Tearing my hair out The story so far... .. new years day kitchen/garage ceiling leaking, I assumed it was the flat roof on the extension. ..Roofer arrives, examines the situation and advises a new felt roof which is duly installed at considerable cost. The roof continues to leak, ..the roofer returns and installs lead flashing at more cost, ..the roof continues to leak and we conclude the cause of the leak is elsewhere. Next builder number one arrives and states the pointing on the whole external wall needs replacing and a silicone coating needs to be applied. Then builder number two arrives and states because of the volume of water involved the problem is not likely to be defective pointing but the cladding around a window. He says remove the cladding and have a look and forget silicone and pointing and add a 'cavity tray' and 'weep holes' something I had never heard of until today . Agggg It just shows how important it is to get more than one opinion where building matters are concerned. Meanwhile the leak goes on...
Mine was already prepared. Came with two little sausages and two stuffing balls with a sachet of gravy. Was very nice Had steamed veg with it too. Now the dogs are having their evening chew.
I think I would be screaming as well Meg! Wonder if it is worth contact BBC Watchdog and say 3 different builders have told you 2 different things! They might send out their own builder then... and might even do the work for free Sounds nice. I just use the juice from the piece of leg as gravy
Well for the past 12 months or so I have spent a lot of time trying to find our perfect Highland house to buy, in a great area and of course for the right price. We finally found what we were after and then it took months for the sale to go through, due to all sorts of issues but mainly no planning permission had been obtained to change the use from a schoolhouse into a residential house! Cut a long (and boring) story short, and we completed on the house just before Christmas, bought furniture etc for it, got up there to set it all up - just to find we had a leak! The master bedroom ceiling was ruined (mould and damp) and will need completely replacing, as will the lead flashings on the ceiling. Nightmare! Currently trying to find out whether the insurance will pay out for it, but not hopeful. The good news is that it is a lovely house in a beautiful location, and it will hopefully all be sorted at the beginning of March, and we can then start using it ourselves as a holiday home and also letting it out to others. I will post some pics tomorrow.
Sounds lovely. A close friend of mine lives up that way and she is forever asking me to visit - I keep telling her I will... when I get better (she's a party animal - I need all the energy I can get!). I look forward to seeing photos of you house.
Cor what is it with leaky roofs, I came back off holiday to discover the high winds had damaged my flashing on the roof and instead of lying flat on the tiles it was standing to attention in an almost upright position. On closer inspection it was obviously knackered and needed replacing. Mean time the rain was pouring in, soaking through the brickwork and saturated my bedroom carpet. Fortunately the bedroom smelt damp which made me search out the reason why. Really bizarre as there was no obvious damage, the ceiling was intact, the surface of the walls were dry, even the surface of the carpet was dry. Underneath the carpet was a different story, the underlay was sodden, as were the floorboards. Trying to find a roofer with a sense of urgency was no easy task either, I ended up paying over the odds to get the job done quickly. The room was always about to be decorated after I came back from holiday, luckily I didn't do it before I went or I'd be really peeved, just waiting for the carpet to be fitted now.
I reckon the incredible amount of rain the UK has had may have had something to do with it - although we have had MUCH less up North than you poor peeps down South. Will your buildings insurance pay for the damage Trouble?
I didn't even think about insurance, I just ripped it all out and took it to the tip, it's a bit late now as all I have is a bare room waiting for the carpet to arrive.
Shame I am not sure if ours will pay out or not yet - they are trying to decide whether the damp/mould constitutes storm damage or not. Whatever happens, the work needs to be done asap, so if I don't get a response quickly enough then it will be too late.
Thing is the roofer also said the lead flashing wasn't the correct code for the job, it's been there since the house was built and he said the original builder cut corners to save a few bob. I wouldn't be surprised because I pretty much gutted the house when I bought it 16 years ago and cheapskate sprung to mind on many occasions. Very little of the original house remains really, the walls and the main roof is about it. I've already replaced the flashing on the front, the whole roof over the garage and porch, the flat roof at the back and now the flashing at the back part of the main roof, hopefully that's the end of it. I've never had a problem with any roof in previous houses but this one has been one issue after another. Although if and when the weather improves my conservatory roof needs an overhaul.
