Roof Repairs Oxford: What Nearly 9,000 Complaints Tell Us About Doorstep Roofers
So what does a proper quote look like? It's written down, itemised, and it says what's going on the roof. Tiles matched to what's already there, say Marley Modern or hand-made clay peg. 38 x 25mm treated battens at the right gauge for the tile. Breather membrane with a 150mm head lap. Code 4 lead for the flashings, not a roll of self-adhesive tape smeared round the chimney. And if the ridge is coming loose, the quote should say if it's being re-bedded on mortar or swapped for a dry-ridge system.
The National Federation of Roofing Contractors has put out advice for homeowners. Its members pass a site and office inspection to join and get re-inspected every three years. Complaints to the NFRC are free. Its advice is simple: find your roofer through the online member directory, check the name, address and phone number match the entry exactly, and get more than one written quote. The NFRC admits some firms falsely claim membership, so that cross-check matters. In the NFRC's words, roofing is a high trust trade.
Round here the work is varied, and so are the traps. Victorian terraces in Jericho and Cowley often have slate with lead valleys that need proper dressing. Summertown dormers and Kidlington extensions tend to have flat roofs, where a GRP roof wants a sound deck and a fall of at least 1:80 so it doesn't pond. A cowboy will skip the deck repair and glass over the problem. It looks fine for a year. And then it doesn't.
If you're not sure about a quote you've been given, get a second pair of eyes on it before any money changes hands. That's what we'd say to anyone. Roof Doctor Oxford carries out new roofs and repairs across Oxford, and you can see the type of work on the website at https://roofdoctor-oxford.co.uk/.