Single, no knowledge of roofs and feel I might make a financial mistake, please help?

[Rooooof]

Roof needs doing. Not hugely urgently but there’s some cracked tiles, not in a great state. It’s been on around 70 years.

Anyway… had three quotes

1. 10k (not registered for vat and will apparently bag up the few asbestos cement sheets and take them away for us… I’m cynical about this as apparently you need a licence to do this as a trader? But he’s a nice guy and local people like him
2. bigger company quoted 15k but this included vat and included a proper disposal of the cement sheets by a separate company. They also mentioned things the other guy hadn’t in terms of things to look out for when they’re on site and other bits that may need replacing like some of the timber if it’s rotten
3. next quote is a company that’s been around decades. Very positive reviews online. Quoted 22k. Very thorough, don’t have any slots to do the job until October so obviously busy.

all of them said until its falling down it’s not urgent and maybe I would get another couple
of years out of it but it was on its way out. Part of me wants to wait a bit even though I technically have the money now.

i feel out of my depth. It’s making me so stressed and I have a little girl who i feel I am
letting down by not knowing what to do for our house

Don’t know about the prices but you want asbestos dealt with properly as that’s dangerous stuff if just knocked about. We had a few asbestos tiles in a cupboard and the company still did full ppe coveralls

It’s a scary thing to be wholly responsible for such big decisions. I’ve just bought my first house alone and it’s overwhelming dealing with tradesmen and hoping they’re not ripping you off etc when you’re not used to be the one to do that.

I’d say the middle one sounds like someone you can trust and as it’s the middle valuation I’d be tempted to do that, but if it will last another couple of years without issue I’d probably keep the money back in case any other jobs need doing.

The problem with waiting a few more years means that the prices will rise in that time. How big a team can they put on it? Ideally you want 3-4 guys rather than a one man band to get it done quickly. I’d go for the middle one, wouldn’t touch the cheap one with a barge pole as asbestos needs proper removal, as a householder you’d need liable.

Definitely not number 1. Either of the other two sound fine, I'd go with the cheaper one.

Waiting or not will depend on whether you would be using all your savings or not?

Hi, I feel your pain…it’s hard making these costly decisions without much, or any knowledge.

Just had the the leaking roof/ do I repair or replace the roof? decision myself. Useful things I found out:

A new roof now needs to comply with building regulations and be certified by Building control. However, many contractors don’t seem to know/ don’t tell you this. Issues would arise down the line, if you were selling the house and didn’t have much, or any paperwork showing your certificate, guarantee, correct materials used etc.

Some firms have Competent Roofer status and can certify the works themselves.

There’s a trade body called National Federation of Roofing Contractors.

The trouble is that in the UK, anyone can call themselves a roofer, builder etc. It makes homeowners very vulnerable and the sums involved are huge to us.

Your local guy quoting £10K may well be fine for small patch up repairs, but I don’t like the sound of his approach to the asbestos, and has he offered any sort of guarantee on the work?

The best firms usually have long wait lists but that’s a sign that they do good work.

In your position as it’s not urgent, I would do some more research into local firms bearing in mind these issues, and get more quotes. Doesn’t sound like you need to rush this decision.

I found a company registered with NFRC who were Competent Roofers, they were brilliant to deal with, all communication by email and very clear. Their prices were comparable to my other quotes.

Yes not no 1. What is wrong with the roof exactly. Is it just cracked tiles if so how many.
Most older houses on the uk have asbestos. Why does this need to be pulled out of the roof.

My mate is a builder, he owns a pretty big firm and has various trades working for him. He has always said unless a roof is leaking you don’t touch it. My roof is close to 100 years old. I did have to replace the original ornate iron guttering about 18 years ago as some fell off in a bloody storm on to my car.

You do need a li enc to remove asbestos and dispose of it according to strict legislation what that means I have no idea but the developers next door did everything except remove the asbestos garage.

I feel your pain. I had a roof done about 5 years ago and felt totally at the guy’s mercy. I believe he did an Ok job on the roof itself - which I think was original, ie 120 years old - but there were still some issues. I have no idea if I paid a fair price tbh, it was £13k.

Have you been able to put the word out around the area, has anyone else had a roof done recently? Id always prefer to speak to someone f2f than rely on online reviews.

Quote 1 sounds actively dangerous, swerve him.

Quote 2 sounds ok. But if you don’t have to do it now, why not wait a bit? You could start to put the money away and aim to pay some of the bill by savings interest?

Firstly, have a look at this for asbestos removal. Direct from HSE not all jobs involving asbestos require licensed work. This would suggest that your roof is covered in not needing it as it comes under low risk

https://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/licensing/non-licensed-work.htm

Secondly, you can earn £90k before you need to be registered for VAT. That is a bloody nice salary and lots of tradespeople will simply down tools in February/March to avoid going over the £90k threshold. There are lots of sole traders talking about this online because once you tip into the VAT registered threshold you are being undercut by people who are more than happy earning £89,900.

I have had a lot of work done on my property which included a lot of non-VAT registered trades. It doesn't make them dodgy. I was invoiced for all work and paid them into their bank accounts and given receipts. I have one chap who goes on holiday abroad with his family every school holiday as his wife is a teacher and he schedules work around it.

And lastly, YouTube is a great place to look for information from professionals showing their jobs. This is Fix My Roof and may feature the work you are needing to be done to your roof. This helps you get informed of what to expect.

https://www.youtube.com/@FixmyroofCoUk

I’m not against using non-VAT registered tradesmen, but it’s not a £90,000 salary, it’s a £90,000 business turnover. That really isn’t a very large scale operation.

Wow thank you everyone for the replies! This is incredibly helpful.

