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Hi All, I'm seriously considering my options, including making a warranty claim for a substandard roof in our 2 year old self-build. Just wanted to hear anyone's views on it. The project was run by a project manager who work closely with a local structural design company. The roof consists of hand made clay tiles and was fitted by a local roofer with decades of experience. All has been fine except for one section where we have had problems of water going behind the guttering and soaking the eaves and exposed rafter feet, which are now showing signs of damp damage. We have of course, had the roofer back on several occasions to look at the issue and he has done some work to remedy the problem, but to no avail. He's also not the easiest or most reliable person, in terms of keeping appointments so this has been over an extended period. Over the last few months, I finally lost my patience and did what I should have done a lot earlier; I did a lot of my own research and asked around the roofing trade online for some opinions. In particular, I got some great help from a local roofing supplier who stated straight away that he felt that the tiles are at too low a pitch on this part of the roof - these tiles should be no less than 35 degrees (in this part of the roof they are laid at around 25 degrees). He stated that the max pitch should be on the plans but I've not spotted them anywhere. He also gave me the name of another local roofer who I intend to ask to visit, give a professional opinion and quote for repair work. I am not expecting this to be cheap. Without mentioning my investigations, I also suggested to the original roofer that the pitch looks too shallow for hand made clay tiles, and that I'd have expected him to spot this. He replied that he didn't think that was the issue but in any case, the calculations were done by the project manager, not him. I should add that I had to let the project manager go since he made numerous costly mistakes, failed to bring the project in anywhere near on time or to budget and was absent for large periods without any explanation. I'm just wondering where all this leaves me. I am unlikely to get anything from either the roofer or the project manager without a costly fight - despite this problem likely being due to their actions/mistakes. That said, if it does prove expensive, I feel I will have to document a case to LABC - the warranty provider - and try to make a claim. Any thoughts or experiences you can share would be very much appreciated, as it's the first time I've considered going down this route.

Hi, hoping for some advice reassurance please. We are adding an extension to the back and side of our solid wall 1920s house. After much deliberation we have decided on a pitch roof, I prefer the look of this and also we won't need planning consent. The architect has designed a 15 degree pitch, but we do not have room fot the recommended 150mm upstand due to 2 upstairs windows, however the architect has reassured us that the reduced upstand is still with the guidelines. We have had a couple of builders take a look at the whole of our plans so we have some reassurance that what we are doing is ok before the architect completes the building reg drawings. One has suggested that we may encounter problems with a reduced upstand, albeit within guidelines and is suggesting that we incorporate a gully tray. Not sure what this is but tried to Google. Can this be done on solid walls? What are people's thoughts? Thanks in advance.