Roofing Help - which quote seems reasonable

[HouseIsOnFire]

Hello! I will preface this with please don't tell me to get a third quote - I have now contacted at least 20 roofers, had only 3 actually turn up to look and one didn't respond with a quote, and it's taken weeks - I can't leave it any longer!

There has been a historic leak old owners helpfully hid with a built in cupboard and from pictures on the roof, can see it is a failed repair where a couple of slates were replaced with something that looks like tinfoil. Inside the plaster is breaking off and you can see the lathes are sodden, can also feel the roof felt is soaked.

Roofer 1 turned up, went up with ladder and took photos, looked at damage inside, said the failed repair needed replacing (but did not quote, have chased twice and clearly is not going to quote)

Roofer 2 turned up as roofer 1 was leaving, did not look outside but just at roofer 1's photos, and looked in the inside damage. Has quoted 795 for scaffolding and waste removal, "replacement of all damaged or slipped roof tiles and implement correction of all other slate repairs to the roof"

Roofer 3 came today, thoroughly inspected inside, even removing some of the plaster to have a look, looked outside but not up ladder (had seen video of the roof) and said it would be about 2,250 for L shaped scaffolding, stripping back 1m X 2m, replacing battons and felt where necessary and refitting existing slates replacing any that needed new slates.

Was surprised by the difference so rang roofer 2 and asked, and he said of course they'd replace the felt and battons, but if that's the case why is it not on the written quote?

Also if it's scaffolding for 795 then work, that seems suspiciously cheap? Or am I overthinking this!

Does either quote sound realistic/reasonable please? NW, Victorian terrace if that makes a difference!

from what you described - none of them worth hiring..

The second one sounds too cheap.

I had repaired a tile roof lately. Without even replacing felt, just replacing some tiles and seal up cracks. It cost nearly 2k. That was an extremely good price already...

The third one might be reasonably priced.

But just think through, would it really solve the problem? I say that because to diagnose and find cause of this sort of things is just bloody painful. They always tell you if this job is done, all will be alright. But not! Ours has gone through three tradesmen for nearly three years! The latest one has come around twice with two loads of work done, still leaking!!! The guy looked knowledgeable and not bothered with making money out of me, but he is still yet to solve the problem!!! Sorry for the rants!

Forgot to say, ours is London price.

We had our roof repaired in October, front and back with full scaffolding bridge over conservatory at back, 3 rows of tiles removed at eaves + up, new battens and felt, old tiles replaced, chimney repointed and gable end remortared.

£1100 inc. £450 for the scaffolding.
Staffordshire.

In the NW, enough scaffolding to get access could be a couple of hundred, or it could even be a scaffolding tower that he already owns or will hire.
It's hard to know the full detail from a quote but I would go with your gut feeling about how clearly they communicate and how that interacts with your budget and appetite for callbacks. The worst would be hiring the cheap one and then having to hire the expensive one afterwards!

I've been trying to get a roofer to repair my roof now for nearly a year.
Two have looked at it - one said 'he'd put me on his list', I've chased and chased and he keeps promising to keep me on his list-nothing. That's gone on over 7 months.
One has given me a quote (about October), said he'd poss be able to do before Xmas, that came and went. I chased him after Xmas, he said poss by end of February. Called today to check where I stood-no answer.
3rd roofer simply wont answer his phone.
4th attempt - nabbing someone working in street-said he'd pop over and have a look-disappeared without becoming to have a look.
I appreciate the weather this year has been dreadful but honestly....

Facebook might have a local Tradesperson group for you. Ours is a great source of all kinds of trades.

Mybuilder is also worth a try, tradies have to pay a fee to get potential customer details (even if they don’t get picked for the job) so they don’t generally pay for job details they don’t want.

Roofer 3.

@Pigglyplaystruant99 , find someone else. It's obvious, they are not interested but don't want to say no as have to give you a reason.

It's really hard! Especially if tricky /small jobs which are involving but not much money in!

I had roofing quotes a year or so ago and also found it a bit of a minefield! Leaking bay on a flat roofed sunroom/conservatory.

Actually didn't find it hard to get people out to quote, had 5 out in all! Person 1 had done work for me before, so I knew he priced reasonably, said we'd need to replace the whole roof. Person 2 laughed at replacing the whole roof, but quote was quite high, even still. Person 3 asked what person 2 had quoted and said he'd do his best to bring it down. I already knew then i wouldn't be using him, so told him. He quoted £10 less 🙄 Person 4 was an old guy, who knew the previous owner of my house and many of my neighbours. His quote was almost half that of person 2. Person 5 turned up and reckoned he could fix it there and then for quite cheap. He was really pushy, so i said it wasn't convenient and asked him to send a quote through - never heard from him again.

Went with Person 4, he fixed the leak and has been fine ever since. He has since been back to fix another bay roof that had dropped. He had given us a rough estimate and said he wouldn't know actual price till he'd taken it apart a bit. He ended up charging us less than he quoted!

My point being that the cheaper quote isn't always a red flag. I find older tradespeople far less likely to come in with high quotes and put it down to "huge rise in materials cost" and "brexit, covid".

Old guys rule ! 😎

Of course, the older tradesperson is quoting low. They're quite likely to have very low overheads and are doing the work to pass the time.

An older tradesperson would have exactly the same overheads as a younger one Materials ,tools/ equipment,van. So why is his time less valuable than someone younger ? Also why would someone older just be passing the time ? Or don’t older people need to earn a living ?

The first is wrong although both are really, if you have sodden wood then fixing a few tiles is like putting a plaster on a severed leg.

The house has been breached so the time to cheaply fix the outside has long passed.

What is sodden, the rafters? purlins? joists? posts? it would be nearly impossible to just be the 'battons' and if those have been sat wet you may have structural issues so you might need an engineer (no reputable builder will look or give a quote on structural issues without an engineers calculations, which will likely be why they are refusing).

If it is structural could be a whole new roof at £10-£25k.

Roofer 3 unless roofer 2 gave you good vibes.

I do know some very good tradespeople who are winding down to retirement and only take on a couple of projects a year to stay under vat. Could roofer 2 be in that category? In fairness, these chaps I know will only work for you if you're nice and you do need to book them up to a year in advance!

I don't think roofer 1 wants the job. He'll either come back with a crazy price or ghost away.

And the tin foil stuff will be roof tape. It's a temporary fix, I fixed my leaking summerhouse with it so it can limp on until I can afford to replace it!