New roof on a mid terrace ?

[Nothappyatwork]

I have a couple of odd questions if I may hoping that somebody might have been in the same boat as me so I’ve just bought a mid terraced property. There’s a budliah tree growing out of the back chimney I appear to have two.

there appears to be some damp in the second bedroom the ceiling paint is flaking away but that’s nowhere near where this chimney is with the tree.
given that the house is got to be at least 120 years old and that I would like to do a loft conversion in 2 to 3 years time would you just bite the bullet and get a new roof ?

or if I’m going down that road do we think it would be possible to just get the new roof done and install a dormer at the back while they’re at it with a view to put in the electrics plus training etc at a later date when I’ve got more money ?

additional strange question to me and the kids need to move out while this is happening ?
thank you

I would do a loft conversion straight out if you are planning one (delay the new roof to do so if you necessary/ you can) - a new roof would be undone by the loft conversion, in most cases the whole roof will come off again anyway. No reason why you can’t do the shell of the conversion and then fit it out later when you’ve got more cash. We are doing one now and will be able to do the bedroom but may delay our attic loo & shower room depending upon how our costs work out.

Do you mind if I ask approximately how much the loft conversion shell is costing please ?

Get a roofer to have a look first. It might be something as simple as a slipped slate or, if the plant has a root growing along the underneath of the slates, then water could be running down the stem then along the root & dripping off the end causing the damp.

We Thought we had a hole in the roof when water was dripping through the middle of our bedroom ceiling one night. It turns out the chimney needed pointing and water was running down the chimney then along a bit of the roofing underlay that’s under the tiles, then dripping through a rip in the underlay that happened to be in the middle of the room. Water finds the tiniest entry then gravity does the rest.

We did have a new roof put on a house, no we didn’t have to move out -we didn’t even have to empty the attic! It was noisy and dusty and we were glad when it was done but it only took a few days.

you will have to check if you need planning permission for a dorma window. It might not be necessary at the rear of the property but it’s best to make sure.

A terraced loft conversion is about £70k and up (bedroom and en suite) in SW London. So £50k for a shell? Or maybe less if you don't put the stairs in yet.
No you don't have to move out when a loft conversion is done, but there be a few times when you have no water.

Thank you, hopefully £10,000 less outside of the M25 with a bit of luck

Get a roofer in to check and quote

It could be just you need to replace flashing re the leak and they can check how big the plant is, remove it and see what damage is done. A bit of repointing could be under £1k

I'm in East Midlands and had a new roof on a small 2 bed terrace last year and it was £4.5k. Would have been a bit more but next door had theirs done at the same time so we shared scaffolding costs

We had our house re-roofed immediately prior to/in preparation for loft conversion as it made more sense to wait and do it all in one.

We paid 50k for a Victorian terrace loft conversion, 2 years ago and near Oxford.

Building materials have gone up considerably though. Towards the end of the build they were struggling to get wood but not sure if that situation has been resolved yet.

And we had a full width dormer so the whole back roof came off and we had 2 large velux windows at the front so the whole roof was pretty much replaced.

That sounds perfect I mean we’re in Warwickshire so little bit further north fingers crossed that makes a difference but I’m also told that everything should calm down a bit in October pricewise fingers crossed 50k’s definitely top of the budget

Thank you I think he’s gonna need to come out a few people have suggested it’s quite dangerous staying

Check your loft height before making making any plans based on not moving out. Our loft height was 20cm too low for building regs (we are end of terrace). We have high ceilings on the middle floor so these are being lowered to make the correct height in the loft. It's only adding 5k to the build but it can't be done with you in the house so we are moving out for 3 weeks whilst the messy structural work is done.

We thought we were fine as loads on our street have had a loft conversion done but on chatting to our neighbours, some were done pre- current building regs and some are just done but not classed as proper rooms (presumably these people are never planning on moving!!).

There were two trees in two chimneys 🤦‍♀️
how does this happen 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️
anyway £1100 to fix the flashing, the loose slate and repoint it. Doesnt sound too bad does it ?