Edwardian house - roof needs replacing soon (scared!)

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Hi all, I really need some help as we are exhausted from house hunting and can't think straight :( Thank you for reading:

We (DH and me) really like a house I viewed. It's Edwardian, so from the era 1901-1920. We really didn't think we'd' go for a house that's this old. The oldest house we thought we'd go for is 1930s. But It's in a really nice area of the town we like, close to high street and station to london too.

But this Edwardian house is really lovely - me and DH connected with straight away. It's about 1100 sq feet with potential loft conversion + kitchen extension to make it about 1500 sq feet in total later.

The issue is, there's a lot of work to do with about 90% whole house reno. It is currently empty.

It is habitable though because the vendor did do the kitchen and bathroom up which are fine and we won't touch for now.

My question is:
The loft is tiny, but the height of the highest point of the ridge is about 3metres. The roof is hipped - see photo attached. We would need to change the roof with a hip to gable conversion to make it comfortable for a loft with two bedrooms + small bathroom. A neighbour 4 doors down has done this already to their house that's practically the same.

(please note: the house is quite tall, so the angle the photo was taken makes the roof look smaller than it actually is).

Can anyone tell me how much a hip to gable roof conversion costs in the south of england? I mean only the roof shape (not a loft conversion). Our plan is: We only want to replace the roof to be a hip-to-gable shape, and intend to do the loft conversion later in life. If we do the roof now, we will have the space for the loft conversion later.

If we buy the property, we will have about £40k cash left between us. I really just wanted to save up for a couple of years before touching the roof/loft, but not sure this will happen.

For context of this problem:
There was a leak from the loft or roof into the front bedroom. We can see an obvious spot of a leak on the ceiling only (but no damage has gone down to the ground floor at all). But the bedroom ceiling has lots of plastering cracks with an obvious large spot from a leak. It's not caving in (which is good) but the Estate Agent said it's been "fixed" by patching up some of the roof. It sounded more like a quick patchy fix here and there, rather than a proper fix.

I think this means the roof probably needs to be replaced soon ish (I'm really nervous about this).

The vendor has also left the loft trap wide open, which to me means there must have been a lot of water to dry out. This part of the house is facing south, so the sun helps. But I am worried about potential wood rot in the attic and needing to replace the roof immediately.

We've had two viewings - it's never smelt bad. No signs of damp smell. It's slightly musty though, like a charity shop (but it is really faint) - the carpets are super old.

Other works we might need to do straight away:

• re-wiring
• changing half the windows from single to double-glazed.
• re-plastering + painting
• re-carpet bedrooms only
• re-flooring (wooden/laminate)
• gas fireplace may not be safe (we will probably get a gas engineer at survey stage)

The rest of the work we will do over the years, very slowly:

• kitchen extension to our taste
• downstairs bathroom
• upstairs second bathroom
• loft conversion (with potentially two bedrooms and small bathroom)

The house is up at £725k, but houses on this street that are done up can sell for £850-900k (2023 market). The EA said they've factored in what they think the house reno would cost already.

Should we buy this house? We do love it as a house, location is perfect, we don't mind doing a slow reno job, it's habitable, but the roof scares us a bit in terms of cost and finding somewhere else to live while the work is being done.

Thank you for your help!

It is really difficult to tell if the render is ok from the pics. It looks fine in the most recent photos. As long as there aren't any cracks or bulging bits then it should be fine for the time being.

We had a roof redone on our last house and it was about £10,000 but that was pre COVID and we are in the north. I wouldn't have thought it would be more that £30,000 absolute max even with a hip to gable extension.

I did some number crunching. I think my prices/costs for the reno might be a bit off? 😅 This is my estimates for a 3 bed semi-detached (1,100 sq ft house). What do you all think?

Re-wiring: £13,000
New boiler and plumbing: £5000
Windows and doors: £15000
New roof (hip to gable conversion - no loft conversion): £70,000
Soffits and fascia fix (+ scaffolding): £7,000
Rendering (+scaffolding): £10,000
Plastering: £7000 (whole house)
Sound proofing (neighbour): £2000
Painting (internal): £3,000
New flooring (all rooms): £20,000
Loose guttering in some places: £1000

Total: £153,000

This is all assuming the only work needed is the above. I haven't included a new kitchen or bathroom because we'd keep the ones the vendor did do up for at least another 10 years!

Put the offer in, then get a really good surveyor and explain your situation. It may cost you a bit more for him/her to really kick the tyres but it will be worth it. We are in the process of buying a Victorian house and the survey was v helpful in identifying what was an immediate need (woodworm, which we hadn't thought about but is cheap to fix) and what wasn't (pretty much everything we'd initially worried about). Also, once you have the survey report, call the surveyor before you start crying. We had a load of red but actually having spoken to him they were not big things, just things that needed doing immediately.

Are you planning to get the work done before you move in?

Rewiring will be less than that. Plus you probably don't need rewiring, just updating.

Plastering could be more but that looks roughly right.
Are you painting or getting someone in?
I think that could be more than £3000 if you are paying someone.

New boiler and plumbing might be more.

How many windows are there?

Soffits fascia and guttering can all be gone at the same time and won't be as much as that. Do they need replacing or just cleaning out? I would put by £1000 for that maybe £2000 if they need scafolding. Depending on what they need to do, they might be able to work off ladders.

Don't know about rendering but I would look into insulated render when you come to redo it.

@Geneticsbunny we plan to do the work while we live there. we won't have anywhere else to go.

Rewiring will be less than that. Plus you probably don't need rewiring, just updating.
What the difference between rewiring and updating? The vendors moved into the property in 1979. They said they can't remember when it was rewired, so I'm assuming it was in the '70s. I assume this probably means a whole house rewire (I'm a bit anxious about the disruption).

