Roof question

Money_saving_maniac

Hi, I'm looking at buying an end of terrace but have noticed the roof appears to be sagging. All of the roofs appear to go up and down, not on the top ridge line but like bulges and hills along the 4 houses. The terrace next door has got a couple of tiles missing.
The vendor says they have never had a problem with the roof but they would say that anyway wouldn't they? Obviously I would have a survey done but if that's going to cost me £600 to say run a mile that's 600 quid out of an already very tight budget.
These are small 1930's houses.
Does this sound like a problem and does it sound extremely expensive?

phil24_7

Roofs will often sag over time but it is impossible to say if there is a problem, and how much it will cost, without seeing the property.

Davesnave

phil24_7 wrote: »

Roofs will often sag over time but it is impossible to say if there is a problem, and how much it will cost, without seeing the property.

Agreed. When I bought my current property, I saw that the roof had a saggy bit and a trip into the loft revealed missing braces. The actual timbers were otherwise fine and there was no evidence of spreading at the eaves etc. I decided it wasn't a big deal.

Seven years on, I've just had the roof straightened and the relevant braces added. There was no problem in the interim and this work was partly cosmetic, but had the house not been very cheap in the first place, I'd have used this defect during negotiations.

Cakeguts

If you are not sure don't buy it.

Doozergirl

They can sag.

Usually something has been removed so that the owners can get access for storage or similar.

Or slates have been replaced with heavier concrete tiles.

It doesn't usually lead to any major problem but it's worth providing missing or a bit of extra support and then doing things properly the next time the roof is covered.

Adding some wood in to the structure isn't an expensive job.

Money_saving_maniac

Cheers for all of your thoughts. I think it's on the original tiles by the look of it, they are small ones not concrete, so it sounds like it's a timber thing.

ljonski

You need to go up there yourself and make a detailed inspection. Take a number of pics yourself!

teneighty

From the description it sounds like it could be hogs backing. Quite common in houses from the 50's and 60's (not so much in 30's). Any chance of a photo?

It happens when the party walls are built too tight to the underside of the roof. Over time the roof timbers move slightly through natural shrinkage/deflection but the walls stay rigid so you get a high spots where the party walls are.

It is usually only minor and is nothing to worry about. If it gets severe and the tile joints start to open up it would be a matter of relaying the roof over the party wall and removing any high spots in the wall and introducing a flexible mineral wool fire barrier between the top of wall and roof. Not a huge job.

Money_saving_maniac

Oh I think that might be it Teneighty, I don't think I could take pics you need to get the right angle to see it with your eyes even, but I'll try. I was thinking that it sagged between all the party walls but it could be that instead.

Money_saving_maniac

dupity dupe

Money_saving_maniac

[IMG][/img]

click on the pic to see full size. the house in question is on the right.