Problem with tegral slates 2013

Mgriff

Hi everyone,

Over the last year or so the slates on my roof have started to curl up on the front corners. I have seen other posts on here about similar issues. When i first contacted tegral they sent out a surveyor to check the condition of the slates. His report came back with waffle about incorrect baton spacing, and lack of ridge ventalation being the problem.
I continued to chase tegral back and fort since then. They offered (as a gesture of goodwill with no addmission of liability) to supply the slates but not labour costs for the front elevation which was worse affected at the time, but since then the left elevation and secondary smaller roofs have curled also.
I turned the offer down and continued to pursue them. Eventually they sent out a tegral rep and an external accessor to try and come to a resolution.. They inspected the roof again and said this time that there was no third undercloaking slate and that this was needed to keep pressure on the upper roof slates to prevent curling. Also that the line of the gaps between the slates were inconsistant and this is a problem also. The Tegral Rep then offered to supply 2 crates of slates and fixings again enough to cover front and left elevation and smaller roofs and offered me about 1/5 of what the labour would cost. My house is a two story so scaffolding would also be required for the repair of the roof. At one point the external guy said quietly to me "you should be reasonable and accept thier offer, cause if you dont, they,ll dig thier heels in and say no.
So thats where i'm at right now and im not sure how to proceed.. Do i bite the bullet accept their offer and bare the remaining costs or proceed on again. Hopefully there is other people on here who read this that have gone through this and can advise me.

Kashkai

I feel your pain as I too have been victim of curling Tegral slates. Like you, I called out Tegral when the slates started to curl about two years after they were laid. While my house is a bungalow, he didn't even have a ladder with him so I offered him mine so he could get up and have a good look, even though the curling was very noticeable from the ground. He said yes there was a problem but he'd have to go back to Tegral and consult with his colleagues.

I received a letter from Tegral a week later to say that I had to prove the slates were Tegral slates (I'd had a very bad relationship with my builder as some may recall and he wouldn't supply me with the receipt for the slates. However I was on site the day they were delivered on pallets, wrapped in cling film and with "Tegral" plastered all over them). I informed Tegral that I had no receipt and they said I should take a dozen slates off the roof and send them to Tegral for testing. So I was to rely upon them to admit their slates were crap?? Hardly impartial testing procedure that, don't you think??

So I put up with the curling slates but now it's really starting to bug me every time I look at the damn roof. What should be a smooth surface looks like ripples on a pond.

While I'm all for buying Irish, supporting Irish jobs etc etc, I'd never, ever buy Tegral products again. There have been quite a few threads on their slates on this forum over the years so it is not just a few isolated incidences.

Poor Uncle Tom

While we (moderators) appreciate there may be problems with a product, we will not allow any poster to denigrate any product/company/person on this forum. If anyone has any personal experiences please PM them to the OP.

We will not stand for argument on this point as it breaches the charter, anyone attempting to argue the point will get banned immediately.

I'm leaving the thread open for any useful constructive suggestions only.

Kennie1

Well I have to say that I dealt with tegral a few years ago because of curling slates and a number of them had actually started to rot on the edges. Tegral was very slow to do anything and I think that it took me more than 9 months to get it fully resolved to my satisfaction.

If anyone has a complaint with any type of product and I am not just referring to slates, they should keep detailed records of all communication they have with the company.

If you have a meeting with a company rep, email the company a "record of conversation" detailing all comments and agreements that rep said and ask them if they disagree with anything to email you back.

Use email or letter to communicate rather than phone (cause if it is not written it was never said)

If you have to have a phone conversation, ask the person if they are ok with you recording the phone call if they say no then hang up! Make sure you record the date and time of the call and also what the main points of the conversation were and again email the company with a record of conversation.

Each time you email the company, detail all correspondence inc phone calls and letters to date so as that company can see that you are well organized.

If after a reasonable period of time you have not came to a satisfactory result you may need to take legal advice.

Kashkai

Poor Uncle Tom wrote: »

While we (moderators) appreciate there may be problems with a product, we will not allow any poster to denigrate any product/company/person on this forum. If anyone has any personal experiences please PM them to the OP.

We will not stand for argument on this point as it breaches the charter, anyone attempting to argue the point will get banned immediately.

I'm leaving the thread open for any useful constructive suggestions only.

Interesting comment there seeing as how one of your fellow moderators on this forum pm'd me previously asking me to review another similar thread on this brand of slate and comment on my experience with these slates. Now you threaten to ban people like me for doing what a Mod asked me to do previously?????

As for "denigrating" a product, if you took the time to search this forum, you'd see that there have been quite a few (i.e. 20+) threads on poor experiences with these slates. I would have thought that one of the reasons for having this "discussion" forum (or are we only allowed to discuss what you feel is appropriate??) is to report on possible pitfalls with certain products so our fellow "self builders" can avoid these pitfalls.

Ah Boards.ie, it used to be an open forum for discussion and comment when I joined 7 years ago. I guess free speech is no longer allowed (even when completely factual and true).

Poor Uncle Tom

I didn't put the above warning on this thread for the good of my health, poster banned for 7 days.

martinn123

Freedom of Speech.

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948, states that:
"Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."

Poor Uncle Tom

Poster banned and thread locked.