How the hell am I supposed to pay this

[Netheip]

Roof is in a bad state. Not actually leaking yet but there’s broken tiles and it’s old. Had three quotes and it’s basically going to cost around 10k to re do.

I am so stressed. I‘m a single parent and have 3k savings. I am saving more each month around 300.

My mum has said she will give me 2k. But that still leaves 5k left. And then I will have no savings. I just feel so shit. I thought I was getting on top of things this year and now this.

We have been in this situation in the past. We ended up getting a longer term personal loan (Tesco and Sainsbury’s offer them for 7 - 10 years, or used to anyway) and borrowed the money that way. We didn’t want to remortgage to do it.

Make sure you really do need the work done. It’s very easy for roofing companies to say the whole roof needs doing when it really doesn’t. With hindsight we probably could have got away with less work. Get several quotes.

We got a quote to fix our roof and it was £30k!

Do you have a friend with a drone they could send over to take a proper look?

If the timbers are getting damaged it's leaking. Can you see the timbers in the attic and check they are dry? I would just get the missing/damaged tiles replaced. Then save money to be able to do the roof sometime in the future. The roofing firms are very keen on replacing the whole roof for obvious reasons. You probably need to find a small company that will just do a repair.

OP, I'm in the building trade - first thing is if you don't have the money, just get it water tight by replacing the damaged tiles - this will cost you a lot less and stop deterioration getting worse.

Roofers are notorious for making a bigger job than it needs to be - for example if its an old roof it may not have sarking felt (underfelt) and they make a fuss about it - but that was a post ww2 innovation, roofing from before never had it, and its not needed.

Critical issue is the timber not rotting, and the way to prevent that is replacing cracked tiles and letting the whole structure breathe.

Yes, I’d say just make it waterproof for now and do what you need to do to prevent further damage. You might be able to get this done for less than 10k. Also see if you can wait a bit longer and save more money in the meantime.

Can you get up into the attic and examine the roof supports and tiles for wet and daylight? If you can't get up there could a friend?

I'd get some more quotes - maybe look at Checkatrade website

Yeah

Does it actually need doing

We had a roof leak.

And the guy tried to fix it twice and failed.

Then said the damage was too bad and it would need replacing for a few grand.

Took another 2 different roofers before the guy fixed it properly and now it's been fine for over 2 years. Cost a few hundred rather than a few grand.

Just make sure the work is actually needed. And it cant be patched repaired before you go for the drastic option.

Have you tried reading the post properly before commenting?

Roofs are pretty robust. The top layer of slates is basically sacrificial and can be completely wrecked without any danger of the roof leaking. So it depends on how bad the roof actually is.

But repairs to large sections are almost never cost effective. By the time you add the cost of the scaffolding and materials and labour, you'd be better off just getting the whole job done properly.

I’m not sure why in your financial position you’re contemplating doing a £10k job that doesn’t actually need doing yet. If you’re £5k short it will probably take under 18 months for you to save the difference without borrowing. Your roof only needs to last this coming winter and it will be repaired before the next one.

Alternatively in your place there’s no way I’d be spending £10k preventatively. My available cash is similar to yours. I’d get more quotes to do the work that actually needs doing. Some torn felt, damaged flashing or missing tiles definitely doesn’t mean the whole roof needs replacing.

@Netheip just PM’d you

Sorry OP, sounds stressful. We are also getting quotes to get our roof fixed and many have advised waiting until spring/summer when the weather is dry anyway. If you have £5k now and are saving £300/mo, assuming all goes well, you’d have enough by August. That would probably be a better time to do it anyway, so win win!?

Extend the mortgage and remember that by doing it now, you are saving the far greater cost of doing it later when the roof actually fails.

Plus it will add to the value of the place when you come to sell. We once got a 5% reduction on the asking price on one property because the roof was in a dreadful state.

You have to prove it and you have to have had locally recorded winds above a certain amount to even be able to claim.

One of the storms last year blew off some of our tiles and caused a leak. Insurance said they couldn’t help as our local weather station had only recorded 39 mile an hour wind, rather than 40, or something very similar.

A helpful builder posted above to get the roof repaired now for less money. That's the necessary minimum.

For the future, you need to save save save! The roof won't last forever and you are going to need £10k in the bank to pay for it, then have another £5k for the next emergency. This is REALLY hard to do a single homeowner and I am really sympathetic to anyone who has to manage on a single income. You've done well to save the money you have so far.

There are ways you can achieve this:

1. Get a better paying job, work more overtime
2. Reduce your living expenses - WFH instead of commuting. Have a year of no new clothes. Eat/drink out less. Set a monthly budget and stick to it, put all spare cash aside.
3. Get a lodger
4. Get a side hustle
5. Sell your junk
6. When mortgage is up for renewal go for a longer time period, put all the difference between old and new payments in a savings account. If renewal is coming up this year, rates are coming down, so you could be in luck to end up with quite a lot of spare cash to save.
7. Move your savings around regularly to find the best interest rate you can - even if it means changing savings banks every 3 months.

Keep your fingers crossed that you don't need a new car or a new boiler before you have the money for the roof!

Good luck!

Is it cost effective to
patch fix it for the time being?

Can you get or extend a mortgage?

Why would this be unreasonable?

Get some more quotes. I've just had my roof treated with something called Acropol, it's like a waterproof sealant specially designed for roofs.

If not leaking, then I would either patch up or if you're convinced needs replacing completely, I'd keep saving. Summer is on it's way.

Obviously it is a risk, and you may have to pay for a patch up job if starts leaking anywhere.
Have a peek up in the loft, make sure no water ingress and try not to worry about it. Some people never look up and only sort things when they get water coming through!

We had a cracked tile, only found out when getting the suit cases down from loft for a holiday, luckily we caught it early, a little rain had made the suitcase damp, we had the tile replaced cost £40 was a friend of a family member who is a roofer, and fixed the lining inside ourself with shed roofing, it was only a small peice around 12 inch wide and 30 inches long.ask around , someone might know a roofer.

This might broadly be good advice to an extent, but it almost gives the impression no one should normal life unless they have the money for a new roof, a new car and a new boiler all saved up and ready to go. Most people never have that. Calm down!

You can easily borrow 5K at 6% repayable over 5 years. Repayments would be £97 a month. Better than a leaking decrepit roof; one severe storm and you could be looking at £20,000 of damage.