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Original poster

Roof leak, how bad does this look? (pic attached)

25 replies

blueskyday12 · 05/10/2021 13:09

Hi everyone! I am an expat who has been living in the UK for a few years and am hoping to buy a 3 bed mid terraced house. I found a house that I really like, but I noticed a very visible leak on the top floor of the house. Aside from this, the house is great and I'm happy with it. However, as I am new to home ownership and terraced house living, I'm not sure if this looks like some minor work is needed or a "we need to new roof" issue. If my offer is successful I will of course get a proper survey, but I'm trying to understand how expensive of a fix this might be so that I can feel confident about the amount I go to best and final with. Thanks :)

Roof leak, how bad does this look? (pic attached)

OP posts:

SmallGreenStripes · 05/10/2021 13:13

I don’t think it is easy to tell the cost from that pic. The roof is leaking. Might be a missing slate on an otherwise in good Nick roof, or might be the start of things to come. Have you got a picture of the outside of the roof?

PinkFootstool · 05/10/2021 13:14

Hmm. Is that a gable end / external wall or mid-terrace? Can you put up a floor plan / diagram to show where that wall is in relation to the next door house or end of the terrace?

I assume that directly above there is just the roof / a loft space?

You'll need a full survey if you were to go ahead obviously.

trumpisagit · 05/10/2021 13:14

Can you go through in the loft and have a look?

Original poster

blueskyday12 · 05/10/2021 13:20

I don't have a good picture of the roof unfortunately, but it definitely does not look new/"nice" (I'll try to see if my husband has a picture of it...). Do you have any idea what the cost of a 3 bed terraced house roof could be around? It is in Yorkshire, if that is helpful!

OP posts:

Callisto1 · 05/10/2021 13:22

It doesn't look huge if it's the only place there is damp. Did you have a good look round the house to see if any other areas are affected?

It could be gutters need clearing/fixing or maybe just minor damage to tiles or seals in that area. Is it a flat roof?

Gutters clearing should be a cheap job. If you have a chance go back and look if they are corroded or there's plants living in them!

We had a fix and maintenance to flat roof recently and it was under 2k (Scotland). Roof replacements or major repairs are pricey so over 10k - 20k. Could be more if it's a big house!

Original poster

blueskyday12 · 05/10/2021 13:22

Its a mid terraced house. This is on the top floor so I would believe directly above it is the roof. When you say go through the loft to have a look, what does that mean? (sorry if its a daft question - expat here!)

OP posts:

Original poster

blueskyday12 · 05/10/2021 13:27

Thankfully it is the only place where we saw the damp. The market is still moving very fast in the area we want to buy in, but to my surprise the house only had 3 offers on it in 2 weeks (we've lost out on quite a bit in the past and those houses typically had around 10 offers, if the agent told the truth) which made me think everyone was noticing something I didn't.

OP posts:

Callisto1 · 05/10/2021 13:27

If you know what type of roof it is you could call a local roofer and ask them for ballpark figures. But definitely have a good look even from outside you can sometimes see issues.

SmallGreenStripes · 05/10/2021 13:27

If you had to do the whole roof of a terraced house I would expect it to come in at 3-6k. Bonus though you could re insulate at the same time

Callisto1 · 05/10/2021 13:33

Usually in houses you have a little hatch at the top floor which you can open to access the area under the roof. That's the loft. It will probably need ladder to get to.

c3pu · 05/10/2021 13:43

Looks like a loft conversion to me, in which case you (or rather the surveyor) won't get to the root of the problem without pulling the ceiling down or getting up on the roof.

Daftasabroom · 05/10/2021 13:43

It looks in way of a chimney stack, if so it just be pointing and or flashing.

trumpisagit · 05/10/2021 13:51

New roof for mid terrace in SW £10 000 incl VAT.
Repair could be very cheap (a few hundred?)

Warmduscher · 05/10/2021 13:56

You may have trouble getting a roofer out in winter, OP, especially in Yorkshire (I’ve just managed to get one in W Yorks because he had a cancellation).

Can you not get the EA to tell you more about this leak? You won’t be the only one who will ask so they may as well find out what’s going on so prospective buyers can factor that into their offer, as you’re trying to do.

aLittleL1fe · 05/10/2021 14:29

It would be fair to put an offer on the condition that the roof is fixed if the sellers are reasonable people they'd do this prior to sale.

There is no loft you can go to, to check. You are in the loft. It's a loft conversion, so what was the loft before, is now this room/space that's in the photo.

It's likely to be the chimney on the outside of the leak which needs re-pointing and/or lead flashings fixed. Just that will cost you scaffolding ~£600 plus work another ~£200-300. It will be hard to fix it before winter as most roofers are booked up, which then means the leak and the damage will likely continue until it's sorted. Plus if the roof is old anyway, you may need to do more than just that. If 20% of roof surface needs repairing, it's no longer cost effective to patch up.

Relaying the whole roof costs from £6K up. I'd budget 10-12K.

aLittleL1fe · 05/10/2021 14:30

Actually how tall is the building? If not very told some roofers may take the job just using ladders. Depending on how big a job it is and if it can be done safely without scaffolding.

aLittleL1fe · 05/10/2021 14:30

not very *high (not told!)

Original poster

blueskyday12 · 05/10/2021 14:48

Thank you all for the tips and advice here! Lots to consider as we think about the final offer. The house is currently vacant as it was rented previously and the agent showed it to us so we didn't get to speak to anyone who actively lives there. I will send the agent an email to see what they know about the roof situaiton. Would love to move into a house without a chain, but don't want to end up massively overpaying in a bidding war and then having to also pay for an entire new roof. Thanks again! :)

OP posts:

imonlyhooman · 05/10/2021 14:51

The problem you may have is that if it's coming from your neighbours side and it's their roof and they refuse to fix it. I'd be a bit wary and ensure you know exactly who is responsible before signing on the dotted line.

Original poster

blueskyday12 · 05/10/2021 15:43

Also, the point about the chimney was a good call out. I found a picture of the roof and have the floor plan (attached). The tiles look a bit off in this area.

OP posts:

SmallGreenStripes · 05/10/2021 15:47

Is that chimney above the leak? Could be flashing needs replacing

PinkFootstool · 05/10/2021 15:55

You also appear to be lacking the fascia and soffit on the gable end (roofline nearest the camera).

LIZS · 05/10/2021 16:00

Probably the flashing around chimney. You could ask a roofer to take a look and quote. Unless the decoration is very new it has not happened over time,

Nat6999 · 05/10/2021 16:07

When we lost our felt shingles during a storm we woke up to a 1 metre bubble on the ceiling & were told we needed at least half the roof replacing.

BluTangClan · 05/10/2021 17:10

Aside from the possible leak, the guttering closest to you in the photo appears to be above the bottom line of roof tiles. (Unless it's the camera angles).

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