Roof replacement cost

Yes but too much difference with price for the same job 🤔 and if you want a fakture.

@janemulberry
the language barrier is a serious one isn’t it! You need the locals (neighbours etc) to be able to help and that just shows the importance of getting along with them and integrating yourself with the locals rathe that just keeping in with other ex-pats. We’ve seen people move over and not try to integrate themselves or even try to act ‘better’ than the locals and then of course you have no assistance when you have issues like this.
-@Trilogy121!!

It really is essential! There are a couple of expat holiday homes in my village, but no other expats intending to move full-time. I admit I cried my first night in the house. It needs so much work! But knowing the importance of good neighbours and having such wonderful ones, I decided to persevere. I can't imagine living anywhere else now. My neighbours are amazing! An advantage of choosing a village away from the usual tourist and expat areas - newcomers who want to integrate are very much welcomed.

I'm learning Bulgarian but I'm slow with languages.

@janemulberry

Hello,

Thank you for your reply.

I don't speak Bulgarian, stuff my my neighbor who is English his wife learned Bulgarian so she could help me.

I'm going to live near Varna but I'm not there yet.

If you have their address or phone it's ok.

Thanks

Sophie

I'm back in the UK now, unfortunately. But April in the north east of Bulgaria was exceptionally wet, which delayed the work a lot. When the guys worked, they worked very hard, but there were so few dry days!

It's fine there now, according to the weather app.

@sophiefreilich Where near Varna are you? This team is based in General Toshevo, so if you're south of Varna, I don't think it would be an option.

Hello,

Thank you for your reply.

Yes 15 km to Vasilevo.

In the month of July I was in my house.

Cordially

Sophie

Sophie, that should be close enough to Toshevo for them to travel to. I will ask my neighbour for the contact number, as she did all the talking!

The team do all sorts of building work, not just roofing, so if you think they are suitable they may be able to give you a quote for the other work you want done, as well. The only work they don't do is electrical and plumbing.

@janemulberry

Many thanks from you.

Sophie

@Anastasija_gust

Well, if you can speak Russian you have a headstart! It's another Cyrillic language, and fairly similar to Bulgarian when I've heard it. And I've been told by some Russian speakers that Bulgarian isn't a huge jump.

But I do agree with you that the language problem can be a bit overstated. For Brits (and many others from Latinate languages), Cyrillic is quite a challenge. However, I don't think it's difficult to learn a few useful words (greetings, how are you, please/thank you that kinda stuff) just to break the ice, and show that you're making a bit of an effort.

Almost everyone has a smartphone now, and Google Translate works very well. It even handles spoken phrases and conversation, so you don't have to laboriously type in. And it can translate via the camera, which is great when you're puzzled by something in the supermarket (or a notice put up in your village).

Post-Communism, English is taught in schools, so while older folks might be Russian speakers, all the youngsters have some English as their 2nd language. And lots of Bulgarians have lived and worked abroad, and have since returned, so they have a very good 2nd language. At this point, I've chatted with plenty of Bulgarians in English, Spanish or German.

Hi Cherry!

My roof, done in April, cost me about 17,000 leva. 9,500 for materials, 7,500 for labour. All new tiles, fascia boards, guttering and downpipes. A significant proportion of the timbers needed replacing, but not all. It's not a big house, three rooms plus a kitchen and bathroom, but quite a complicated roof with several hips, a flat-roofed section at the back, and they also built a new roof over a small porch for me.

They did an excellent job and a good site clear-up too.

@janemulberry did they insulate it when they put the roof back, or didn't they give you that option?

Insulation - they didn't give that option and I figured I can always add the insulation later. To start I just needed a sound roof that didn't leak at a price I could afford! Water literally poured into the bathroom when it rained and was destroying the floor which is just lino over earth in the supposedly dry part, as well as the cob wall with the old falling-down and extremely leaky chimney! I must edit the post detailing what work they did, and add rebuilding and nicely waterproofing three chimneys! They did a great job of those.

