Hi all, I'm looking for advice for an elderly neighbour and any knowledge would be greatly appreciated...a new flat roof has completely blown off. Winds have been high but here in Scotland we get it every year and the previous roof lasted 20 years....anyway, the roof...

The house is 1850 stone cottage with 11inch joists and flat roof. A warm roof was laid directly on top of the pre-existing roof and consisted of 100mm foam (randomly adhered with tar 'blobs') overlaid with 2 felt layers.

The whole lot was framed with 2 by 4 wood lengths and nailed to the existing roof with wire nails spaced every 4 foot or so...which seems inadequate, but I'm not aware of the UK standards...

Any help would be much appreciated as the contractor has come back and said that it's not his fault Our neighbour is a widow and totally confused and stressed...

Thanks in advance!

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You may not have heard but the gales over the last day or so have been severe..Hopefully your neighbour has insurance in place.

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Verwood Handyman
I Know it says I'm On-line, but I might have just left myself logged in, whilst I'm out....

What period did they guarantee the roof for?

I wouldn't expect to replace it every eighteen months. I'd have to say it wasn't fit for purpose. Sadly it usually becomes quite complicated when you have to start getting expert opinions in and surveys done when all the time the poor old dear hasn't got a roof

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As Razor has mentioned about the guarantee but does the company who installed it still exist? If so they would be my first port of call but, sometimes, a xx year guarantee off a small company isn't worth the paper it's written on. If the company is dissolved then you could try the insurance who may put up the "Act of God" clause

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Mike
http://rebuildingatimberbungalow.blogspot.com/
any advice welcome

Insurance job for my money - and let the insurance company chase the contractor for a refund if they think the job was done poorly.

Inky may be right, depends on the policy your neighbour has and see what they can (or will) do. My little sister bought a VW Polo - that winter the winds downed her garage and the roof off the garage leveled the garage next noor (trashing their car too). My sister phoned the insurance and the did the 'Act of God' let off so she had to sort everything out herself but it is in north Wales where winds aren't ask extreme as Scotland (where the insurance may take it into account)

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Mike
http://rebuildingatimberbungalow.blogspot.com/
any advice welcome

deffo an insurance job...there should be an Insurance company for Atheists...

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Verwood Handyman
I Know it says I'm On-line, but I might have just left myself logged in, whilst I'm out....

Ask local trading standards and your council building control dept. They will advise you for free and their advice is worth having.

DO NOT ever be put off by the "Act of God" rubbish.

That one has already been to the Supreme Court, and they found that extreme weather is foreseeable and statistically predictable - so it cannot be considered as an Act of God.

Inky - the car that was in the neighbours garage that got scrapped was a Ferrari Mondia. Never told my sister I knew her negihbour and the car was mine and only worth £1k (I was glad to get rid of it) but within 3 weeks both me and my brother-in-law rebuilt both garages. I did tell my sister the Act of God is meaningless but she was with HSBC and after hours of speaking to their Bombay reps anyone would give up

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Mike
http://rebuildingatimberbungalow.blogspot.com/
any advice welcome

Yeah, a lot of insurance companies are trying every trick they can to duck paying out. I've found the Financial Ombudsman Service pretty helpful in these cases - even the threat of involving them can act on an insurance company like a dose of Castor Oil!

I also know someone who took the matter to the small claims court as a breach of contract - the insurance company settled quickly rather than fight it.

slightly off the thread but a neighbour lady I know owns a house that is rented and it was broken into. The tenants phoned the police who got a local firm to secure the busted window. my neighbour asked me to pop round and fix the hinge on the window. The company had tried siliconing the ply to secure the window but the ply was miles away from the frame, just a little tickle and the bugger came free. I knew she is expecting a bill of £300+ for the firm to have secured her building but the villiage idiot could have got in but what can you do?

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Mike
http://rebuildingatimberbungalow.blogspot.com/
any advice welcome

Report the firm to the local chief constable asking him if this is the kind of workmanship he expects from companies his organisation recommends?

I did tell the lady to complain not only because of the shoddy way it was done but the lad who broke in to the house lives in DHSS opposite and after the police released him on bail he broke back in there - not very secure

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Mike
http://rebuildingatimberbungalow.blogspot.com/
any advice welcome

By blown off I assume you mean the covering, not the timber roof structure (seen that, too). It does seem a little on the sparse side to me, but then I'm mainly commercial. We did a 1200ft flat roof at the back of a restaurant not too long back (7 x 2in joists, ex-5x2in firring strips and 3/4in plywood cladding nailed at 300mm centres - incidentally also in N. Wales) and the roofing contractor put down 2 layers of felt but spent a lot of time "welding" all the joints with bitumen. We fixed 3/4in plywood fascias around the edges of the timber roof before he insulated it and we then finished off with PVCu trim fascia when he'd finished. How does that compare to your neighbours roof?

I have to agree with others, though; use the power of the insurers to chase the suppliers - a good roof should be able to withstand the 50 to 70 mph winds we experience on the west side of the UK these days