Bought a new house just over 3 years ago from an independant builder – had a leak over the weekend that came through into our downstairs bedroom. Bit of a surprise today when the roofer told me that the underlay has completely failed and needs to be replaced throughout – at his estimate of around £7-8k!

Because it was a small building company, the building only has an PCC (architects certificate) so I doubt there’s any recourse I can take with them and the only contact I have for the developer is an email address.

I’ve contacted my solicitor to see if there’s anything I can do, but I’m not optimistic. This has been a truely shit Monday.

Sounds like a good time to get another opinion – I fail to see this being the case.

You have insurance right?

Our roof has no underfelt and doesn’t leak, is yours a pitched tiled roof?
What is the angle of pitch and what caused the leak?

Sounds like a good time to get another opinion – I fail to see this being the case.

You have insurance right?

This, and that.

Our roof has no underfelt and doesn’t leak, is yours a pitched tiled roof?
What is the angle of pitch and what caused the leak?

This…… The underlay is a vapour barrier rather than the bit that keeps you dry.

We have home insurance but I don’t believe it will cover us for something like this.

Yes it’s a pitched, tiled roof. He showed me the felt with the tiles off and it’s worn through either side of the vertical wooden beams. Big holes either side.

He also found where the builder had put duct tape on previously in another area. Probably to fix a rip when installing.

As above – the felt isn’t really the bit that keeps the rain out. There must be an issue with tiles or flashing somewhere?

It shouldn’t leak even if the underlay is completely missing so, sorry to say, you have more problems than just the underlay. It also sounds as if the tiles have been fixed in a way that caused the underlay to wear, which shouldn’t happen.

What does the Architect’s Certificate certify? You may have a claim against the Architect.

I would be getting into the loft space and having a good look around. It might be just one area that needs sorting rather than the hole roof.

the hole roof.

What you did there is obvious 🙂

🤣

I guess that’s the thing – I’m not completely convinced he actually fixed anything other than patching the holes in the underlay – so the issue is probably still there.

If I wanted to get a second opinion, how do you guys normally go about finding someone who you trust to give you an honest appraisal?

I get my ladders out, it’s roofing not brain surgery.
Failing that get a recommendation from someone you know.

I would very much disregard the advice you’ve been given as it makes no sense. Start again and find another roofer. You may as well take lucky dip and look on checkatrade or similar and try again. The majority of roofers, like other humans, are decent but this one has obviously lied through his teeth. The felt may have failed, but it’s irrelevant as it is not responsible for keeping the water out. He’s tried to sell you a full re-roof for no good reason. Try 2 or 3 more quotes from anyone and I’m sure you’ll get a better answer.

It’s quite likely there’s a l

Where are you OP? Someone may be local and have a recommendation for a roofer/builder 👍

Norwich

I’m a builder and I’ll just repeat what has been said all ready.
The felt shouldn’t really have any water touch it, if there is then you have a problem else where, possibly slipped l/cracked tiles, damaged or missing flashing, many other things.
You say it’s a pitch roof? The main house roof? Or over a garage, extension? Is it a double or just a single pitch?
If single pitch, the angle may be too shallow and wind pushing water up under the tiles.

What area are you in? I know several trust able roofers

NHBC?

Heres a pic showing the pitch of the roof, and another showing a small bit of the damage. Although now I look at it, it seems the felt could have been damaged by sliding the tiles up and against the beams?

Ianar but…
There are specific angles roofs should conform to for given geographical areas
High rainfall areas with exposure need steeper roofs and possibly a greater overlap of tiles
Take it this is a trussed roof with batterns and every 4 or 5th row tacked to a batern?
Can you see where the ingress is? There shouldn’t be any movement to wear sarking felt at all, let alone 3 years.
Checked gutters lead flashing etc as the water will find acwsy that might be some distance from where it pops down to say hello

What’s going on with the varying tile overlap in that picture? Some of it looks marginal at best

It is a slightly complex roof. I would be looking around the dormers, particularly the flashings and any valleys. The pitch looks quite steep, so I wouldn’t expect the lap of tiles to be an issue unless the location is very exposed to high winds. BTW the edges of the tiles bottom right in your lower pic look damaged?

The tile overlap is where some of them have been pushed back for inspection.

If you right-click / ‘open in new tab’ on those photos, you can zoom in for a better look.

