Roof replacement cost

@janemulberry U.K. or Bulgaria? What was your quote? Is it a full roof replacement or just tiles?

Bulgaria. Full roof, three chimneys, and eaves. The roof is very old, there are collapsed timbers, and one section leaks quite badly. It's three decent sized rooms with hips for each, plus a flatter roof at the back over the kitchen and bathroom.

These are Bulgarian builders, and seem very professional. The examples of their work I've seen on both my neighbours houses are extremely high standard and used quality materials. They were incredibly thorough, got up on the roof, in the roof, took loads of measurements.

But the quote is 23000 lev, more than I expected. Could be that is reasonable and my expectations are unreasonable! I have no way of knowing.

@janemulberry I know someone who has just had his replaced 29,500 lvs. But it does depend on the size....and the quality of the work.

About £10k then. That does sound like a lot as I would replace a full roof in U.K. for around or just below that but having hips and different planes on a roof will cost more because of labour involved but it still sounds like too much regardless of work standard (all builders should work to the same standards anyway). Best way to know is to get a breakdown of materials and labour cost as you can easily then shop around for the materials needed to see if you can get them cheaper (he being a builder should always be able to source materials cheaper than yourself) and ask him to provide labour only. Labour wise ask how long the job will take and how many men he will use and you can break that down to daily pay and see if it’s too much. For £10000 in Bulgaria I could build a decent size property (obviously no labour cost) so it’s not pennies being asked for so rightly do your research…good luck

Colin the cost of building materials has rocketed here in Bulgaria.  Everything is so expensive...

@janemulberry

We had a roof done- about 100 m2 I think and they had to do 2 chimneys, some supports and all new tiles- 16,000 lv

It sounds like yours is in quite bad shape and will need more.

With the way worker availability and prices of materials are going, I just paid it. You can feel secure for a long time if it's professionally done.

Thank you everyone for your feedback! It's very helpful.

It seems that for the work required the quoted price may be about right, as it's a complicated roof with an insane amount of angles and roof capping needed, and it needs a lot done. I was quoted 23,000 lv. My lovely neighbour who I am sure is not a scammer or getting a kickback assures me this guy is the best quality and best value for money. Looking at the roofing work he did for her and for our neighbour on the other side, they are true craftspeople. The other issue I hadn't thought of is that they are in the nearest city, about 50km from our village. That daily drive will rack up the cost, as well.

Full roof, three chimneys, and eaves for 23000?

Not expensive if they are good roofers.

Materials costs only keep going up anyways 

@janemulberry

Hi Jane we have just done this and ours is 250 sqm so quite big send me pics or more info if you can that will help me give you a better figure to help guide you. We too were quoted huge figures pm me. what are you wanting to have done we removed our old roof and wooden structure and then put a new structure up with new tiles, ours had a dormer which we replaced too and took down a chimney and rebuilt one so loads really which is why we need a holiday.

rgds

@janemulberry @janemulberry Hello Jane,

I also tried to do a complete replacement of the roof this year. ( Haven't done it eventually).

This is what I learned: In order to correctly estimate a price, you need to take into account:

1) The size of the roof.

2) Shape of the roof including additions such as a chimney, exit for rain, etc.

3) Where is the roof - close to Sofia or in another district?

4) Amount of people who will work on the roof.

5) Driving distance of the employees to your house.

6) Do you buy the materials or the big "expert"...

7) The time of the year- summer being the most expensive.

I received 7 offers on a roof of about 90 square meters in a square shape. I suggested to everyone that I would buy the materials because otherwise they would cheat you . The offers ranged from 5000 to 25000 leva on the same roof!!!

In Bulgaria there is a price for Bulgarians and a completely different price for others!

What I learned from interacting with the Bulgarians from the neighbors, construction stores to the great experts of roof construction: 1) Most of the "experts" work without a registered company in Bulgaria. No business invoice, only recommendations. Hence the warranty they give on the roof is highly questionable!! Such usually take less money because it is tax free for them.

2) each building materials store make up their own prices. You can negotiate this price if you make a big purchase and pay cash, without an invoice. so that they too, God forbid, will not pay taxes.

3) Each person must do an investigation with as many stores as possible to check costs. It is better, that you be in control of the purchase of the materials.

4) It is better to do construction in the cold months - they have less work and the experts will be more flexible in prices.

