Quote for repairing leak around Velux - reasonable?

3rdDegree

We have some staining at the corner of the Velux where some water is getting in. I got a quote from a roofer. He said that the felt around the Velux had holes in it and was letting in the water.

So the job, as quoted is to
- replace felt under tiles
- replace two cracked tiles
- re-point side of Velux.

He said that two of them would work on it and it would take them about an hour to finish. He quoted €450, but after some discussion, agreed to do it for €400. I'm in Dublin. Does this sound reasonable?

Thanks
Martin

tabby aspreme

What do you mean by re-pointing the side of the Velux, it should be flashed. It's the cracked tiles that are letting in the rain , the felt is a secondary barrier.

3rdDegree

tabby aspreme wrote: »

What do you mean by re-pointing the side of the Velux, it should be flashed. It's the cracked tiles that are letting in the rain , the felt is a secondary barrier.

He said the flashing is OK, that he needed to cement around the side of the Velux. That's what he meant by re-pointing. I don't know if there is flashing on the sides of the top of the Velux, I can only see that there is flashing in the bottom.

colm_mcm

The tiles would be on top of the side flashing.

tabby aspreme

There should be flashing on all four sides of the Velux , the tiles cover most of the top and side flashing and go under the lower flashing. I would look for another roofer . Do these roofers have a north and south side address on there van

3rdDegree

colm_mcm wrote: »

The tiles would be on top of the side flashing.

I wish I could get up to see it, but maybe there is no flashing at the sides? Maybe it has been pointed all along.

3rdDegree

tabby aspreme wrote: »

these roofers have a north and south side address on there van

I don't recall.

the_pen_turner

There should be no reason to point anywhere near a velux window. They are watertight if fitted corectly

tabby aspreme

Op could you put up a picture of the staining at the Velux, sometimes you get stains from dampness, caused by cold bridging and condensation around a Velux, also a picture of the window from the outside.

Bonzo Delaney

Under no circumstances should there be a need to apply pointing on a velux window.

Unless the original flashing was incorrectly installed and the foam upstands was pulled off completely in that case if the felt is been repaired a new flashing kit should be instaled.

The other excuse for pointing is possibly the Velux was installed at the incorrect angle thus letting rain blow back under the tiles

Condestation is a big issue with them and that could be your problem as Tabby mentioned.

3rdDegree

I realise that my first update was not clear, the job is actually already done. I should clarify.

I've used this roofer before and they are normally good. Not cheap, but not as expensive as other quotes I've gotten for jobs I finally got them to do. And they did the other jobs very well. This time, they didn't do their usual of bringing me up on to the roof (if safe) to show me what was being done; or they didn't take photos before, during and after the job. Because of that and because I though the price was a little expensive, I was feeling very uncomfortable and unhappy, so I raised this post. I do know very little about this stuff so always feel wrong-footed, like I'm sure most people do.

I rang the roofing company owner this morning and raised my concerns. He was very patient and nice about the whole thing. He explained that there is usually a sponge between the tiles and the flashing. He said they can replace that sponge, but in his experience, when they do that problems come back within a year or two, so instead, they use a "bit of cement and mortar" there. They also check the felt and if necessary, lift the tiles around the Velux and replace the felt. They did both in my case (and replaced some cracked tiles, apparently).

He said he'd come out next week and take me up on the roof to show me the job and explain it all if I wanted. He even offered to look at the price. I'm not as pushed now about the price as I feel if I was over charged, it wasn't by an awful lot.

It never ceases to blow my mind how good the folks on Boards are to help others and give advice; and this is yet another example. Thank you all so much.