poor building repair advice

[jcr]

last summer a roofer was hired to repair our chimney, which would leak water down through the roof when it rained heavily, and cause the wall around the loft hatch to get damp.
the roofer replaced the lead flashing and the mortar on the chimney i believe.
around late October, when we started to get heavy rain again, we noticed that the leak was still there. its just as bad as before the repair work was carried out.
we have been trying to contact the roofer for a couple of months. once he answered the phone and said he come the following week, but he never showed up. all we get when we call is the answer phone, and messages left are not returned.

the work was quite expensive, and i really dont want to have to pay someone else all over again.
i would appreciate some advice on how to proceed from the excellent minds on the forum.
many thanks

 

[jcr]

Trading standards. Try communicating with written correspondence. Got an invoice or anything from them?

have an emailed invoice for the work. was paid by bank transfer.

 

[jcr]

He aint coming back.....

Plus, would you trust him to repair it properly now?

Put it down to experience and get someone in via word of mouth...

he was via word of mouth. the builder we have used for years is now too old to do roofs and recommended him

 

[jcr]

I would ask if the work that was done was correct? Ie, was this the fault that was identified causing the leak/damp or is there another fault that isn't identified and actually causing said leak. The work done may be up to standard...just that it didn't fix the underlying problem

when he first came out, the fella went up on the roof and took pics of the chimney with his phone, showed us the torn lead flashing and crumbling mortar between the bricks. said that was the issue and quoted us a price.
i think its likely that the work was done correctly, but that wasnt what is causing the leak. im only guessing though.

 

[jcr]

Is he still in business? Do you have an address for him? I would say sending him a letter saying it's still leaking and you'd like him to come back and try to sort it out would be the next step. You need to prove you have given him "fair notification" to correct the situation.

If you don't get anywhere, then the next step might be Trading Standards.

In the meantime, you could post pics of the issue here so people can give their opinions on what might be wrong / weather the work is any good.

yes hes still in business. here are some pics i took today.

the wall near the loft hatch.

the chimney under the roof. the water can be seen trickling down both sides of this edge.

the lead at roof level covered in water droplets.

the loft flooring.

 

[jcr]

Have you got the pics he showed you before he did the work?

Have you got any pics of the work he did?

With water streaming down the chimney it does look like it's a fault around the chimney, i.e. still the chimney flashing that's the problem.

no the pictures were all on the roofers phone. i have no way of getting to the outside of the chimney myself.

ive wedged some old towels up where the chimney joins the roof today, to try to soak up the rain before it gets to the ceiling.

 

[jcr]

the loft is vented and quite cold

 

[jcr]

This might be something or nothing.
My neighbour had a leaking chimney and he had a few people in to fix it but never did.-Flashing -repointing -spray bricks with water repelant etc.
I looked up at it and noticed he had a chimney cap on top like this one https://www.burtonroofing.co.uk/roo...dbank-170mm-flue-ventilator-red-rf051087.html

When it rained and especially in a strong wind the water ran off top -down sides of the cap and down into the chimney pot. I said go up there and take it off -put some mastic around rim of pot and put cap back on -Perfect -no problems since.

I had a work mate who had bumping sounds when it was windy -took him years to find it and it was the cap with a uneven base rocking. Some times it is a simple fault but a pig to find.

thanks. we dont have caps on the pots.

 

[jcr]

the girlfriend tried calling the roofer again this morning, got no answer and left a message.
he sent a text shortly after saying hes in a poor phone signal area and he will call Wednesday morning.
one can but hope.