We currently have an extension project on the go. Our builders have used our 7 year old existing flat roof essentially as a scaffold to access works. When it was installed we had skylights fitted and had some leaks around them. They were patched and no problems since. We had been told not to walk on the roof when it was installed and advised them of this. We also advised them of the patching at first installation caused by the skylight fitting. They told us it was fine and did it anyway. We’ve also repeatedly asked them to take care as they often have more than one of them up there at a time and the banging and vibrations have been bad. The plaster board in the ceiling is coming away inside and caulking splitting. We then sprung a leak in the ceiling away from the edge where the extension is being built. I climbed the scaffold and found the roof peppered with nails and broken slates... which they have been walking on. We have photos. They are arguing the membrane was of “poor quality” (argument doesn’t really stand as we warned them not to walk on it and it was dry before they did). My question is, what can we reasonably expect as a repair? My feeling is a patching job will not leave us with as robust a roof as we started with, and who knows if nail holes we haven’t yet found? I’m thinking they should cover the costs of replacing the full membrane to a standard of the membrane that was there previously? Thanks for any advice!
They certainly should not cover the costs of a full membrane replacement. If you personally were told not to walk on the roof when it was installed (which is nonsense, how is maintenance supposed to be undertaken, how does it cope under a foot of snow, etc? ) then it wasn't robust enough to begin with. They should make good any damage that they themselves have caused without doubt, but if access to the new extension is the only feasible way through working off the flat roof then these issues should have been discussed and agreed upon before work even began.
There's always an alternative, even if it's expensive... Build a scaffold above it, use a cherry picker, parachute in from a Chinook... The homeowner said don't stand on the roof, they ignored, they should foot the full bill
Try reading my full post, rather than picking a bit out to start a scrap, and if you think that a builder is going to quote to build an extension via a cherry picker then you've definitely had too much beer.
There was no issues with access. Their scaffold abuts our flat roof... could easily be extended... could easily have laid ply at the very least. in fast, the sire manager said he’d told the boys to do this and doesn’t know why it hasn’t happened. We don’t want to fall out with the builders- they seem like nice guys- but equally we feel they’ve damaged something they shouldn’t have and we don’t feel it should be up to us to foot the bill for something silly that they’ve done.
I'm not trying to "start a scrap", I just quoted the bit of the post that I was responding to! They should have quoted to do the job as the homeowner asked, ie: not standing on his roof! The cherry picker/chinook part was not serious as most people can see, but I can't imagine it was particularly difficult to build a scaffold...
The main issue has been nails and broken slates trampled into the membrane i think.... i’ll try to upload a photo...
Then if they seem nice and appear reasonable talk to their site manager and look for a resolution, if he said that the boys were told to lay ply and they didn't then that's an admission of error at the very least. Note I didn't state that you should foot the bill for their damage, not in the slightest, but if they (for arguments sake) have provably damaged a small area that can be repaired then pursuing them for a full replacement when you already knew it was in poor condition just isn't cricket, in my opinion.
they’ve also torn the membrane in 2 places. it’s only 7 years old. was only patched where skylights fitted. no issues since.
the problem is there are likely multiple nail holes... i suspect we are going to have leaks popping up here there and everywhere now. there are so many nails and bits of slate/brick on roof that have been tramped over. i don’t want to replaster and paint and repair damage only to have more leaks popping up every few weeks.