Roof repairs quotes - your thoughts

I hope you're all doing well in these strange times. I've just received some repair quotes and wanted to get your thoughts. This is following the hail storm in Canberra earlier this year, after many delays with the insurance company. I have been given the option of repairs and cash settlement for one job or a cash settlement for the whole thing. I'm leaning towards the latter because there should be enough funds leftover to make the running around worth it however I am concerned about what would happen with future claims - can they claim the work wasn't done properly and refuse future claims, for example?

The work I need done is replacing approx 100 chipped concrete roof tiles (single storey), repointing the ridge caps, replacing the broken skylight and whirlybird, replacing the sheeting on the rear pergola, some small repairs to the roof frame of the pergola and replacing a pipe at the front. I have got quotes for the roof repairs to start with as that's the most important.

Quote 1
$1500 to replace the tiles and do repointing. Claimed the roof will "leak badly" if repairs not done soon. Provides 10 year warranty on work. Offered to do all work except plumbing for $6000.

Quote 2
Gave a price of $3500 for all work except plumbing. Stated that he doesn't think roof will leak soon. Didn't send a formal written quote, just a text message. Not sure if this is that unusual but seemed weird for a job of that price. Says he provides a two year "non structural warranty" and that anyone who says they give a ten year warranty is lying. Has the most number of reviews on HIpages of the three businesses.

Quote 3
Provided a quote of $2000 to replace tiles and do repointing (is this the same as "repair damaged mortar area"?). Provided ten year warranty. Sent a formal written quote but had two itemised costs of $100 each for "cleaning up" and "removing mess" which seems funny. He is the most responsive to communication. Has the second highest number of reviews.

What do you think of the above? I have no idea which one to go with. Normally after getting three quotes, one of them stands out and makes the choice easy but I have no idea with these ones or if I'm overthinking it. Thanks

 

All 3 have only quoted tile replacement & repointing, no roof plumbing.

You still need to get the skylights etc repaired - have you budgeted for these in the rest of the payout?

Skylights should be done before the tile replacement otherwise each contractor will point at the other for damage or poor workmanship.

Get all of your quotes back before making a decision.

 

Quote 1 includes replacing skylight etc in $6000 and quote 2 in the $3500 price. With these two, the only job left would be the pipe at the front of the house. Is this what you mean by plumbing? Or is there something additional that would need to be done on the roof?

 

Yes,if the contract is between you and the builder then it will be up to you to follow up any defective work and may compromise future insurance claims.

If you're not up to project managing repairs, I'd insist the insurance company use their panel builder to complete all repairs, which the insurance company warrants.

At the very least, if you engage your own builder then make sure they include home warranty insurance for their work. This then negates the ambiguous 2-10 year warranties which are difficult to enforce. I can only speak for QLD, but home owner warranties (which come into effect with works over $3300), come with a 6.5 year warranty.

 

I don't mind the coordination aspect - I'm working from home now so it's easy but we're pretty clueless in terms of checking the work done. I could pay someone to check the work afterwards (a certifier?) and still be ahead by quite a lot but it seems like it may not be worth it.

 

You could try a building consultant, but tiled roofs can be quite fiddly with some of the flashing/fixing/drainage details, so the best person would be a qualified roofer. Maybe use a roofer that missed out on the work, lol. He'd be happy to pick apart someone else's work.

Just as an example.. if there was a dispute with the workmanship of your roof, a 'specialist report' would most likely come from a registered builder, who would engage the services of a roofer.
P.S. I definitely wouldn't use a certifier.

 

Ok thanks for the advice

 

Going through insurance is another phone call when things go wrong

Should you take the payout, organize trade(s) to repair and the roof leaks causing the ceiling to fall in your insurance company will deny the second claim and you will be chasing up the trade you engaged to do the repairs ......

Most of us know how that goes (insert engaged tone )

Should you stick with the insurer, just get them to agree that all works should be organised to occur over not more than a two day period, to limit your inconvenience

 

As much as it pains me to turn down this much easy money, it looks like I may need to do it on this occasion