Slate reroof - is labour cost really as much as it seems?

[Lears]

Hi,

 

My wife and I are first time renovators and so use this forum pretty much weekly at the moment but cannot for the life of me figure out slate reroof pricing.

 

Our roof has 75mm rafters, "rustic" spacing which would make it a nightmare to cut internal insulation and we're taking 2 chimneys out anyways so some amount of work is inevitable. As a result, we're looking at a full reroof inc. truss, wall plate etc. Everything looks fairly reasonable except for the slates so hoping someone can help me understand if we're just underestimating the labour costs associated. Here's my maths so far for the slates

 

• 114 sqm roof
• Based on some other threads, I've been looking at the SSQ Del Carmen from Roofing Superstore which is 500x250 and £2.50 ex VAT or £3 inc VAT
• Based on the manufactures spec, at 30 degree, we need an 80mm overlap = 19 slates per sqm
• 114 * 19 = 2166
• Add 10% wastage = 2383
• Total slate cost = £7,148 inc VAT or £5,957

 

The two quotes I've had so far are asking:

1. £52.5k total - £24k to fit slates specifically
2. £40k total - £30k to fit slates specifically

 

Appreciate there's batterns, hooks/ nail costs to add but I wasn't expecting there to be such a gap between the the prices we saw online and the quotes.

 

To add insult to injury, given it's a reroof we're also planning on fitting in-roof solar at the same time which from some initial designs, would take up about 48 sqm of the roof and therefore, reduce the amount of slates we need by 40% or so. When I asked if that was factored in to the price, of of the contractors said "it would knock off about £1.2k because although it saves on material, the extra labours and slate and a halves would offset.

 

We're in the South West, I'd be very interested to hear experiences from others. At the moment, the £40k contractors is likely going to be doing our extension and has a good local reputation so is the top candidate, I'm due to get another quote from a local roofer for comparison in the new year too.

[G and J]

Ours is a new build with in roof solar, in East Anglia.

 

The solar did help with the cost of the slates (same size as yours, cupa gallegas 39), but it is quite fiddly to do a good job around them.

 

One cost of slates that "caught" me out when pricing was the slate and half for the edges...they were about £7.00 each and we have 3 "edges", but they do finish the roof nicely, so worth it. Also need to allow for ridge tiles, eaves kits and membrane etc.

 

Having said that, our 130sqm roof (includes the 25sqm where we have solar) cost just under £16ķ ex vat, split 6k labour, rest materials which we bought direct.

 

That excludes scaffolding.

[Lears]

24 minutes ago, G and J said:

Ours is a new build with in roof solar, in East Anglia.

 

The solar did help with the cost of the slates (same size as yours, cupa gallegas 39), but it is quite fiddly to do a good job around them.

 

One cost of slates that "caught" me out when pricing was the slate and half for the edges...they were about £7.00 each and we have 3 "edges", but they do finish the roof nicely, so worth it. Also need to allow for ridge tiles, eaves kits and membrane etc.

 

Having said that, our 130sqm roof (includes the 25sqm where we have solar) cost just under £16ķ ex vat, split 6k labour, rest materials which we bought direct.

 

That excludes scaffolding.

This is really helpful so thank you, definitely didn't appreciate the slate and halves. Did you slate and half up to the solar as well as the roof edges then? I can see how that would stack up....

[G and J]

Hi, yes we did (had to chk, photo attached)...our main roof is 40 degree pitch and we have an attached single storey at 30 degree....just checked 1 1/2slates alone were just shy of 800 ex vat.

 

Other question, does your roof need stripping before they start?

[Lears]

Looks great!

 

Yes, it would get stripped, not sure how many tiles we will save, below is the best image I’ve currently got. 

I mocked up a solar layout, the gaps are for roof lights plus with the hip we might be spending a bit of slates and a half by the sounds of it. 

 

 

 

[G and J]

Presumably the stripping is in the quote? And scaffold?

 

Our solar is only on one side and in one block, but it took longer than the other side to do, and the roofer came before the solar was installed to help the solar guy set out to make sure he could do best job of setting out the slates. In the end for the same m2 the roof with the solar in was 50% more cost in labour  than the roof without.. does your quote take into account working around the solar? If so I can see that adding significantly to the work. We also do not have any roof windows, or valleys.

 

All that said your quote does seem high......however others may chime in.