small dip in roof of victorian end terrace - bad???

davnig

Hi,

currently had an offer accepted on a victorian end terrace. Everything looks good as far as I can see except for what appears to be poor condition ridge tiles and slight dip in ridge and rood below it (see arrow in pic below). It's only a slight dip but not being a roofer I don't know how serious. I haven't had a survey done yet but was looking for advice before I splash out on that

any knowledge shared gratefully received

pic at link - http://i67.tinypic.com/s12kp1.jpg

cheers
Nigel

Smodlet

The dip in the pic looks insignificant but how can one tell from a pic, especially one taken at that angle? If you have any concerns at all, my advice would be to have a survey done or at least to ask a builder with roofing experience or an actual roofer to take a look at it from both inside and out.

If you use charm and ask for a quote for any remedial work needed, they might come and look for nothing/a pint/lunch in a pub; certainly you should be able to get an idea for far less than a survey would cost. If any concerns at all are raised, you still have the option to get a survey done and, in my experience, some builders spot more than some surveyors... Just sayin'. HTH.

hazyjo

As above, you won't know until someone inspects it. It's often as a result of heavy (concrete probably) tiles, but don't hold me to that!

Cakeguts

Looking at that photo it looks as if it isn't just the ridge it also looks as if there is an actual dip in the roof.

It shouldn't look like that so you will have to get someone to go into the loft to have a look at the roof timbers to see what is going on. Has there been any snow in that area recently? Sometimes the weight of snow on the roof can cause problems.

pinklady21

Agree, check the state of the roof timbers from inside the attic. It could be that one of the timbers is sagging - which could be due to a few things - rot, woodworm, or been exposed to a load it was not fit for - snow etc as said above.
Take a torch and wear old clothes if you are inspecting it - old attics can be filthy! If it is not floored, then take care you don't inadvertently put your foot through the ceiling. Vendor won't thank you for that!

DaftyDuck

Yes, that is of concern. It's not just the ridge, the rafter has also sunk. It's also reroofed in the wrong type of (too heavy) tile, and cheaply done at that. It's probably a rotten timber, and the ridge masy also have perished. You can see further fault at the gutter level too - highlighted by the wonky (and failed) guttering. There's another rafter likely failing near the front, possibly two.

If the roof is to be repaired, properly, it will be expensive. New timbers, possibly quite a few. Better not to reuse those over heavy tiles....

Tom99

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]The ridge can also dip if the rafters start to splay out over the top of the external walls. This happens when the rafters are not adequately tied to the opposite rafter low down enough.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Wonky gutters is a sign of rafters pushing out over the top of the wall.[/FONT]

davnig

Thanks all, some useful advice there, I know I'd eventually have to get someone to look at it, but wanted some initial knowledge

cheers

martindow

As it's Victorian it may well have been a slate roof originally. Tiles are substantially heavier and the rafters were never intended to take that weight.