Painting wise, we will do it ourselves. Anything we can do ourselves, we'll do it. I'm even thinking about putting the flooring in lol. I think I just have to really think about it first before attempting it.

How many windows are there?
The vendor has added double glazing to the downstairs and upstairs front of the house only.
The number of windows needing to be changed: 8 (6 medium sized, 2 smaller ones)
Number of doors to change: 2

Soffits fascia, and guttering
Some of the guttering has plants in it. Not massive ones, but small ones. The guttering mostly looks ok though.
Soffits and fascia wise, I have no idea about this, but I'm assuming it'll need replacing!

Thank you for having a look at my cost breakdown.

@LaPalmaLlama I am thinking with all the work it's defo worth under £700k. My instincts say £675k because it is a good location, good schools, good high street within walking distance and train to London.

The guide price is £725-750k, but I still think it's too high.

I just to find a good surveyor now. I have no idea where to start with that!

The house in the picture does not have original Edwardian clay tiles, it has (fairly) modern concrete tiles.

I can't say I like them, but the lead flashing and chimney brickwork look decent, and I don't see that it needs a new roof. There might be some defects that need repairing.

I am also not in favour of a hip to gable alteration. If and when you decide on a loft conversion, that would be the time to do it. Otherwise you have the expense, inconvenience, and spoil the appearance of the house, with no payback.

@PigletJohn Thanks, that's really good advice. I am kind of anxious the roof is a problem and so i'll have to get the roof replaced, and so might as well do the hip to gable conversion too.

Unless, I could get a super cheap roof done that would at least give us 15 years guarantee which is enough time to save up for a loft conversion.

If it is an Edwardian house, the render is quite likely lime mortar pebbledash that has been unwisely painted. The lime is quite likely perished cracked and loose. I would recommend hacking it off before it falls off. You can re-render it sympathetically. It does not need to be painted unless there is some defect you want to hide. If you paint a wall once, you will have to keep painting it for ever.

It is possible to externally insulate walls by adding insulation, cement board cladding, and render over the top. I doubt it would be a profitable investment, but maybe look into it, especially if there is a solid side wall with few windows or other complications. I do not think it would be worthwhile doing the front, and the back may be similar. The area of exposed brickwork is not large and the cost of cutting in would be significant. You might not get permission to spoil alter the frontage.

A full rewire involves removing all the existing wiring and totally starting from scratch with a new switchboard and brand new wiring, switches and sockets. It involves taking all the floors up and cutting big chunks out of the walls to put the new wiring in. You cannot use the rooms whilst this is happening and anything left in the room will be covered and filled with a gross layer of fine dust which is really hard to clean off. All rooms will then need replastering. It would also destroy the kitchen and possibly the bathroom.

An update would be getting the switchboard checked to see if it is up to modern standards and replaced of necessary (minimal mess) and getting the wiring checked to make sure it is safe and up to current standards (no mess).

The first option wrecks the house and costs thousands, the second is less than a grand and causes no mess.

If you want, you can then get the house rewired a room at a time as you decorate each room.

Same level of destruction needed for a new central heating system. But again, you can do it a room at a time.

I would estimate £1000 per window roughly (might be more nowadays? So your window estimate is too high. This is not a messy job so can be done whenever you like.

Of you are ok with heights you can clean the gutters yourself.

You can also wire a room up and get an electrician to check it and make the final connections. Which saves a lot. Also plumbing isn't difficult to learn. You might find some evening classes? Or you could just YouTube the basics and post on here if you get stuck. There are several plumbers on the board who are all very helpful.

We will offer £700k and see if the survey can bring it down further (we think it will).

I think this is a really underhand approach, to offer on a property with the full intention of reducing it later on.

I've replaced many roofs on older, larger houses and none cost £70k.

hi @Geneticsbunny thanks for your responses!
About the central heating system: the house has a 20 year old condensing boiler. I don't quite know what that is, but we were told there is a cold water tank and hot water tank. Water and heating are both gas powered. The radiators looked okay.

I would prefer to change the boiler to a combi boiler. Would this require the same level of destruction as a full house rewire? I am not sure.

It depends on whether they can just take out the hot water tank and condensing boiler and put in the combi or whether they need to replumb a lot. Ours wasn't overly complex and we went from back boiler to combi but there were some old pipes that need replacing. Boiler switch is around £5k, maybe a few extra k if you need to upgrade radiators etc. They'll need to get rid of the tanks and probably take up some of the floors up so it's a bit messy but might not be too bad, but if you have plans for plastering/new floors it makes sense to do it before those go

What are the benefits you envisage? Will it ever have more than one bathroom or shower?

Quite likely the incoming water supply is a small-bore lead pipe, so this will be the time to replace it with a larger plastic one. This is not a big job, mostly digging a trench to the pavement, and an older house probably has a convenient void under the ground floor.

Thanks @Snugbug123 and @PigletJohn.

I don't know much about boilers at all.
There is only one bathroom in the house, but I will eventually want three (one family, two small toilet + shower rooms), one on each floor.

The current condensing boiler hasn't been serviced for a couple of years (may be 3 years ). When I get the boiler service done after move in, what could be the outcome? I imagine they might say it needs total replacement?

I just don't know what could happen to a boiler if it hasn't been serviced for a few years? Any ideas... ? thank again

Yes! I want to get rid of any lead pipes! They did get their kitchen done in 2009. I wonder if they might have got it removed then 🤔

A combi can reasonably supply one bathroom, and will be fine with one occupant. As the numbers go up, less so.

You appear to have a larger house with several residents.

An unvented cylinder, with a good flow from a larger supply pipe, will be much more satisfactory.