New roof tiles falling off - what ..if anything ..can we do?

[Whohashiddenthebiscuits]

This is more about the contractor than the actual roof as the answer is obviously to get other roofing specialists in and give us their verdict!

To give the background, 8 months ago we had water coming through the ceiling of our kitchen extension. We asked for recommendations on our local Facebook community page for roofing specialists.

We had a couple of firms round and went with the cheapest - it’s not a huge extension and it was £1500 to fit a new membrane and re tile with new tiles. I did double check at the time with another roofing company that the advice we’d been given to fix the leaking issue was sound and was told it was so we went ahead with it.

8 months down the line, 2 tiles have fallen off and another three are wonky. Our next door neighbour was up on the roof this week fixing tiles their side and pointed out that the tiles our side hadn’t been nailed to the wooden joists and just fixed in with bronze/cooper clips. He demonstrated this by lifting a few up.

I’ve tried contacting the roofing company we used four or five times - initially I had promised they’d be around to fix it in the following week then nothing, no response at all.

I’ve a receipt from the company detailing the work carried out. I would like to report them so this doesn’t happen to anyone else but don’t know how to go about this so any advice on this appreciated! I’m assuming there is no way we can recoup any of the £1500 and will have to resign ourselves to paying a couple of grand to another company to fix this mess.

How awful, hopefully they won’t get away with it.
www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/getting-home-improvements-done/problem-with-home-improvements/

It is perfectly normal (and acceptable) that roof clips are used - not nails, as only some tiles are nailed. .... so I wouldn't panic too much that your'll be left with a huge repair bill.
Give the original people another chase - fingers crossed they can easily rectify it for you.

Thank you @HazelandChacha - not that they are responding to my emails so rather hard to reach any kind of agreement but to create a joined together paper trail it looks like a starting point according to your link would e to quote the Consumer Act at them and see if that prompts a response. I’ll expect that will be ignored too but hey ho!

Thanks @Shouldbeworkingnotreadingtalk - my next door neighbour is an artist not a roofer but from what he showed me yesterday, none of them have been nailed, nor are the nail holes lined up with the joists either. Three tiles on the roof are on the wonk and two have fallen off which does suggest (I think?) all might not be good!

@Whohashiddenthebiscuits - not a roofer either, but I was just reading out your post and DH said it ... He works in the trade, not doing the tiling, but the joists themselves.... I def. wouldn't let your neighbour worry you too much, but def. try again to get them back, you've just got to persevere - I just didn't want you to be panicking all Sunday thinking you've been had.

Family members had issues with tradesmen doing a very substandard job.
They eventually sorted it out through the small claims court.
I think from memory that they filed paperwork and tradesmen then refunded them.
That might be worth considering.

The advice from citizens advice above was to send an email quoting the Consumer Rights Act and then follow it up with a request for a refund so we’ll see if that gets any response ..but should that get no response (and I suspect I’m hear nothing!) then I think I’ll look into small claims and whether that’ll cost us more than we might get back. I don’t like the idea of them getting away with it though!

Thanks @Shouldbeworkingnotreadingtalk, I have to be honest this morning with all the gusty wind and rain I was a bit of a paranoid Patty about flying tiles taking out DDog while she was doing her morning constitutional!

It just sounds like a cheap sub standard job to me. Its never worth it. Speaking from personal experience. But keep trying to get them back.

The small claims court is only a couple of hundred pounds and quite simple but you need to have tried the other avenues first as the CAB has laid out.