The replaced roof is 1" thick timber boards over the rafters, some sort of roofing felt, battens, then tiles. I'm not sure if there's any insulation in the ceilings of the three main rooms, I will need to check that. Probably there's straw/clay or maybe some wool there. The back part, kitchen and bathroom, which has a sloped flat roof, now has no ceiling, just the underside of the roofing boards, and needs new ceilings installed. The horrible old ceilings came down when the old wreck of a roof there was removed.

I need to think about what insulation to add there. I'm thinking I can do those ceilings myself, as I've done similar in my first house. Okay, that was back in my 20s, and this job is a little more complicated. But I'm sure I haven't lost it!

@janemulberry I'm sure you haven't. You might just need a refresher 😁 If you're not intending to use the roof space, as living space, then its easy enough to insulate from the inside. If you were planning to use the roof space, its generally better to do it at the same time as the roof.

LOL, yes, the refresher will be interesting! Probably a few mess-ups will be required.

I'm not planning to use the roof space. The roof shape doesn't work well for that. The main part of the house doesn't have gable-ends, but a separate hipped section for each room. There's nowhere up there that is standing height, even for a shorty like me! I will need to crawl around up there to check on and add insulation to the ceilings.

With the back flat roof that was rebuilt from scratch, I probably should have asked them to put some reflective foil up there under the tiles. I didn't see them build that section as I had to go back in the UK for a few days, so it's just possible they did and I didn't see it. I don't think so, though. I'll probably put sheets of rockwool or sheep wool batting between the rafters before putting up the ceilings. The slight complicating factor there is that the sloping roof line goes far too high at one side of the room so I'll need to create a partial false ceiling.

You've probably noticed looking at estate agents listings that the house styles are very regional. In the area my house is in, lower hipped roofs and 50's style triple fronted single-story designs are very common. In VT region houses built at the same time are a very different design with two stories and higher rooflines and gables, far more suited to converting attics and cellars into living space. VT region has less wind but more snow so steeper roofs that will shed the snow make sense there. My flatter region gets high winds but less snow, so lower houses and hipped roofs are a better design to withstand the wind.

I love how practical vernacular architecture is. Everything has a good reason!

The more I read here, the more appealing a little lock-up-and-leave apartment in a nice town/city becomes. :-)

LOL, Gwyn! Where according to some of the tales I've read here the upstairs residents' plumbing might flood your apartment with no comeback, or the management company charge exhorbitant service charges that have to be paid or else?

I could pay the builders and I'm sure they'll make a lovely ceiling for a not-unreasonable cost. Or I can have a go at DIY, just for the fun of crawling around in dusty lofts or spending hours a day up a ladder with my neck cricked trying to nail up the ceiling.

Hmm, tough decision. What's the builder's phone number again?

Hey there! Roof replacement costs can vary quite a bit depending on factors like the size of your roof, the materials used, and the region you're in. So, better ask people from your area about it

I did! It was my neighbour who got me the first quote, which would have given the house a perfect roof but was more than I could afford. It's quite a complex roof! Then by chance one of the staff in the mayor's office recommended the builders she'd used, their quote was far less, and that's who I went with. They didn't do a 100% perfect job, but I have a sound, waterproof roof at a cost I could afford.

Any idea if there's any good roofers in the Pomorie area, I'm assuming that the roof will need to be done when I get back.  Also I'll be needing double glazed windows so any glaziers in the Pomorie area.

Thank you

The guys I used are based in Toshevo, so too far away to be any use to you. Hoping someone more local knows reliable people you can use.

Thank you Jane hopefully someone will know of tradesmen closer to me.

@dmd3 I recently had my roof replaced by [link moderated], and it was pretty affordable for my average salary. It's always a good idea to get multiple quotes to compare prices and ensure you're getting a fair deal. Sometimes, the initial quotes can be higher than expected but don't hesitate to continue asking. Good luck with your roof replacement

I am very happy with the job the roofers who gave me the lower quote did. A new roof and new chimneys has transformed the look of the house!

Im buying a house in dobrich and i need roof constructors in both Belgium and Dobrich.  Both houses need new roof. Can someone advise?

The guys I used did a great job and are based in General Toshevo, not too far from Dobrich. But unfortunately I don't have their contact details as my neighbour arranged it. Also, they only speak Bulgarian and Turkish.

I hope you can find someone suitable!