I'm having an extension done but have concerns about the roof ridge work

[mark2123]

Hi.  I joined today to try to gain some views/advice from those more knowledgeable than me (I know nothing about building work) on some work that I'm having done to create a first floor extension on the side of the house.

 

The builders have almost finished the work and are currently doing the inside.  From the outside, I don't feel that the ridge work is of a good quality.  They have rebuilt the roof over the extension (on the right) and added new ridges to the top of the house.  The ridge colours are very different from the tiles so it draws your attention to them, and then, there is questionable quality.  I was not consulted in any decisions re tiling, colours, styles etc as I'm a layperson and I trusted my builder to ask me any relevant questions - they had the architect's plan and they have gone off that and appear to have mostly re-used existing tiles from the deconstruction of the original roof that was on top of what was an integral garage conversion.  Now that the scaffolding has been removed, not only does it feel like the ridges stick out like a sore thumb, but they don't appear to be straight, level or flush.  Are my expectations too high and is this something that can happen when the whole roof isn't removed and built from scratch, or is this workmanship that I should not be accepting?

 

As I'm not a builder/roofer, I would be interested to know if this kind of look/work/outcome should be challenged?

 

Thanks.

Edited April 30 by mark2123

[stu w]

Colour match aside , the work looks poor from the photos 

Edited April 30 by stu w

[Mr Punter]

The ridges don't look great.  The one on the lower roof looks really dodgy.  I would not worry about the colour.

[joe90]

Poor? That’s really crap, I have done many re roofs including ridges and hips and cannot believe anyone calling themselves a builder would leave it like that. Ref colour what did the architects say, new or reclaimed ridge;hip tiles?

 

I hope you have not paid them yet?

[Redbeard]

I think lots of BCOs are requiring 'dry' and mechanically-fixed ridge tiles now. You may have to live with the colour, but I am a believer in straight lines...  Do you know the make? If so send pics to the manufacturer and ask if that complies with their expectations. Then invite the contractor back to tell you to your face that that is a good job.

[mark2123]

Thanks for the comments so far.  I have only paid for just over half of the work so have a decent amount left to pay, which I will only do when I am satisfied.

 

The planning permission states:-

 

"The materials to be used in the construction of the external surfaces of the development hereby permitted shall match, in type, colour and texture to those on the existing building, the approved plans and the details within Section 5 of the submitted application form. REASON:  In the interests of visual amenity and in accordance with Policy EM10 of the Basingstoke and Deane Local Plan 2011-2029."

 

I have emailed my concerns to the builder, today, and if they disagree and say that in their view, it's fine, where is my next port of call i.e. who best to take it up with?

 

Some good suggestions and advice from everyone, which confirms my initial feeling that, colours aside, as I'm sure they will blend more over time, the look/quality isn't there.

Edited April 30 by mark2123

[mark2123]

This is how neat and tidy things looked before the work began.

[Redbeard]

As I sugg'd, see if you can get something from the manuf'r saying 'this is not how it's done' and send that when you send your statement saying you will not pay for that element of the work until it is done to a standard which would be seen by the manuf'r as satisfactory. (Manuf'r may not want to put their head that far above the parapet, but they should at least be prepared (I would imagine) to say 'that's not how *we'd* do it.'

[Redbeard]

4 minutes ago, mark2123 said:

This is how neat and tidy things looked before the work began.

Yes, but they appear to be 'wet-fixed' ridge tiles, which seem to me to look soooo much better than dry-fixed.

[joe90]

34 minutes ago, mark2123 said:

where is my next port of call i.e. who best to take it up with?

Not paying is your first response and quote this.

The materials to be used in the construction of the external surfaces of the development hereby permitted shall match, in type, colour and texture to those on the existing building, the approved plans and the details within Section 5 of the submitted application form. REASON:  In the interests of visual amenity and in accordance with Policy EM10 of the Basingstoke and Deane Local Plan 2011-2029."

 

18 minutes ago, Redbeard said:

they appear to be 'wet-fixed' ridge tiles, which seem to me to look soooo much better than dry-fixed.

I am a covert to dry fixed ridge/hips and easier (if done correctly) to line up straight, however they can also be buttered with double Roman tiles to stop ingress of wet or birds etc AND it oooks better IMO.

[Roundtuit]

That does look rough.  Why did they replace the ridge tiles on the whole house?  Did you have leaks or loose tiles?

[EdHat]

It is going to look different as you've got dry ridge/hips now whereas previously you had a wet system (bedded on mortar). The British standard now requires ridges and hips to be mechanically fixed which is best achieved with a dry system, with wet systems generally only now used for repairs.

 

You've quoted the planning permission but what did the architect's plans state regarding materials and fixing method?

 

I wouldn't worry about the difference in the actual appearance of the tiles as they will weather in over time.

 

The installation looks poor though. Note the following:

- The hips shouldn't be unaligned like that. If they've fitted a hip batten I don't understand how that would have happened.

- They haven't clipped the cut tiles along the hip. I can see what looks like 2 lead tingles, one is loose, but every cut tile should be clipped at bottom and top.

- There are large gaps between the membrane and tiles which will be vulnerable to driving rain. The  membrane should be dressed to and adhered to the tiles below.

- The chases for the stepped lead flashings haven't been fully sealed.

- Flashing looks like it might be too long and there isn't enough cover down over the tiles, particularly on the hip. Max length (assuming it's code 4 is 1500mm and there should be min 150mm cover over tiles.

[mark2123]

Really helpful info, thank you all.  I know what I need to do now in terms of addressing the issues.

[mark2123]

21 hours ago, Roundtuit said:

That does look rough.  Why did they replace the ridge tiles on the whole house?  Did you have leaks or loose tiles?

No leaks and I have no idea why they did what they did, as they just turned up and worked without explaining anything to me and, as a non-trades person, I have trusted that they are the experts.  They were recommended to me by www.resi.co.uk who I engaged to help manage the extension.  The builder has many 5 star reviews and I couldn't find anything negative about them.

 

My alarm bells started ringing when they said it should take a total of 3 months and, counting up the days that they have been here (3 or 4 of them working at a time), it's been about 5 weeks and they think it will be finished by the end of this week.

[Roundtuit]

I'll guess that they changed them all to match the new, non-matching tiles in an effort to make it more palatable.

[Mjb]

I suggest you get the builder to put hip support trays under the ridge tiles, doesn't look like any are fitted.