Damp/ Roofing questions.

aamadami

Hello,

In bedroom walls I notice some damp. We leave window open and other stuff so I thought it caused by something else. I went in the loft and notice that there are some gaps between tiles and when it rains water comes from there. I notice some patches are bit wet. There is not enough space for me to go underneath there and fill these gaps. I am planning to call roof contractor but before that I needed some advice.

House was built in 1940 but don't think roof has been changed.
1) Do you think i need to replace roof?
2) Can he just fill the gap from outside or something and how much does it cost.
3) It's my dad's house and he is over 60. Is there any scheme from government that can help him financially? I don’t leave there anymore.

clutton_2

no one here can tell you - you will need to get a roofer in - a good roofer can often tell from the outside what the problem is... if there is light shining through in only one place, it could simply be a slipped tile.... not a big job .. but you need someone to come and look....

BitterAndTwisted

Please ensure that you get more than one contractor round to quote you for the job. One contractor might tell you that the whole roof needs to be replaced and another might advise that a few new tiles need to be installed.

Have a look at your local authority's website as there may be schemes to help older people maintain or improve their properties, although in my book 60-odd isn't old at all.

aamadami

Thank you for your reply.

I am definetly going to call roof contractor but i wasn't sure what he was going to say. my main question was, is it possible to repair few lose tiles.

from council I have found out that there is a loan available for home improvement.

clutton_2

""is it possible to repair few lose tiles. "" - yes

marcg

If you can see daylight from underneath either your felt has holes in it or you have no felt.

Roofs are typically made up from timber structure with a layer of felt (a kind of waterproof sheet), battens (lengths of timber running horizontally) with tiles hung or nailed to the battens. In this way any rain getting between the tiles (or being blown by strong wind up and under) then drips on to the felt which then carries it out to the gutters.

Felt can be bodge-patched from underneath but most roofers will suggest refelting the roof. This will mean putting up scaffolding and stripping the roof back to the structure. It will then be put back together in the way I described. It is sensible to use new tiles at this point since they don't cost much and mean the roof will last a heck of a lot longer.

clutton_2

""It is sensible to use new tiles at this point""

it is also sensible to re-use any tiles which are not damaged....

marcg

Well.... depends on the age of the tiles. If you, like me, have 1960s double romans, about 10% of which are chipped and the rest seeming very brittle and you are thinking of spending £3-5k on getting the felt renewed, it might make sense to add £500 to that for new tiles. More so if you're spending more getting new flashings, chimney repointed, parapets rendered etc.

Even if there is no technical reason for it, the additional cost is visible to future house buyers where the roof felt isn't.