HELP Can overflowing/clogged gutters cause this much damage?

[thelma57]

I posted yesterday about getting a quote for gutter clearing as we’d had a leak and that was all we could see might be an issue. We’ve had roofers round the last couple of years since we first noticed stains and no one could actually
diagnose the issue!

I’ve now come downstairs this morning to the ceiling caved in 😭

Could the gutters have caused this over time?

My main roof has barely any felt left, what's left is all ripped and hanging off. Only leak I've ever had is when a tile slipped.

Unfortunately, roofers love to spin a yarn to women people. The guys I ended up using kept taking photos to show my husband, despite me never mentioning I had one and them only dealing with me. They also sent an invoice for me to pass on to my husband 😂

Thanks @CellophaneFlower I know exactly what you mean! Will defo get some more opinions and quotes.

Like @C4tastrophe says, the damage is done! 😭

Happened to me. Gutters tilting towards the house. Didn't bring down the ceilings but all the wallpaper on ceilings and walls in both the first and ground floor rooms.

First quote has come in at £1,400 for the full bay roof to be related, new slates where needed, felt and for the scaffolding. Have put them on hold for now, but is that too much?

Got another roofer coming today for a second opinion.

Will they sort gutters too if they need realigning?

I paid 980, but my bay is small and not tiled so probably doesn't help. I had new guttering installed too though, on whole house. Semi, but large and new downpipes etc. No scaffolding though. Incidentally, one of my quotes included scaffolding and a skip, if needed. They knew full well they wouldn't need them, so ridiculous to add them!

Good luck with your next quote!

Yeah they’ve said they’ll do the gutters but for an extra £70 which they’re supposed to be doing today but I haven’t heard from them yet!

Just had another quote, they said pretty much the same about the new roof but quoted £2,100! How can there be a £700 difference!?

If the two quotes are itemised then you should be able to see where the extra £700 is being expended .

Yes, blocked/overflowing gutters can do this. They can also cause dry rot that could destroy your entire house. We had to completely restore almost all floor and ceiling timbers in a grade 1 listed Queen Anne House because the previous owners didn't clear/fix gutters.

Well we got the gutters cleared, levelled, the roof felted and new lats and retiled and there’s water coming in today 😭

Thankfully haven’t got the ceiling fixed yet so is coming through the existing hole. Purposefully waited to get the ceiling repaired in case this happened after being stung so many times!

Roofer is coming round at some point later. Not impressed at all.

Water penetrating through degraded pointing ?
you have my sympathy rain leaks v unnerving and can be a bugger to fix .

If the downpipe is clear, and the bay retailed and flashing done, you’d think that’s all that it can be now.
OP, photos of the outside will be required.
Also, was the downpipe replaced? What can you see when it’s raining?

The downpipe wasn’t replaced, on neighbours side but was cleared.
They redid the flashing and repointed but reused the lead so could that be an issue?

He came round this afternoon but didn’t go up to have a look, going to come tomorrow to properly investigate…again!

Sorry @C4tastrophe cant see anything outside obvious when it’s raining, nothing overflowing or anything 🤷‍♀️

It could well be water getting through the mortar. What is the pointing like? You’d expect the roofers to point out poor brickwork though.
Does the rain usually hit the wall ?

I’ve been reading this thread as I have a similar problem. @thelma57 Was the problem ever fixed and what was the cause? Sorry you had to go through all that! I have found that roofers usually can’t locate the source of a leak 😒

Hi @Greenangeleyes unfortunately we still haven’t got to the bottom of it and after pouring money into it with no roofer able to properly solve it, we’ve given up. We paid for a new roof which was badly done and the leak persisted 🤷‍♀️ have got the ceiling fixed and just have to hope for the best now 😭

We had a similar problem with our house needs replastering and on the other side of the house the roof isn't right ( not a leak per se but it lets in water during heavy rain) to correct all issues is £12k . I think that includes a full reroof

Oh no. Sorry to hear that. I’ve had one repair to my leaking bay (pointing a crack in the brickwork above and flashing where the roof joins the wall) but it still leaks in a storm. I’m wondering if the water is rising up from the gutters and getting under the bottom slate. I regularly clear the gutters but maybe they are not deep enough. I’m also considering hosing different parts of my roof to see if there is a particular point the water gets in. It’s so frustrating.