Botched roof repair

D13exile

I have a leak in my roof that is coming in around the chimney. I paid a local roofer €800 to repair the roof (he cut away the old perished felt around the chimney, installed new breathable membrane and sealed up around the chimney). However this didn’t work as the leak continued. He came back and tried again but it’s still leaking. He now won’t return my calls, texts or emails. I’m going to write to him and ask that he fix it or return my money. Failing that, I’ll go to the small claims court.

So what to do about the roof? The leak continues around the chimney in the attic. Instead of another patch job, should I think about taking all the tiles off and replacing the 25 year old felt with modern breathable membrane as it’s more than likely that further leaks will occur over time as the felt deteriorates? Any idea what this would cost, I.e. scaffolding, removing the tiles and felt, new membrane, replace tiles, seal around chimney etc? I feel I’ve already been ripped off by the patch job guy and I don’t want to get stung again. House is in north Kildare.

massey265

I wouldn't entirely blame the roofer, if he has done a good job re felting around chimney and making good, it more or less rules that part out, finding a leak is just not black and white, it can be coming in many places, chimney it's self by soaking water in thru cracks or porous plaster, lead work could be cracked somewhere or not properly fitted, chimney capping cracked, it could be letting in at the ridge cappings and running down on felt,
I know you have paid a lot off money and maybe he shouldn't off took it all before knowing leak had been fixed, hope you get it sorted.

mickdw

Get someone trusted to look at the roof. You may not need to redo the entire felt batten and slates.
Can you explain what kind of leak you have?

D13exile

I’m refurbishing the old attic conversion in the house I bought where I found that the plasterboard in the corner of the attic was mush because it was so wet. The plasterboard was attached to wood that was hammered into the chimney breast. The leak was running down the chimney onto the wood and seeping into the plasterboard. I removed the old plasterboard and left the wood to dry out but it hasn’t. The wood remains saturated and there is a drip of water running down it onto the floor. The brick work around the chimney appears dry and so my guess is that the leak is higher up the roof and is running down the felt and finding it’s way in through a gap someplace.

I know leaks are a pain to find but I paid the guy €800 that I expected that he’d do the repair. After two tries, the leak remains.