Exchanged and roof has started to leak

[Mercier1]

I really need some advice. We sold our house during the summer. Our buyer had a homebuyers survey and 2 mortgage survey/valuations plus a damp specialist has been round on one occasion too.

We exchanged last Friday. We complete this Friday. During the summer a crack appeared on a flat ceiling before it was purchased at the back of our house ... it’s our downstairs bathroom off the kitchen. A pretty shitty extension that was there before us. Anyways the crack let a few drops of water in once or twice. A builder looked at it (same one who prob caused it, we had them do painting externally so they must have been up on this roof) ... anyways he said the heat shrinks stuff and then it expands again and it’s fine. It was fine after that. Then this week the roof is letting in small drops of water in another area. We’ve already exchange and haven’t got a clue what to do.

Can anyone help? What’s our legal position? Do we tell them? Do we claim on the current insurance to fix it? We are totally stressed and confused. Any help appreciated

Ask your solicitor, but I suspect the fact that they've had those surveys lets you out.

Off the point, but surely the heat expands things, not shrinks them?

Doubt you can claim on your insurance - 'wear & tear' or shonky job by the sound of it.

Caveat emptor for your buyers. But you could leave them a note, (and a bucket down if its bad, telling them who not to get to fix it! Their survey will surely have noted the flat roof and given them the old 'these are limited life and prone to leak' bananas get-out clause.

Speak to your solicitor. Your buyers should have insured the building themselves from exchange. I think it may not be your responsibility, but of course questions will be asked about whether the leak occurred after exchange or not. At the very least put a heavy duty tarpaulin over the area of the roof.

From the point of exchange the buyers should insure the property. You've insured the property you are moving into, haven't you?

Yes we have sorted insurance however I have just scrutinised these documents and flat felt roofs are not insured.

Go to your local hardware or DIY store & buy something to temporarily seal where is leaking. These temp fixes tend to be pretty good tbh. Some you can apply on a wet surface too. Good luck.

We can’t find where the water has gotten in?? No obvious holes etc.

You can buy a waterproofing spray. That might be worth a go.

It’s not the gutters is it? We may have left our buyers with a slightly leaky roof last year (typical that the day of completion was pouring rain!) - the same as our vendors did when we’d bought the house. All that was needed to sort that was clearing the gutters out a bit & because we were moving we hadn’t organised it like we usually would.

It’s terrible I’m sure but I’d probably just pretend to know nothing about it, especially if it’s only a few drops now & then.

It’s not the gutter. The next door neighbours had work done and i think maybe a bit of our felt was damaged. I’ve now put tiny pin pricks in the ceiling and it’s draining water through. . . I honestly have never been so stressed in my life.

We can not identify what we can do to actually fix it and it’s too late now. FML

What does clause 5.1.1 of your contract say?

Are you being sarcastic @ramanoop

No. Look at the contract you signed when you exchanged.

It could be little diy job.
If you are able to reach the flat felt roof then a little tarmac liquid tin,i would say no more than 2.5kg around a tenner.
A brush and you will see the cracks or just give it a brush around the extremity of the felt

Please just speak to your solicitor OP.

Get a different roofer round. There is likely to be a temporary fix as well as a long term fix. Temporary fix will only be a few hundred pounds at most.

I would speak to solicitor and would also attempt to find at least temp solution.

If theyve had a full survey done that will have highlighted the flat roof. Ideally they would then have booked a roofer to inspect it. Either way flat felt roofs have a really short life span and small ones are cheap to replace. Clean up the mess, and move out. They will kmow to replace it in the near future anyways.

The buyers should know this roof is at the end of its life. However as they have not had a full structural survey they may not know the full extent of the problem.

The ceiling will now stain and be damp so it’s obvious it’s leaking. Talk to your solicitor. You probably don’t have time to fix it. It either needs pulling down or a whole new roof. It could be the roof beams are rotting and unless you take it apart, you won’t know. If water is ponding above the ceiling, it’s serious so speak to your solicitor.