3 years ago my parents had a single storey extension on their house. The builder who took on the work arranged all the other tradesmen (electrician, roofer etc) involved to come and do their jobs at the relevant times.
All good, we thought.
18 months ago my mum noticed damp on one of the walls. She called back the builder who said it looked like a roof issue. So she called back the roofer who, after much deliberation, said it was the tiles that were not doing the job. The tiles used were Redlands fontenelle, suitable for a 15 degree roof (which the roof is). We called out a Redland rep who tried to suggest other issues, but we still felt the problem was the tiles were not actually suitable for that pitch at which they were sold to us. (Since then, Redland have stopped stocking these tiles.) After lots of correspondence with Redland, they agreed, as a gesture of goodwill, to replace the tiles with a suitable alternative.
Good, we thought! The roofer said he would do the work for no charge and the builder would provide the scaffold.
This was all agreed in February this year.
Obviously then, lockdown happened and everything was put on hold.
Last week, the roofer got in touch with my mum and said that actually he doesn't think he can redo the job for nothing and it will be £1400 just for labour.
My mum is obviously reeling as she feels really strongly that she shouldn't have to pay to replace a roof that she has already paid for.
Sadly, my dad died last year and I think she is more driven than ever not to be taken advantage of here.
Who do you think should pay?
What would you do in her situation?
Advice greatly appreciated!
