To fully re-roof or to partially re-roof?

[Makemeachannelofyourpeas]

@Pigletjohn or other building experts, I need your help!

One side of our (trickily steep) roof is in serious need of TLC and we have a chimney on the other side that we need to take down (leaking horribly and we don't use it).

We've had two builders come and quote: one has said that we only need to do the bad side of the roof and that the other side "has a few more years left in it". The other builder has said that, while the other side is much better there are the beginning signs of wear and tear and that, with the costs of scaffolding being a large part of the cost, we would be better off biting the bullet and doing the whole roof as a one-er. Both jobs would take about two weeks.

Obviously the first quote is much cheaper. They would be using concrete tiles which "wouldn't look any different" from the other side's original clay tiles "after a year or so". The second quote is eye-watering, but all the tiles would match and we don't want to have to pay more in the long run if we're going to have to re-roof the other side in a few more years...

So, the question is what should we do? Any advice or experience will be very gratefully received!

If you can afford it go for the second option. We’ve had a new roof and the cost of scaffolding is huge.
Concrete tiles will never look like clay, do not believe anyone who tells you that they will
We took concrete tiles off and replaced with second hand Welsh slate, our house is listed and in a National Park (enormous back story)
My advice is get the whole roof done at once.

Thank you Prestons that is really good to know. What proportion of the overall cost was the scaffolding, out of interest? Neither builder has broken down the cost in their quotes.

Another vote for second.

Might cost more now, but job 1+ job2 has to more expensive: scaffolding, disturbing the ridge twice,etc.

And don't assume that matching tiles will be available a few years down the line. Sod's law says they won't .

I don't know what your tiles are like, but ime, most of them are generally reusable. It's generally the nails, fixings,felt and valleys that age , and many tiles can be reused. Of course, there could be reasons why that's not true for you.

Plus concrete roof tiles are a lot heavier than the original tiles so the roof structure and joists may not be able to support them....

Believe me, that would be seriously expensive replacing the whole roof structure 😳

The first sounds like a bodger and agree with pp you have to take into account weight of tiles on the structure.

The second sounds more realistic.

Just had scaffolding up to work on roof of an Edwardian property- just the one side has cost £1500 and it was mate's rates apparently.

Hmmm you're giving us great food for thought, thank you! It's such a nausea-inducing amount of money, I just want to be sure it would be the right thing and not just paying for a premium solution that is actually not much different from the more affordable option. Your views are so helpful and are really helping our discussions.

Without a roof you have no habitable structure. Sorry to say do it once do it well.

What kind of clay tiles do you have?

If you can stretch to it,do it all at once. We've just had a roof replaced and half of the problems needing fixing were down to work that disturbed the existing roof structure do, for example, the ceiling not a 10 year old dormer was sodden because of the loss of integrity where it had been spliced in.

It cost us 9k because it's a complex roof with lots of angles, plus 3 flat roof sections but the partial fix quote that we got was still 3k and barely scratched the surface and would still only have done us for a few years because the felt was perishing.

Interesting sums of money here. In case it changes anyone's minds, we've been quoted £12,000 for first option and £30,000 for the second option. It's a big, steep roof plus we're having the chimney down as I mentioned. We live in the SE so everything seems to cost more but are we being robbed nonetheless?

Oh and on type of clay tiles all I know is that they're handmade clay, probably original therefore knocking on 100 years old. I'm not sure that many will be reusable once people starting looking at them closely

Oh and the second quote is for machine-made clay tiles, not handmade...

Ditch the cheaper builders. Get another two quotes for the whole roof and ask for a breakdown of how the quote is arrived at. Scaffolding, materials, disposal of old materials, labour. Then decide.

Can you get a third quote as that's a huge leap?
Also check about taking the chimney down, some councils don't allow it in certain streets, even if no listing of the building.
There's conservation, protected areas to name a couple.
I'd certainly ask for a breakdown of costs before agreeing to any price.

You can get the reclaimed tiles for about 30p each. The new ones are more like a £1 each so will add up fast with a big roof.

I do think £30000 sounds a lot but I presume it's a big house?

Is it just tiles or the whole roof structure including timbers?

you need a roofer, not a builder.

yes, do the whole thing.

you expect a breathing membrane to be fixed before the tiles go on, and you don't want the roofers kicking holes in it or letting it flap in the wind.

Avoid concrete tiles if you possibly can. They won't ever look like clay, they will shed sand, and they will not last as long. They will also be thick and heavy, which may be a bit much for your roof timbers (not as bad as if it was built for slate).

Try to get a personal recommendation for a roofer. Take your binoculars with you and look at the roof of the person making the recommendation. Also look out for local roofers as you drive around, ask for a card, write the address they are working at on the back, and call round later to engage the householder in conversation and see what they say.

If you are near the sea you need stainless steel nails.

p.s.

try to save enough of the original tiles to do at least the front.

What llangenith said.
Definitely.

And ask about the condition of the clay tiles, why they think they need completely replacing, and whether if eg 50% were ok, couldn't they do one side of roof in the old, and one in the new? ( Obvs depends on both practicality and aesthetics, but consider the possibility).

Years ago, there were builders who took old , perfectly good slates off, replaced with modern tiles, at the customers expense, and then made a second profit on the job by selling the original slates on.

Wow, fantastic advice, thank you everyone. I've got some work to do! Will definitely look for more quotes, broken down, and take your other points into account as well. Really appreciate all your posts.

Clay tiles are definitely pricier.

We already had some concrete tiles, as do most of the neighbours, so opted for a concrete tile with a modern semi glazed finish designed to discourage soaking and silting and be hard-wearing but in a blended colour so sympathetic in appearance to the style of the house.

They are really heavy, mind! I could barely hold one!

Cross post with PJ.

And with those binoculars, look carefully at the condition of your own tiles.

( Not all clay tiles are nailed on).

Ime, there is a huge range of costs quoted for reroofing: and it is not an area in which paying more always means a better quality job. A small local specialist can do a good job rapidly , and for a reasonable price.

I'm curious now: any chance of photos- surface of roof and close up of a few tiles?

I'm pretty sure our tiles are kaput: we regularly have shards of tile coming down from the roof with visible patches of red where the tiles have split or whatever the technical term is across the roof, with plenty of mossy stuff doubtless hiding further horrors as well.

I'll get some more quotes and see how much variation there is.

I hear you, Miaow! I lie awake worrying whenever it rains and the latest snows have magnified that by several times over the weekend!

I came on to say that if you are changing to concrete you will need your roof structure reinforced to cope with the extra weight. I don't like the sound of the first company at all.