To be losing my temper at not being able to get a roofer?

[Oucht]

Our roof sprung a leak 4 weeks ago. I contacted 5 roofers!
No1 didn’t reply
No2 recommended by our plumber came to look but said he needed to get up there to look on a dry day and would come back in 2 days.. nothing won’t answer phone.
No3 offered to do us a quote and never got back to us
No4 straight out said he didn’t do leaks only new builds
No5 took a week to come and look and turned up out of the blue. Gave us a price on a patch up and last Thursday said he would be round at the weekend to sort it. Nothing. No reply.

I know a small repair isn’t a big job but our roof is on its last legs and we’re asking for a repair now.. and quotes for a full reroof in spring.

how the hell do I get that done when I can’t get anyone to even look and reply??!!

im so stressed with water peeing in every damn day.

It’s a nightmare trying to get roofers, I feel your pain. We went through the stages you listed, many times. We had a leak dripping down into my DD’s bedroom via her light 😬
We miraculously got the roof done in the spring, but have been left with interior damage to plasterboard they didn’t make good around veluxes, plus a random scaffolding pole which is now a permanent part of our garden 🤦‍♀️ Getting them back was completely impossible, and now we’ve discovered the company has been dissolved and so our guarantee is worthless. At least we have the roof….. I hope you strike lucky with someone willing to repair your roof soon - I know how miserable it is having leaks.

I’m sick of being told yeah I’ll come back to look.. I’ll do you a quote and the best one I’ll be with you this weekend to repair… or not!

Running out of roofers to try as have tried 4 Facebook pages in surrounding towns. Tried recommendations from family too. Have a few others I can contact but they’re not established companies. Ones owner is 21 and website says 10 yrs experience?! How?!

Always look on companies house to see if they’ve had multiple dissolved business as have been there with a builder before.

The leaks trickling water right over an electrical junction box that’s currently for a bin liner duct taped around it!

If your roof looks knackered they won't want to clamber on it is the short answer.

I had the same but posted the job on a site. The roofer came and quoted within the hour and came when he said.

The job became much more complicated but he did a good job.

I’ve seen much worse to be fair. But I get that and would rather they say that to me.

How am I supposed to get a new roof if no one will quote me?

I told the one due this weekend that we understand it’s a temporary bodge to hold us for a few months as we want to book a full retile if we can get a quote!!

Losing your temper isn't going to help.

Getting any trades is a nightmare currently. I've got a builder doing some work but I had to wait months to be fitted in, it's costing around 50% more than I expected and I think he's only doing it because he's a neighbour and he's as sick of my messy driveway as I am, plus not a good look for him if I tell all the other neighbours he couldn't do it. I've been trying for two years to get a new bathroom however.

Try Check-A-Trade? Or one of those national sites with local franchises?

I would imagine it falls under two reasons -
One - they're scared of damaging the roof more by repairing then run the risk of them being liable.
Two - the little jobs don't bring in the money to them and isn't worth their time.
Is there any way you can bring forward the spring roof and get the full reroof done now. The issue being weather of course.
I contacted two roofing companies for our new roof, got quotes back quick and they started within 3 weeks.

I’m finding it more difficult to get all trades at the moment for work projects of all sizes. There is a lot of demand and Brexit has had an effect, with many European builders leaving the UK.

If you have the Nextdoor app in your area, then join that and ask for recommendations. Good luck!

We're having the same problem.

Managed to get one quote via checkatrade but it seems really, really high. One place a friend recommended can't even come to quote until end of Jan they're so busy. Nowhere else is answering or getting back to us.

Where are you op?

If you let me know you're area, my family member is a roofer 😊 (if I'm allowed to reccomend)

I have a good roofer due to replace the flashing on my roof - he's a friend of my neighbours and I know he will do it and do it well. But...Jesus Christ, I feel like I am stalking the man! I have to chase and chase for inspection, quote, "put it in the book", and now he's on holiday in Spain.

In any other context I would long ago have thought "He's just not that into me" and stopped running after him. But his work is really good.

I had water leaking into my kitchen, no roofer available but a plumber who was here told me what I needed to fix it.
cost £40 at screw fix and all sorted.
do you know exactly where it’s leaking from?

Have you been ringing up or your husband? If you’ve been doing it get your husband to
Its beyond infuriating but often it works
I think it depends what area you are in

Roofers won't go on the roof if it's raining or windy. Too much risk of slipping/falling.

I really sympathise, I've managed to get one for my leaky roof but it's more expensive than expected and I really don't have the option of getting a second quote, just going to have to cough up!

We struggled to get a roofer for a leak long before Brexit and Covid. We ended up with a "man who was good at stuff" rather than a roofer (friends brother) which was fine. I would ask people you trust for recommendations and not be too picky as water ingress is damaging your house.

It costs us the best part of £1000 for a few tiles replaced as no one would go up without scaffolding - fair enough we don't want to kill anyone!

This was probably 6 years ago now but I heard a "plop plop plop" in the ceiling the other day when we had extraordinary rain/wind and flash floods. Yikes bloody hate repairs.

We also struggled to get a plumber to come out at all when our stop tap was leaking under the sink and ruining the kitchen floor. When we put a message out on a find a trade site the first guy didn't show but the second did and was great. I think the first guy meant well but was just overextended with his work and then school run/childcare.

Worth trying those sites but be savvy of course and don't pay until the work is done (you might need to pay the scaffolder on delivery of scaffold). If you buy roof tiles get them delivered to yours (unless family/friend vouches for the person but then they will usually trust you to pay at the end too).

Don't pay a stranger up front on promises.

Thanks for all the advice. I’ve not had good experiences with find my builder etc but might have to go that way.

We would be happy to bring forward a whole reroof if someone would quote us but 2 have said booking for next summer hence we need a patch up job now and a quote on the full lot but not heard from either.

Leak is coming in where the garage roof meets the house and it’s expected that the lead underneath is busted. To fix it properly means new garage roof. All our house cladding off and scaffold at around 5k.

we would rather put that 5k to a whole new roof. Three roofers have said they can only mastic it as a temp fix and we agreed that it’s a try it and see and don’t expect guarantees.

Chelmsford in Essex

Chelmsford in Essex

Can see where it’s appearing inside but could be anywhere along the edge where the house meets the garage. Def not plumbing.

Am I missing some unspoken nuances here? Is ‘on holiday in Spain’ tradesmen’s code for ‘your job’s not worth the hassle’? (A bit like the builder’s equivalent of ‘I’m washing my hair’). I mean it’s odd it’s never Portugal or Turkey…🤷‍♀️

The plumber didn’t fix it, I did.
I needed a roofer the plumber just happened to be there and told me what I needed.
what I’m trying to say is you may be able to fix it yourself.

Am I missing some unspoken nuances here? Is ‘on holiday in Spain’ tradesmen’s code for ‘your job’s not worth the hassle’?

No code, his parents just have a place in Spain and when I made my last stalking call he was there and will call me back when he gets home.*

• He will not call me, I will call him.