House With Lightweight Synthetic Tile Sheeting

somhairle · Post by **somhairle** » Sat Nov 09, 2024 2:02 pm

I am looking for some advice on tile sheeting.

We are interested in a house which has come on the market. It is a 60s bungalow with a very shallow pitch. I assume because of this, the owner (who is now dead) has replaced the original roof in lightweight synthetic tile sheeting according to the seller's surveyor's report.

I have never heard of this being used on a house and wondered how common this is? Also what are the opinions on covering a house roof with this stuff?

I have attached a pic to let you see what the roof looks like:

: roof1.jpeg (58.67 KiB) Viewed 266 times

Someone-Else · Post by **Someone-Else** » Sat Nov 09, 2024 4:11 pm

It seems to have a lot of vents in it. I would be inclined to find out does it have any guarantee that is transferable to you?
I would assume it was done as the old roof tiles/slates were failing and this was a cheaper option.

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Sat Nov 09, 2024 4:29 pm

I would get a quote for a conventional roof and drop your offer to suit. An executor sale invariably will sell to close the estate and distribute it; they are less inclined to haggle. The roof will put many off.

DWD

somhairle · Post by **somhairle** » Sat Nov 09, 2024 10:16 pm

Thanks. I had been thinking of making allowance for the replacement of the roof if and when we came to make an offer on the house. It just struck me as very, very strange that anyone would cover a house with a roof like this. So wondered if it was common. I have not seen it before in Scotland, but wondered if other parts of the UK used this stuff more?

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Sun Nov 10, 2024 10:02 pm

The only time I have seen a roof like that is on a conservatory roof conversion. The lightweight roof can be carried by a conservatory structure and it makes it into a more useable space all year around. I suspect that this roof was cheaper to fit when the guy had it done although the property does not look old enough to have a failed roof. Is the adjacent house the same?

DWD

somhairle · Post by **somhairle** » Mon Nov 11, 2024 7:02 am

dewaltdisney wrote: ↑Sun Nov 10, 2024 10:02 pm The only time I have seen a roof like that is on a conservatory roof conversion. The lightweight roof can be carried by a conservatory structure and it makes it into a more useable space all year around. I suspect that this roof was cheaper to fit when the guy had it done although the property does not look old enough to have a failed roof. Is the adjacent house the same?

DWD

Thanks.

Yeah, I had been thinking it was the type of roof used on the likes of garages, conservatories, etc. But never have I seen one on a house.

None of the adjacent houses have these roofs and there is around 8/10 houses all built in a similar style. Each with very shallow pitched roofs. The neighbours house has had a new roof but it is concrete tiling.

Someone-Else · Post by **Someone-Else** » Mon Nov 11, 2024 12:53 pm

Its amazing, you forget something because it is "under your nose" (Bear with me on this)

As you may have noticed, I live here in Luton, near where I used to live is an area known as "Tin Town" It is so called because the houses were made at a cheap price and guess what they were clad in. The lower walls are brick, but the 1st floor is timber with "straw board" Obviously this is not weather proof so all the houses were clad in coloured (painted) galvanised painted steel. I really don't know what the roof was made of but it's NOT tile or slate. Anyway, a few years ago the council decided to re roof them all, guess what with? (I don't actually know, but it can not be heavy as the house can not support the weight)
The funny thing was, that the whole estate is owned by the council, and if you recall a lady by the name of Mrs T said you can buy your council house, so some (quite a few) did, so when it came time to change the roof, guess who's houses did NOT get a new roof.(Yes, those that bought the house for a cheap price, bet they are not laughing now) Look at the mustard coloured house, you can see the original "tin" cladding

: TinTown.jpg (40.58 KiB) Viewed 178 times

So yes, this "light weight roof" stuff is more common than you would think.

somhairle · Post by **somhairle** » Mon Nov 11, 2024 10:24 pm

Someone-Else wrote: ↑Mon Nov 11, 2024 12:53 pm Its amazing, you forget something because it is "under your nose" (Bear with me on this)

As you may have noticed, I live here in Luton, near where I used to live is an area known as "Tin Town" It is so called because the houses were made at a cheap price and guess what they were clad in. The lower walls are brick, but the 1st floor is timber with "straw board" Obviously this is not weather proof so all the houses were clad in coloured (painted) galvanised painted steel. I really don't know what the roof was made of but it's NOT tile or slate. Anyway, a few years ago the council decided to re roof them all, guess what with? (I don't actually know, but it can not be heavy as the house can not support the weight)
The funny thing was, that the whole estate is owned by the council, and if you recall a lady by the name of Mrs T said you can buy your council house, so some (quite a few) did, so when it came time to change the roof, guess who's houses did NOT get a new roof.(Yes, those that bought the house for a cheap price, bet they are not laughing now) Look at the mustard coloured house, you can see the original "tin" cladding

TinTown.jpg

So yes, this "light weight roof" stuff is more common than you would think.

And they have quite a shallow pitch on the roofs too!

Thanks for this. We viewed the house today. It is actually in a very popular area and although there are only a few of these houses in the area, they have sold well and for surprising prices considering the roofs.

The roof does not look that new. It may be a replacement, but may also be the original. It does not appear to be a metal composition - simply some form of vinyl composite. Because the rear garden was raised and the roof of the garage was low, I could actually get right over it and touch it! One neighbour at least has the identical roof. While another looks to have replaced it with a more modern synthetic roof.

My guess is that the pitch was the reason, but I did think that the whole construction of the house looked 'pre-fabricated'. Like a holiday camp cabin/villa/bungalow. Really odd. The surveyor's report did indicate it was timber frame with brick outer walls. So, it should have born a tile roof.

Anyway, for several reasons we decided not to make an offer on the home as we felt the expected price did not justify the work and risk associated with the house.

Thanks for all the help.

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Mon Nov 11, 2024 11:43 pm

Wise move, good luck finding a better property

DWD