Our roof restoration nightmare (Brisbane)

In August last year our tenants moved out. We decided to renovate the rental property. In October we hired a company who has full page colour ads in the Yellow Pages as well as large ads in local newspapers on weekly basis. The job included replace damaged tiles, tile repoint, point capping, high pressure cleaning of the roof tiles, sterilising treatment and applying Dulux paint.

The first day was Thursday. Two guys turned up in the morning to clean the roof. They didn’t use high water pressure cleaner, instead they moved a very heavy machine (which looked like a big lawn mower or concrete glinder) up to the roof to clean the tile. During the operation, I felt that the whole house was shaking due to the vibration from the machine and the roof was going to collapse . On the first day they damaged a gutta down pipe (they fixed later) and also pulled the balun off TV antenna (see photo. I had to buy a new antenna as the result). They replaced some damaged tiles and put these damaged tiles into our tiler’s bins (I had to help the tiler to lift the heavy bins onto his truck).

These two guys supposed to do some work next day (Friday). Unfortunately I found out after their arrival that there was no power supply in the area. They told me they would come back next day (which was Saturday). I waited all day on Saturday but they didn’t show up. In the next two weeks, they couldn’t do any thing due to bad weather. They eventually turned up one day, climbed up to the roof briefly (less than 5 mins), then told me they would come back next day to paint the roof. I repeatedly asked myself a question: “Have they done the work (requiring electricity) suppose to be done on that Friday?” For precaution I took some photos of the roof and also did video recording. On the photos, you can clearly see that the mortar they applied on to the roof had many big cracks.

A few weeks later, we had a pest inspection at the property. The pest man showed me a wet patch in the ceiling near the front door (He has a thermal imaging camera). As a result I rang the company. I was told that the person who was in charge of roof work at our place wasn’t in the office. I left my mobile number, expecting him to call me back. He never replied. To be honest I didn’t ring him again because I didn’t see anything unusual in the house (because it didn’t rain for many weeks)

During Christmas period, Brisbane experienced heavy rain every day for more than a week. Today (01/01/2010) I went to the house to mow the lawn. I noticed large water marks on the newly painted ceiling near the front door (the same location as the pest man showed me) as well as in the rumpus room (see photos). I am extremely unhappy with the roof restoration and I must take action….

I would appreciate any suggestion as to the damage and cost of repair, etc...

I’m not going to name the company here at this stage but if you are looking for someone to do your roof and you want to know the name of the company, please feel free to PM me.
 

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just more photos. The real estate agent's going to have an open house in 3 days. What can we do to repair the water damage? It's really a nightmare for us.
 

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I feel for you,
I personally hate and refuse to have tiled roofs on houses because of this type of problem.

Check the BSA licence number on the quote and invoice
http://www.bsa.qld.gov.au/SearchForLicensee/DisclaimerAgreeDisagree.aspx

Make sure they are licensed,speak to someone in there and ask advise.

Contact the company again in writing,this time with a more legal approach telling them of the problems you encountered.Tell them they are liable for rent,water damage etc and to immediatly send someone over to fix the problems.
They would have just used subcontractors and paid them a smaller amount.
They should have insurance to cover them selves for this type of problems and more.It is in their best interest to fix the problem,at least the water leak / broken tile /s.:(

Please PM details;)
 
The job included replace damaged tiles, tile repoint, point capping, high pressure cleaning of the roof tiles, sterilising treatment and applying Dulux paint.
.

Something I am puzzled by - why did you get this done?

If there was a leak, or some repointing needed to be done as a repair, I'd understand. The rest of it is (a) not necessarily a deductible expense (b) would not affect rental yield by a huge margin (IMO)

Cheers,

The Y-man
 
Thanks Pa1nter,
I always check BSA and make sure all tradies we are going to hire are licenced and have no restrictions.
I just rang the company. The message says the company will be open on 07/01 (next Thursday). The open house is Wednesday.
I don't know I should repaint the ceiling or not before the open day.
 
