New Roof Quotes - Reasonable?

[AchillesLastStand]

I’m in desperate need of a new roof after having three years of leaks and problems since buying the house. It’s an early ‘70s detached house originally with 3 bedrooms but had an extension put on 2000 turning it into a 5 bedroom house, West Midlands. It’s the extension that we’re having the most problems with due to valleys and the roof joining the original house. So far I’ve had 4 quotes to replace the entire roof and remove the chimney.

Quote 1: 18k, just came out, looked up at the house and pulled a number out of his head. I asked about VAT and he said I wouldn’t need to pay it because I’m not registered!

Quote 2: 14.5k plus VAT. I’m still waiting on receiving a written quotation but said he will comply with building regs. Lots of excellent reviews online and a member of the confederation of roofing contractors.

Quite 3: 12.5k non VAT registered small local roofer, but I asked about building regs and haven’t heard back

Quote 4: 13.1k inclusive of VAT. The most considered of all the quotes, is local authority registered, member of the national federation of roofing contractors, and is able to self certify on building regs, but has limited reviews online but been in business over 20 years.

Which one would you go with? My head tells me quote 4 and quote 1 is definitely out.

2 or 4

Agree 2 or 4.

What work will be undertaken? When you say new roof, you mean remove old tiles, replace felt, battens, valleys, remove chimney, retile with new pan tiles? Are you getting the facias done in Upvc and new guttering?

2 or 4

I know it’s more money to spend but have you thought about getting a local surveyor to check the specification and quotes to ensure you are getting both what you pay for and what you need. I’m guessing £5-600 would do it.

I'd go with quote 4

Carrying on. Are the valleys the spec on all quotes? Are the tiles the same type and manufacturer?

I shouldn't be spending your money for you but would you like to consider having solar panels fitted at the same time while the scaffolding is up?

I have thought about a surveyor. We’ve had so many issues with the valleys on the extension.

We’ve already had the fascias, soffits and guttering done because they were all falling apart when we moved in, but couldn’t afford to get the whole roof done and ended up going for repairs which have turned out to be more costly in the long run.

They will be replacing the felt/membrane, batons and tiles and bringing the chimney down to below roof level.

I will definitely have a look into solar panels but I’m not sure how much sun our roof gets or it’s in the right position.

The Confederation of Roofing Contractors is a scam outfit that will not want to know if anything goes wrong.

The National Federation of Roofing Contractors is a more worthwhile organisation.

Do all the quotes breakdown the work/materials enough that you can compare?

You need a written contract. Are they all offering a 10-15 year warranty on the new roof?

I can help!

You can get quotes here. But the good thing is that they have an app that will help you work out what's possible from the google picture of your home.

https://heatable.co.uk/solar

That’s interesting. I wondered if there was any difference between them. The one I’m thinking of going with is the National Federation of Roofing Contractors. Yes, there will be a 10 year guarantee backed up by separate insurance on quote 4.

Quote 4 is very detailed on the materials and how they comply with building regs. The other quotes not so much.

Thank you. I’ll check this out!

When you say reviews online, on what sites? I wouldn't trust sites like checkatrade.

Reviews on Google, Facebook, Yellow Pages. I try and avoid sites like My Builder and Checkatrade after employing cowboy roofers in the past.

Yes exactly👍 . I would personally go with 4 but 2 would probably be fine as well.

Are you on commission? 😂😂😂

I would go with 4 OP.

You'd think so, but no, I've just been going through the research process for myself.