Do I need a new roof?

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I have been told :
1. a new roof is needed urgently
2. Only maintenance, replacing about 40 tiles and some repointing is needed.
3. The white efflorescence on the tiles means they are porous and letting water into the roof.
4. All roofs of this age (1930) have to be replaced.

Opinions? How much should a repair or new roof cost?
I am totally bewildered.
The roof is not leaking as far as I can tell. I've been up in the loft and poked all the timbers with a screwdriver and none of them are soft/rotten.

1) doesnt look like it needs replacing to me from the photo's.
2) quite possible but cant see from the photo's
3) nothing to worry about unless you can see visible water streaks on the timbers or signs of an actual leak
4) bullshit.

was it a cold caller that told you it needed reroofing????.if youre worried get 3 builders/roofers in for there opinion and prices.

first things first if it ain broke whose idea was it to fix it!!!!

no one in there right mind would belive that a non leaking roof is in imminent state off collaps

i would report them to trading standards

it may be true its approching the last part off its life but in many years to come

now i would suggest you dont let this person near your property under any circumstances
if he is a cowboy theres a fair chance he has moved tiles or flashing or even blocked guttering to prove his point or may do so iff you let him back

if you do get a leak get someone else to sort it out and get there opinions if it looked like fair wear and tear or deliberate
and ask if they can take pictures whilst up there

from the external pic that looks a good roof to me for its age,no sag anywhere.

from the external pic that looks a good roof to me for its age,no sag anywhere.

Agree with Chukka, plain clay tiles usually last at least 100 years.
There are a few broken ones that could be replaced.
Look for spalling on the tiles, as this is a sign that they will need replacing.

Older machine produced clay tiles are prone to delamination, but this is usually evident from a peek into the gutters. If they are full of shale type rubbish then you have a problem.

Very old hand made tiles were rather irregular so, when sat on the roof, their wavy shape discouraged water from sitting between courses and allowed the water to run away.

Once tiles became machine produced, much of the irregularities of hand making was alleviated and they sat much tighter together on the roof, thus trapping water between courses. In a frost this is fatal and led to tile delamination.

These days machine made plain clay tiles are produced with a double camber thus discouraging water to lie betwixt courses.

So, the upshot is, if you have a roof that was furnished between the '50s and the '70s, then there is a risk that the tiles could be delaminating.

1=P 2=I 3=K 4=EY...you do the maths You`ll need new fascia sooner if you leave them black

the problem with clay as noseall yis the delaminate fron the back, so those saying the roof looks good from the photos is misguided. I do however feel you may have been approached by either Roy Rodgers or roof coating companies. though the roof may not collapse, the tiles will continue to deteriorate. Frost is the worst enemy. Death. taxes and new roofs, enevitable.

Similar to other posts - there is not a lot wrong with your roof.

One issue to be wary of though - the roof tiles will be brittle with age, and accessing the roof to replace a broken tile may cause more tiles to be damaged (from experience). If you have no rain water penetration problems then you do not have a problem with your roof covering thats as simple as it gets! Even if you have broken tiles the 'gauge' for these type of tiles is such that rainwater should not penetrate the only time you need to be worried is where you have 2 or more broken tiles directly above one another, then the gauge becomes ineffective.

So unless you have some problems what the hell are you going to fix by re-roofing? As already mentioned 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

By the way the salt staining on the inside of the tiles is caused through surface condensation drying out, an event that recurs every winter and has nothing to do with the tiles becoming saturated with rainwater!

Basically someone is doing some scaremongering and who ever is giving you this advice you should tell them politely that you have had differing opinions on the condition of the roof and you will not require their services. As already commented 'do not let them anywhere near your property, if they refuse to go or try to access your roof (because such people can be quite intimidating when they don't get their way) phone the police - this will have the desired effect!!

Just in case things do go a bit pear shaped/badly (not saying that it will) but for security and peace of mind get outside and take a detailed photographic survey of the external of the building and the roof (the more photo's the better) - that way you will have the photographic record of the condition of the building which can be used as evidence if it ever comes to these persons being prosecuted.
It is also not unknown for these sort of people to access a roof - do some deliberate damage and then knock on the front door to tell the occupier/owner that there is a problem with their roof.

Sadly this sort of situation is not uncommon and you will need to be on your guard.

Regards

1. a new roof is needed urgently
2. Only maintenance, replacing about 40 tiles and some repointing is needed.
3. The white efflorescence on the tiles means they are porous and letting water into the roof.
4. All roofs of this age (1930) have to be replaced.

1. Not urgently at all.
2. Hard to see with the pics you've uploaded.
3. Rubbish...Have you got any leaks??
4. Utter Rubbish!! lol

Zeberdee said:

3. Rubbish...Have you got any leaks??
4. Utter Rubbish!! lol

Click to expand...

I quite agree.

You wanna hear the sales spiel of roof tile paint companies, makes me seethe!

'Tis those bods that are doing the scaremongering, insisting tiles eventually become porous.

Load of old SHI....!

from the pictures it looks fine, a machine made clay tile. however the external shows approx 250 tiles , a tiny fraction of the roof. It is not uncommon to have one elevation (south) in good shape where as the opposite (North) may be totally shagged.. more pics please