@jim25 Do you know any servicing East Lancashire? I’ve no immediate need of a roofer but I’ve been through a few over the years and am yet to find a reliable one so it’d be handy for future reference.

To work out where the water is getting in it sometimes helps to put a hosepipe on the roof and watch where the water goes. If the tiles are laid at the correct overlap (you can probably find the spec on the makers website) then flashings or gutters spilling water badly is a common cause.

My other top tip is to get a roofer not a builder to do a roof. We’re currently in the process of getting our extension reroofed as the builder who did it used a very low angle with standard slates and felt (not a problem you have there). Extension is about 12 years old and now leaks with every rainstorm. Lead work is not to roofing standard, flashings round veluxs wrong etc. Now got an expensive bill and no recourse so I feel your pain.
One roofer quoted for our job then declined to do it as he is a one man band and a largish job. The company now contracted had photos of 3 similar low angled rooves they’d quoted for in the last couple of months that builders had messed up. Sorry I can’t recommend them as they are based in Redcar, a long way from you. Try a medium to large size firm and at least you know what the contract rate is even if you get someone else in.

Um, isn’t the vapour barrier/felt insulation there to prevent warm/moist internal air from condensing against the cold roof tiles?

e.g. the failure/absence of either could result in condensation forming internally and giving the appearance of a leak?

The felt has rotted due to exposure of water. The root cause of the problem is water leaking from the roof or as others have said the flashing/valleys. I’d also guess its probably been an issue from new. If the house is a new build and only 3 years it should be covered by NHBC if not home insurance. It’s exactly the type of thing insurance is for.

I’d definitely get a few opinions.

With modern breathable felts in my opinion counter battening is King, the gauge on those tiles looks dodgy af.

Um, isn’t the vapour barrier/felt insulation there to prevent warm/moist internal air from condensing against the cold roof tiles?

Surely that’s the job of the insulation within.. depending on if your roofs a warm or cold space.

No felt or membrane on the main building or the first extension. Yet we had to fit it when we built our extension of the original extension…..

Why mention Nhbc when if you read the earlier post it was the architect who certified the house
Same with trusted traders sites they are a minefield, word of mouth roofers that only do roofs not cleaning gutter or sandstone repairs or hedges cut to a high standard etc

I’d be looking (amongst other things) at the flashing under the dormer window sills, appears to lack an upstand to facilitate proper apron flashing, I would expect it may be vulnerable to wind-driven rain.

Have checked with home insurance and it won’t cover this – so that option is out. Only others available are:

1) Developer puts right – with or without pressure from legal intervention
2) Claim on Architects Certificate – but I’m not sure it covers latent defects
3) Pay for it ourselves

I’ve got a recommended roofer (not builder) coming out Wednesday to take a look. He said the underlay used isn’t great stuff, and that it looks like it’s been leaking a fair while to be in that state already.

Why mention Nhbc when if you read the earlier post it was the architect who certified the house

NHBC offers new build warranties as well as building regs certification.

1) Developer puts right – with or without pressure from legal intervention
2) Claim on Architects Certificate – but I’m not sure it covers latent defects

This is what I do as a job. If you can get an independent expert to give an opinion on the roof I would use that to claim against the builder. Architects’ certs are much more difficult to claim under.

That’s not rotten “felt”, it’s synthetic. I’d wager its damaged from foot traffic during the build.

Don’t you get a warranty on new builds in the UK.

I’d be looking at both lead valley construction and were the water flows, you’ll get lots of water flowing down there.

I’d wager its damaged from foot traffic during the build.

Funnily enough, my best mate who’s a builder said exactly the same thing.

Roofer of 20+ years. It’s been said but that definitely looks like it’s been caused when loading the roof. Not mineral 1F felt which is why is suspected looking at the thread title, and while that’s not Tyvek, it is a modern felt so unlikely to ‘rot’. I would be talking to the builder to seek recourse.

Ok random out there thought, I’ve worked out why my garage is leaking. It’s the lead flashing which is regularly getting attacked by effing magpies, and they damaged it enough for the rain to start getting in.

Could be something random rather than a fault with the build

Looks like the tiles are Redland Grovebury.

How did the 2nd down tile on the right get damaged?

How did the 3rd down tile on the right get in that position?

I would say that a lot of water has been getting under there looking at the condition of the battens.

As others have said, its the tiles that make the roof waterproof, not the sheeting.

My parents 1930’s house has Kent Pegs, with no sheeting fitted, and never a drop of water in.