Roofing quandry

[bobbydavroa]

Hi

I am in negotiations to buy a Victorian house. My Homebuyers report warns me that the roofing slates may need replacment in the 'near future', and the exisiting ones may contain asbestos..so could be expensive to remove. Timbers may also need strengthening.

I don't know what NEAR future means....and have absolutley no clue whatsover how much money we are talking about here.

Just wondered if there is anybody here who could give me a ball park idea of how long roof slating can last, how much it can cost to replace, and how much to recover asbestos....1 grand, 5 grand, 20 grand...!!?!?!!...if its really expensive I'd rather just walk away than pay for a specialist estimate.

I can give someone more info, like the size of the roof..if anyone thinks they can help. But this is a semi detahced..and not a big house..and no sort of fancy roof.

Cheers.
_____________________________-
lynda, moderator

please note forum rule 9

 

[Nige F]

Your homebuyer "reporter" should know the difference between Slate slates and `bestos/cement ones It`s the nails rotting that causes the problems........look for tell-tale "tabs" of lead/metal holding various slates up ..............Homebuyers report costs££££££ .......my advice costs nothing Old .........Money ..........For ................Rope Allegedly ............Rearrange these words to form a trueism

 

[bobbydavroa]

erm...I'm sure you are trying to help me here...but...what does this mean ?

Homebuyers report££££££ .......my advice **** all icon_rolleyes.gif icon_lol.gif Old .........Money ..........For ................Rope Allegedly icon_wink.gif..........

 

[Static]

Hes saying the homebuyers report is a generalised asscovering process..

Anyways as to your questions, near future is the next 1-10years but with good maintenance the roof may last a few more decades. As for the asbestos tiles, well there are 3 types of asbestos, red, blue and white.. blue is the nasty stuff which need specialists to remove/dispose of. If the tiles are still in fair to good order then they may just need new nails.
Your best bet is to get in 3-4 roofers to give you some estimates on roof maintenance/repair.. they will tell you if they think its in need of replacement and the cost involved.
Timbers may also need strengthening well sounds like the roof is sagging.. have a look at the roof ridge line and compare it to neighbours.
If you like post some photos.
Cost of replacing the roof will depend on size and complexity of the layout get some quotes from local roofers.
To give you some idea, if the tiles arent as bad as said and the roof structure is ok (the surveyor would NOT have gone in the loft space to check) then the cost to maintain/repair may be less than 1k, whereas if its a full replacement you would be looking at 10k-25k ish. Course there are ways to semi replace the roof thats between the two

 

[Nige F]

Static, you understand me perfectly

 

[noseall]

i dont think Nige F could have said it any better.

if you have real "slate" slates, and if there are a lot of lead repair cleats("tabs") visible on the roof, then you are in trouble.

 

[Static]

Static, you understand me perfectly

Its because we live in the same area, i understand your accent