbly bump where they had joined the ridge tiles that had been re-bedded and those that had not.
We are pensioners in our 70s and 80s and have found this whole experience immensely distressing and would be grateful for any advice.
Thanks
JDL