My worry with number 1 was that he was blase about removing the asbestos. They are just cement sheets so not a big deal in terms of risk…2 and 3 said it wasn’t really a risky asbestos product at all but they would still instruct a separate company to collect it after they had double bagged in. So 2 and 3 just seemed a bit more on it regulation wise.

I just can’t believe how much it all is. It will cost around 30% of my savings so it feels huge.

@ViciousCurrentBun what about the fact damage can be done underneath if the membrane (?) starts wearing away and getting damp? Ideally I would wait two years to give myself more time.

number 1 did say he has a twenty year guarantee but I guess that’s assuming he stays in business

@Keepingongoing thank you would I have to check with that body as to whether these are associated with it?

Hmm. I had the peaked roof over a window which was leaking into the loft) retiled and repaired by a roofer my late Mum’s boss worked with. Also the damaged part of the loft was lined. It was no more than about 4 years ago.
Cost £1600 mates rates cash in hand inc scaffolding.

I think you need to really get more quotes. Also, my mums boss was an architect that’s how he knew my roofer. So I recommend to ask any local architects which roofers they use.

Number one has cowboy written all over him.
I had my roof replaced last year and I know suspected asbestos has to be tested and taken away by a specialist.
Any decent roofer has a waiting list. I had to wait six months for mine.
For comparison on price, my two bed detached bungalow roof cost about £10k.
Price varies a bit on area of course, I am in Hampshire.
I would get on and book it in now. If you get a leak then it will end up costing you more to repair the water ingress.
My roof leaked water into my boiler and fused all the electrics. You don’t want that.

@Rooooof , I’m not sure if you can search the NFRC website for a specific company, but you can do a general search for companies in your area who are registered with them. I just did a search for companies within 20 miles of my postcode, and got about 30 hits, so unless there are 100s registered in your area, it should be easy to find the company who’s quoted for you if they are NFRC registered.

A couple of cracked tiles? If so, its a few hundred quid for them replacing. What makes you think the whole roof needs changing?

Not sure what makes you think the whole roof needs replacing. Just repair the cracked tiles.

Do not touch the cheap guy.
It is illegal to "just bag up" asbestos & the consequence of exposure to asbestos are dire, life limiting & can lead to a nasty death.
If its not disposed of properly by licensed operatives you will be exposed to asbestos particles.

Why wait?
The cost of building materials is going up far more than inflation so it will cost more in 2-3.years. I dont know about you but everything time we have bad weather id be awake worrying about the ancient food.

@IhadaStripeyDeckchair what do you mean ancient food?

@HoskinsChoice @Didimum it is generally in a bad state. The felt bit or membrane underneath is in bad condition. Numbers 2 and 3 did say it wasn’t like it was falling apart but acknowledged that it could do with doing in the near ish future. I didn’t feel pressured by them at all. It’s just so hard to know what to do, I don’t want to leave it and then have more issues down the line and risk it getting more expensive but also it’s so scary to part with almost half your savings

In general if you have an ageing house, it can be more cost effective to do new works such as a new roof, rather than patch repairs which may need re-doing in a few years time.

However, whether it’s cost effective for you depends on lots of things…

How big is your house slush fund? Will you be able to save more into it regularly?

What else will you want/ need to do with your savings?

Are there other issues coming up with your house? I’ve recently had issues arising from the intense storms we have more frequently, compared to when I bought my house 20+ years ago.

How long do you intend staying in your house?

So, for my recent roof experience, house was built in 79, age- related issues are beginning to show up, I need lots of things doing including a new kitchen and a general upgrade, refresh and redecorate, none of which I can do myself because of disability. I have an overall budget of up to 50K (which is partly spoken for for disability related equipment). Roof has leaked a bit in intense storms over the last 5 years - inconvenient because the water comes through a light fitting and then that bit of the circuit needs isolating by an electrician. I intend staying in the house another 5-10 years but could well be longer. My quote for repairs from the good firm was about £1600 but they couldn’t offer a guarantee due to the nature of the work. New roof with 20 years guarantee was from memory 11 or 12K. For complete peace of mind and probably no roof hassles for the foreseeable future, I would have gone for the new roof, but due to a close relative’s very recent terminal diagnosis, I decided on the repair. It may well be that in 5 or 10 years time my perspective will have shifted, the roof leaks, and I decide on a new roof, but that’s houses….

As it’s a major expense and I think you can discount the cheapest quote, 2 quotes is not many. I would get some more quotes and sit on this decision for a while, the right action for you will emerge.

The middle quote if you take off the VAT is £12k, so not massively more expensive than the Bodgit & Scarper Roofing Co, especially if they are using a properly licenced waste carrier, rather than taking it away and before dumping it in a gateway somewhere. Do the quotes include scaffolding

Some types of asbestos, it's legal to dispose of yourself, I don't think No. 1 is a cowboy in what he describes he'll do.

Is the roof leeking now?
You need to know specifically what is wrong with the roof. You need photographs of all the damage.
Go on youtube once you know specifically whats wrone, to see how experts would treat the problem.
i got drone pictures of my roof which was very helpful, because of the picture i could identify the problem myself.
Its in a bad condition but will hold up for a few years isnt specific enough to part with 10s of thousands of pounds.
Knowledge is power.

@ForPinkDuck thanks it is not leaking yet aside from a little in the bedroom but that’s actually stopped now despite massive rain. The impression I got from 2 and 3 was that it was certainly close to being in an urgent state might be able to squeeze a bit longer out of it like a year or so ie another winter

@lljkk it is part of the cement sheets at the edge of the roof which I understand is a low percent of asbestos so does that mean number 1 wasn’t suggesting anything he shouldn’t in saying he could take it?