The Y-man,
It's a 25 years old house. My wife wanted a nice roof. (I said no initially because I believed it wouldn't add any value to the property). So now we really regret. The man who gave us the quote said the roof was in good shape. It was a big big mistake.
 
The Y-man,
It's a 25 years old house. My wife wanted a nice roof. (I said no initially because I believed it wouldn't add any value to the property). So now we really regret. The man who gave us the quote said the roof was in good shape. It was a big big mistake.

Oh well, live and learn :)

Cheers,

The Y-man

p.s. We owned a 100 year old house with original terracottas - only minor repointing done, never an issue. So 25 years is very young.... plus I hear pressure washing can dislodge all the lichen and moss that actually fill the cracks and gaps - so actually creates leaks - which of course the paint doesn't fill...
 
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Thanks Pa1nter,
I always check BSA and make sure all tradies we are going to hire are licenced and have no restrictions.
I just rang the company. The message says the company will be open on 07/01 (next Thursday). The open house is Wednesday.
I don't know I should repaint the ceiling or not before the open day.

I would,however it will come back if you haven't fixed the leak.
There is a bin sealer from the paint shop that you can use that seals off stains,it is white and might be good for you,without even painting.
Other way is a white oil based undercoat,if it shows up,then repaint ceiling:D
 
It's a very interesting psychological thing, actually. Why did your wife want a new roof if the old one was still in good nick? I mean, what was the thinking behind it? Did she think it would get more rent?
 
It's a very interesting psychological thing, actually. Why did your wife want a new roof if the old one was still in good nick? I mean, what was the thinking behind it? Did she think it would get more rent?

Lets not go there,
My wife picked a white suede couch,against my biggest protest,
6 months on,its trashed.
I picked a brown suede for the living room,its as good as new.
(We have two toy poodles)
 
I just had a brainwave,
Do you think it is possible that the TV antenna man was the one who broke the tiles:confused:
Obviously the roof people are not up to scratch,however it could be you are chasing the wrong person.;)
Just a thought
 
Pa1nter:
I never used antenna man. The pest man discovered the wet patch in the ceiling soon after the roof was done. I bought a new antenna and installed it just several days ago. The antenna is on the top of roof while leakages are near the eaves. The pole of the antenna is more than 5 m high so I couldn't reattach the balun to the old antenna. I was going to hire an antenna man but I dec`ided not to because of high cost. So I added a new antenna to the lower part of the pole and re-use the balun.
 
Any chance you may have cracked a tile whilst on the roof fixing the antenna?

No chance.
The pest man had found leakage nearly 2 months before I installed the new antenna. I called the company but the man in charge didn't call me back.

I believe the leakage was caused by the cleaning machine. As I mention above, when they were using it, the whole house was shaking. Imaging if you use a big lawn mower on the roof.
 
There are a couple of issues here. The first, of course, is the water leak. The second one is what job actually needs electricity. They skipped it. The third issue the quality of the work these two guys did. It's evident on the photos above: see the big cracks in the mortar.
 
There are a couple of issues here. The first, of course, is the water leak. The second one is what job actually needs electricity. They skipped it. The third issue the quality of the work these two guys did. It's evident on the photos above: see the big cracks in the mortar.

There should be paint over that mortar?it looks like it hasn't even been painted.
There are several stages to roof restoration,
1:Collect Deposit cash it;)
2:Gerni the roof ,don't have a clue what they were using,however I haven't done many tiled ones.
3:Repoint,grout and replace damaged tiles,
4:Spray sealer (Boncrete and water)
5:Spray 2 coats top coat (approx $80 15 litre drum)
6:Hand paint areas missed
7:Collect cheque
8:Cash cheque
9:Hope someone doesn't get up and look before the cheque clears:D
 
Pa1nter:
the photo was taken shortly before they applied Dulux paint.
I'm not sure which step requires electricity. But anyway, they skipped that step.
 
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