In conclusion:

In Bulgaria, power and money speak loudly. The "non Bulgarians" look like a walking ATM. The construction experts or experts for any other renovation, if they look scary enough, if they have power (people, dominant character, seductive speech), many will recommend him especially those who live close to you.

Unfortunately, my experience was not good, and I did not meet one person who told me the truth! I learned that Bulgaria is the mother and father of DIY ...

Good luck.

@janemulberry @janemulberry Hello Jane,
I also tried to do a complete replacement of the roof this year. ( Haven't done it eventually).

This is what I learned: In order to correctly estimate a price, you need to take into account:

1) The size of the roof.

2) Shape of the roof including additions such as a chimney, exit for rain, etc.

3) Where is the roof - close to Sofia or in another district?

4) Amount of people who will work on the roof.

5) Driving distance of the employees to your house.

6) Do you buy the materials or the big "expert"...

7) The time of the year- summer being the most expensive.

I received 7 offers on a roof of about 90 square meters in a square shape. I suggested to everyone that I would buy the materials because otherwise they would cheat you . The offers ranged from 5000 to 25000 leva on the same roof!!!

In Bulgaria there is a price for Bulgarians and a completely different price for others!

What I learned from interacting with the Bulgarians from the neighbors, construction stores to the great experts of roof construction: 1) Most of the "experts" work without a registered company in Bulgaria. No business invoice, only recommendations. Hence the warranty they give on the roof is highly questionable!! Such usually take less money because it is tax free for them.

2) each building materials store make up their own prices. You can negotiate this price if you make a big purchase and pay cash, without an invoice. so that they too, God forbid, will not pay taxes.

3) Each person must do an investigation with as many stores as possible to check costs. It is better, that you be in control of the purchase of the materials.

4) It is better to do construction in the cold months - they have less work and the experts will be more flexible in prices.

In conclusion:

In Bulgaria, power and money speak loudly. The "non Bulgarians" look like a walking ATM. The construction experts or experts for any other renovation, if they look scary enough, if they have power (people, dominant character, seductive speech), many will recommend him especially those who live close to you.

Unfortunately, my experience was not good, and I did not meet one person who told me the truth! I learned that Bulgaria is the mother and father of DIY ...

Good luck.
-@Lili2022

Ye. Bulgarians have more money than skint Brits now and pay in cash. So they get attention.

If you aint willing to live as Bulgarians live you aint gonna go far kid.

@janemulberry I redid my roof for 7000 leva three years ago. I had the contractor replace only what was necessary on the structure. (They replaced about a third of the beams). I didn't want the roof to look super modern so had them reuse the good old clay tiles which I supplemented with old tiles that I got from a pile my neighbor had. (He sold them to me for a bottle of whiskey.) Of course this included plank base and waterproofing under the tiles. It included four ridges, two valleys and two chimneys. It did not include gutters.

I used a contractor from Varna and his work crew was from a village near Toshevo.

@janemulberry should no more than £10000 get materials your self an just pay for labour which be lot less than £10000

Thank you, everyone. That information is helpful, especially @JudyGreen as she is nearby.

I needed to go to the Kmetstvo today, and the woman there recommended the builder from Toshevo who did her roof. My neighbour phoned him, he and his crew came and measured up, and I have a far more reasonable quote. 7,500 lv for labour and 6,000 lv for materials. That's for all new tiles, three chimneys, any timbers in the main part that need replacing, gutters all round, and completely replacing the roof including timbers for the back lean-to section which is in a sorry state.

He's a tradesman rather than a master craftsman like the first quote, but nothing wrong with that! my neighbour assured me they will do a good job.

Glad for you. That does sound very reasonable.

Well cheap

How's the weather mate at moment there

Weathery proud

Much nicer weather there than in the UK. I just came back to the UK, and the day's high high here is the same as the low there!

@janemulberry mine was 22.000lev. Same price as cost of

house😄

Ouch! Yes, seems that is the way it rolls now the cost of building materials has risen so much. I'd hoped I could spend as much again as I paid for the house to get the renovations completed, as I'll be doing what I can myself. But that was a serious underestimate!

@janemulberry

Hi janemulberry , I sent you a PM regarding the contact  details of the person or company that did your roof . Any help would be much appreciated .

Thanks , Mario

Hi Mario! I am sorry, I don't know! I will need to check with my Bulgarian neighbour as she arranged it. I can't vouch for the quality of their work, so maybe wait till spring when I can tell you if I am happy with the work!

