Never again
20th January 2026 - Homeguard arrived at lunchtime from another job to start stripping roof. We suggested this was a bad idea as they would never get it completely stripped and weathered (felt and fly batten, or tarpaulin) in 3 to 4 hours. The guys advised they were instructed by the owner of Homeguard to crack on and to fit temporary weathering before they leave. We continued to advise against this considering the next 5 days weather forecast. Homeguard carried on in any case.
21st January 2026 - Five separate leaks due to badly weathered temporary tarpaulin. Loft flooded to 1cm or so of standing water between rafter joists and leaking through newly finished ceiling below.
Morning – from 0930
1. Nails through Tarp letting rainwater soak rafters
2. Loft floor saturated above ceiling leak to bed 1 (1)
3. Loft floor saturated above ceiling leak to bed 1 (2)
4. Leak through Dining room newly finished ceiling into lounge, dining room & bedroom
5. Leak in loft above lounge through new ceiling. Soaked and stained sofa.
6. Loft above last noted area over 1cm of water. See video.
7. Loft leak to same area due to weathering not reaching the eaves and thus water cascading straight into the roof space in torrential downpour. See video.
8. Loft above newly decorated dining room and fast approaching the ceiling lighting exposed wiring.
9. Second leak above dining room due to another nail missing the rafter and acting as a conduit to soak the ceiling below.
PLEASE SEE VDEOS POSTED HERE youtube "munster crawford - shorts"
25th January 2026 - More leaks.
1. Another leak over Bedroom 1 ceiling causing another damp patch through newly plaster boarded and skimmed finish.
2. Another leak in the dining room. Water cascading in through the loft via holes that had to be drilled through new ceiling to avoid ponding above. See video and photo.
3. Another leak in a different location in the lounge. Water cascading in through the loft via holes that had to be drilled through new ceiling to avoid ponding above.
21st February 2026 - Site inspection of the works noted still several incomplete items:
1. UPVC has almost all joint strips and corner strips missing and allowing the torrential rain through to the timber which is running down the front gable soffit and into the cavity wall. The damp meter is still reading 90% damp so the insulation must be saturated as it is in the loft.
2. Gable apex missing UPVC joint strip
3. Gable apex ridge tile flashing not straight and needs repositioning
4. Front soffit corner still not replaced on right (as the left)
5. Downpipes missing so the guttering cannot be fitted without these
6. Eaves tiles still all over the place and not yet nailed into a straight line.
7. Some tiling to complete on the dormer.
Summary
The lounge external wall is still showing 90% moisture on the damp meter, so we have under instruction from the client drilled a series of holes in the wall and placed a dehumidifier close by to try to extract some of the moisture. The wall and skirting will now need making good matching in to existing textured wallpaper and redecorating.
All the holes that had to be drilled through ceilings to allow the escape of rainwater from the loft are still showing 70% moister on the damp meter. When these areas are finally dry the ceilings will need to be replastered / artexed and decorated. Painted timber work on ceilings that are now stained with rainwater will require rubbing down and redecorating to match finish.
The loft is still covered in roofing related debris in the form of old felt and plastic from the new felt packaging. There is approximately 50m of rockwool loft insulation that is saturated and still sitting on the ceilings. This needs to be removed and replaced to current building regulation standards.
No protection was provided externally and as such there is a total of approximately 30m2 of what is now a quagmire. This needs to be scraped off and replaced with turf at the rear and driveway made good to the front.