Roof quote in... gulp...

[xanthe]

We finally took the plunge and had the local conservation builder round to quote for stage 1 of the renovations... complete re-roof including new lead, Kentish peg-tiles (they will clean and salvage what they can), new battens, membranes, insulation and a new dormer window that actually suits the house rather than the awful current bodge; complete overhaul of the chimneys including repointing the whole thing and rebuilding the top sections; new cast aluminium guttering/downpipes to the whole property and all the scaffolding and tenting that the whole thing entails.

It's not a big house, but roof has a very steep pitch and is a cat slide at the back almost down to ground level in some points so a big roof for a small house.

Anyone like to hazard a ball-park guess... off to find the gin... :shock:

 

[Palmsprings]

60 large?

 

[MikeG]

Did you get competitive quotes based on a drawing or specification? And when you say peg tiles, do you really mean peg tiles, or do you mean hand made clay plain tiles?

 

[Pennyviz]

£60k?

 

[xanthe]

Handmade proper peg-tiles made to match a selection taken from the roof...

 

[malcolm]

The decent people who quoted to do my roof wanted around 20K. I covered scaffolding, chimneys and gutters myself. I ended up with a 12K crowd but wasn't happy with their sttention to detail. Or their workmanship.

I did find that trades tend to quote proces that reflect how busy they are. Good ones do tend to be busy.

 

[xanthe]

Including vat, just under 6 figures...

 

[MikeG]

How many tiles on the roof are missing or broken? I mean, if you're having to replace 5000 tiles it is going to be a very different price from replacing a couple of dozen. There will be hardly any breakages with removing peg tiles, unless they've been mortared in at any stage. There may be some losses around the ridge and verges if those have been redone in cement mortar.

You didn't answer my question about competitive tendering. It makes a hell of a difference. For instance, on Friday we got tenders back for a job I drew a while back, and they varied in price between £89,000 and £144,000. As an architect I simply wouldn't get involved in a project that wasn't going out to tender: the prices are just too varied to be of any use to anyone.

 

[xanthe]

Just looking at the roof, I would say that at best 20% of the tiles are salvageable. All the ridge tiles are done for (cemented in and leaking).

For this quote, it was the local conservation builder who came round and had a measure up and then sent a list (there isn't a breakdown). He is very busy locally and his board is on pretty much every conservation project in the area.

The other local one quoted our neighbours £10k just to repoint their very normal sized chimney. :shock:

Generally I have produced mm perfect plans and stipulated all the work and materials before getting quotes - and I tend to buy materials myself so that I am in control of that side of spending. However these have all been interiors - new kitchens, bathrooms etc. I've not done structural stuff before so I didn't provide architects drawings of the new window or anything.

Am thinking of going out and counting the roof tiles at the moment!

 

[MikeG]

Well, I don't think I have ever seen a roof (other than after a catastrophic fire) where 80% of the tiles need replacing. I wonder if you could post some photos, because at the moment we're commenting in the dark.

However busy this chap is, you need competitive prices for the job, and for competitive prices, they all need to be pricing for the exactly the same thing. You really should employ a local architect to advise you, and to organise the tender, and I'd be stunned if you don't save his fee many many times over. Going to one builder only for a price is a recipe for disaster.

 

[xanthe]

I'll take some photos tomorrow in daylight - that certainly sounds more hopeful than the advice I've had from a few people. Builder didn't state what percentage he thought could be salvaged (quote does say steam-cleaning them all and keeping whatever is sound).

What is the best way of finding a suitable architect - do SPAB etc have lists? I'm on a structural engineer hunt as well - I want to dig out the couple of feet of concrete in half the cellar and replace some dodgy breeze block walls down there with a crown-post/metal. Would that be something I could ask an architect to supervise as well?