This team wasn't her first choice, but the guys who did her roof and our other neighbour's roof as well as the local museums were too expensive for me since materials costs have risen so dramatically. Superb museum quality work in the old Bulgarian style, but I sadly just couldn't pay that much! The Mayor's assistant recommended the team who did her roof, and that was who I decided to go with. 

They are based in General Toshevo, Dobrich. If you're in a different area, try to get someone local. The travel and petrol costs over a big job really add up!

@janemulberry Do you need to get a building permit (or any kind of local authority permission) before replacing a roof and is there a cost associated with that (architect, surveyor?). Is it different if you want to do a loft conversion as well?

@leedigings2 AFAIK, no planning permission is needed to replace a roof or do normal repairs and renovations. As there's no real change to the structure because they're replacing like with like, no architect or surveyor should be needed.

I am not sure about putting rooms in the loft space. I think if you're just making an existing roof cavity livable it would be fine, no permit needed. Generally, my understanding is that no permit is needed if the house remains within its original footprint. But if you significantly change the roof height, that may make a difference especially in a town as there could be height restrictions. You'd need to check with someone local or with your municipality for that.

Of course, with significant changes and anything altering the roof structure like removing any of the structural elements of the roof, definitely get some expert advice!

Thanks Jane. Much appreciated.

Most of the village roofs are quite shallow, there's not usually much scope for a loft conversion. Typically, this would require raising the roof, which I don't think is a common option (it's a bit expensive). However, my new neighbour has done this recently (as part of a big renovation of a long-empty house). I don't know for sure, but I doubt he applied for any permits for any of the renovation/roof work.

On my walks around the village, I see many have closed off below their balconies to make a sunroom or porch. Another one I see a lot is a new room made between the back of a house and its wall with the neighbour. Typically, this has a new concrete floor, a roof (insulated panels usually, but sometimes tiles), and a new wall/door at one or both ends. Mine is a storeroom of about 30 m2. My neighbour's is a large 2 car garage with electric door at the front. I doubt any permits are required/asked for.

In general, I get the impression that if you're renovating your house in a small village nobody will much care what you do.

@gwynj From what I've found out so far it looks like there is a formal requirement for a building permit for a significant extension but it's hard to find out precisely what is caught by this (the property in this case is in town).

It's possibly more likely to be enforced in a town than in a village, unfortunately. Can you talk to neighbours and see what they say? What changes are you hoping to make to your property?

Hey there! I just stumbled upon this thread, and I know how frustrating it can be to deal with roofing issues. I recently had to replace my roof as well, and it was definitely a big expense. I don't know much about Bulgarian builders or their pricing, but you can check some local companies for quotes.Besides, I did discover a [link moderated] that might be able to give you some advice. It's always good to get a second opinion when it comes to these things, especially if you're unsure about the cost. Good luck with your roof replacement!

@janemulberry perhaps offer accommodation?

The house isn't really liveable, Tony, and there's no accommodation in this village as it's well off the tourist / expat route.

The nearest accommodation or B&B is in the town the roofers come from. They're here now. Started a week late because of the weather, we had storms and even snow last week!

The materials they're using look high quality and they seem to know their stuff. Pretty sure they will do just as good a job as the first team to quote who were 30% higher!

The house isn't really liveable, Tony, and there's no accommodation in this village as it's well off the tourist / expat route.
The nearest accommodation or B&B is in the town the roofers come from. They're here now. Started a week late because of the weather, we had storms and even snow last week!
The materials they're using look high quality and they seem to know their stuff. Pretty sure they will do just as good a job as the first team to quote who were 30% higher!
-@janemulberry

if it’s a long job I’m surprised they haven’t turned up with a caravan to sleep in - just to save the travelling times.

hope they finish soon anyway and that the job is done properly. I also didn’t realise the weather was still a bit touch and go at the moment.

@Judy Green Hello,

Are you a good company that works well to redo my tiling of my house.

Thanks.

Sophie

It's been an unusually wet April. The guys look to be doing an excellent job so far. I had to come back to the UK to sort something out here, but will return to Bg today. The pictures my neighbour sent of the work while I was away are wonderful!

Sophie, I can get the contact details for the builders I am using, but unless you speak Bulgarian or Turkish, or have someone who does to help you, it could be challenging! I've only been able to do this with my neighbours help.

@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.

Never seen this language batrier. Always find someone who speaks English or Russian.

I hope you find the workers you need.