What started as a routine gutter-cleaning appointment for a homeowner in England reportedly ended with part of the roof stripped back, a £9,000 ($12,000) repair estimate, and the homeowner fearing they had fallen into a roofing scam.
The family went to Reddit to see if this was a normal practice or if they were being taken advantage of.
Here's what to know
The situation was shared in a Reddit post in which the original poster said a gutter-cleaning visit was scheduled at a large detached house in the East Midlands, built in the 1990s and set on a windy hillside. During the cleaning, the workers returned with a recommendation for eaves trays and moss removal, and gave a £600 ($802) quote.
Once tiles were lifted, the poster said the workers claimed the roof tiles were "apparently in excellent condition" but that the roof also had "failed, non-breathable felt," "rotten, untreated battens," and "water ingress in multiple areas of the loft, with wet insulation."
That extra tray and moss-removal process may have given them the setup they needed to complete the scam, if it is one.
The poster wrote, "They've now removed large sections of the roof and say the tiles can't be refitted because the battens are too rotten." After that, the company presented a £9,000 plus VAT quote for scaffolding, a new breathable membrane, treated battens, reused tiles, eaves trays, moss removal, biocide, and related work.
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Many commenters immediately urged caution. One wrote, "Get someone else to inspect and quote," while another said, "The fact they are available immediately to sort this out would sound alarm bells for me."
More background
Commenters almost unanimously called this out as a scam. One commenter, who said the same thing happened to them, was issuing a warning to the poster: "YOU ARE BEING SCAMMED AND YOUR BATONS ARE NOT ROTTEN," They continued to explain, "The exact same thing happened to me 2 months ago. They took a sledgehammer to the battens to pretend they were 'rotten'." That commenter then urged the poster to call the police.
In a reply, the poster explained why it was hard to stop the job once it started: "They've already started taking half the tiles off, if I ask them to stop to get another inspection my roof is exposed."
Some commenters said the details matched stories they had seen before. One wrote, "Yes, this is a very common scam," and another said an allegedly similar situation happened to their elderly parents after a gutter repair visit turned into a £21,000 $28,000 roof demand.
A separate commenter referenced a Guardian report and said the Reddit post sounded "very similar" to that pattern.
What can be done?
In an update to the post, the family said they stopped the job. The original poster wrote that they "asked them to stop immediately," had "asked another company to come take a look," and arranged "an emergency call out to come and make sure the roof is water tight."
That response aligned with advice from commenters. One wrote, "You can stop the work. Get it temporarily watertight and call for someone to inspect it." Another asked whether the company had been searched online for reviews, while someone else urged reporting concerns to Action Fraud with the van registration.
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