 

[MikeG]

The basement works are absolutely within the remit of an architect, most certainly. Architects will have their own favourite structural engineers, and, of course, will have a group of builders that they have experience of, and whom they would expect an honest price from. The builders are likely to give the architect decent tender prices because they know architects will always be putting work their way, whereas a customer going direct to a builder will likely never have anything else for the builder thereafter.

As for finding an architect...... if you don't know someone to recommend one for you, you can just go to yell.com and localise the search.https://www.yell.com/ucs/Ucs...cation=United+Kingdom&scrambleSeed=1376741939

The RIBA keeps lists of architects in each area.https://www.architecture.com/FindAnArchitect/FAAHome.aspx

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Xanthe, Joce and Chris have been through this very same thing--several quotes with a range of figures. Contact them on pm & try to find their thread. Joce will be most helpful on this one for you. My guess is that your quote has come in over 20k---

 

[MikeG]

Steam cleaning roof tiles? I've never known there to be a good reason for doing that. I can't wait to see the photos. I can only imagine that this would make the roof look new again, and that would be something I would avoid like the plague..........and besides being unnecessary (for anything I can think of), I wonder if this is the reason the price you got was so high.

 

[xanthe]

Thank you Mike - that is incredibly helpful and I think the right route for us with the structural stuff. I only want to do it once, and I want to do it properly!

Jocelyn - off to look at their threads. Had it been £20k I would be feeling v cheerful right now - incl vat, multiply by 5...

 

[xanthe]

Steam cleaning roof tiles? I've never known there to be a good reason for doing that. I can't wait to see the photos. I can only imagine that this would make the roof look new again, and that would be something I would avoid like the plague..........and besides being unnecessary (for anything I can think of), I wonder if this is the reason the price you got was so high.

I'd not heard of doing that before and it sounds very time consuming! The surveyor told me that I shouldn't be too optimistic as although a lot of the tiles look okay from the ground, there has been nearly 50 years of water from the dodgy window's gutters pouring down the cat slide and they are quite likely not sound and it would be better to buy new ones than try and make do with sub-par. Roof was last done in 1970 and has no membrane and no ventilation, just insulation board shoved up against the timbers and some now rotted bituminous felt.

 

[JoceAndChris]

I think that's too much! I can't see your location on this iPhone. The south? How tricky is the dormer?
Get some more quotes if poss.

We are the ones mentioned by Joss above, my thread "The finished roof" isn't far down the first page of posts.

We had quotes of 15, 28, 35, and 50 ex VAT. They were all for varying jobs except for the 35 and 50 one. We went for the 35 one but by the time they put VAT on there, the chimney re rendering and new lead gutters and lead porch it was 50k. It's fantastic though and definitely worth getting this right!

 

[xanthe]

Yes, we're Kent/Surrey borders - so everything seems to cost more down here!

Your new roof is beautiful and not exactly simple either, so very interesting to see your quotes. Our house is a small footprint, but I counted 85 rows of tiles on the part of the cat slide that comes down to ground floor level (one section comes down to knee height) and there is a hip roof on the kitchen extension so it's not just back and front.

The current dormer (surveyor: how that thing stays upright I do not entirely know) dates to 1970 and is modern with a flat roof, whereas all the other old houses in the area have hipped roofs on their dormers. There was no LBC when it was done and the CO was very happy with the idea of replacing it with something more in keeping - pre-1970 photos show there was no window there. To build the original, they cut into the rafters (fortunately not through the purlin) and the space is larger than one should have for nice proportions. The only other window into the attic room is north facing, so I can understand why they made it so much bigger, but the new one ought to be reduced for aesthetics so it's not entirely straightforward.

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Had it been £20k I would be feeling v cheerful right now - incl vat, multiply by 5

HOLY SMOKE! As Joce says, DEFINITELY worth getting this right --good luck xxx

 

[plasticpigeon]

I would start asking some serious questions of your surveyor. Sounds like he/she is advocating throwing away perfectly good building materials, and giving the roofer carte blanche to charge you for as many tiles as he/she sees fit.