Roof Leaking (Old House) can see holes in the attic...!

ST1991

Hi all,

I've contacted a roofer to come out and look at the roof and attic at some point this week, but i'm just looking for a bit of advice as i feel a bit out of my depth. I'm fairly DIY-savvy, but the idea of doing anything in the roof myself is terrifying.

On Saturday, i noticed a patch of wallpaper near the ceiling upstairs sopping wet with black mould spots all over it. It must have leaked only prior before and quickly developed the mould as i would have noticed it before.

I ventured up into the loft, and after a bit of a scramble managed to see 2 holes of daylight. One where it appears to be near the 'leak', and another at the peak of the roof.

The roof has a valley, which runs between the terrace of houses - of which i am mid-terrace. The roof of the end terrace next door is slightly lower (perhaps a foot?) where the houses join. I believe it is on this end (where ours is slightly above) that the holes are - as otherwise i would not have been able to see daylight from straight ahead, and not from above.

Anyway - after that awful description, my question is:

If it's just a cracked tile/loose tile - is that an easy fix for me/a roofer - and does it cost the earth? (ball park figures would be good if anyone has experience)

Whilst in the attic, i noticed that the felt had alot of condensation on it. There was no insulation above where the bathroom is - as it looks like someone rolled it back to install electrics and then left it?

Could the condensation be from that, or from the hole?

Sorry if my writing is panicked... i'm just fearing the worst

FreeBear

ST1991 wrote: »

If it's just a cracked tile/loose tile - is that an easy fix for me/a roofer - and does it cost the earth? (ball park figures would be good if anyone has experience)

Had a damp patch forming on my bathroom ceiling. Got the long ladder out and had a look - Turned out to be a slipped tile on the bottom row, so dead easy to fix. The last real big storm we had, I lost a couple of tiles off the middle of the roof. No way was I going up there to fix it. Paid a local roofer £50, and he came out and did it the same day (and he was busy with other emergency repairs).

So ball park figure for your little problem - If it is just a slipped or broken tile, around £50 would be reasonable outside London. If lead work is involved, £2-300.

ST1991

Phew! thanks for the quick reply, and estimated cost. That's exactly the ballpark figure i was looking for (hundreds or thousands...!)

I'm not able to get up there and have a look myself as it would involve climbing on my kitchen roof (extension) and then climbing up and over my 'front roof' - of which i'm sure would be fine but i don't want to put a hole through my roof with a mis-step.!

TELLIT01

If access is as awkward as you suggest, then a quick fix for 50 quid is unlikely I'm afraid. Not trying to scare you, simply being realistic. If the work can be accessed by ladder a cost of a couple of hundred is probably a fair estimate. If scaffolding is required, that figure will shoot up.

ST1991

oh dear... i've grabbed some screenshots from google maps street view to try and show the roof as i'm awful at describing.

Essentially we are one away from the end terrace. The hole appears at a high point of the 'front roof', but on the awkward side.
The other small hole and leak is closer to where the valley is - although as you can see from the pictures it would only be accessible by climbing up and onto the end terrace roof and along, or by going 'up and over'?




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Mistral001

It is not uncommon to see small chinks daylight from the roof space on perfectly watertight roofs so I would not automatically assume that it is a problem with the tiles on the roof.

From the photos it might be a problem with the chimney flashings or the wall render. I would check in the roof space for damp patches in the gable wall that is exposed to the elements above the neighbouring house.

shortcrust

Mistral001 wrote: »

It is not uncommon to see small chinks daylight from the roof space on perfectly watertight roofs so I would not automatically assume that it is a problem with the tiles on the roof.

From the photos it might be a problem with the chimney flashings or the wall render. I would check in the roof space for damp patches in the gable wall that is exposed to the elements above the neighbouring house.

Agreed. You can see lots of chinks light through my roof but it still manages to keep the water out.

ANDY597

Roof doesn't seem to bad to access. If you can access, replacing a tile is well within a diyers capability. See you tube for videos.

Most likely cause is a simple slipped or damaged tile, water will find every opportunity to get in.

Another good maintenance point is whilst the roofer is up there ask him or her to clean the guttering, a choked gutter can often overflow and cause dampness in the room below.

Daylight as stated not uncommon but certainly a good place to start.

Keep it simple before considering flashing and chimney.

Hope this helps

ST1991

Thanks all - your advice is really invaluable

I think i'm put off accessing the roof myself because it involves climbing along my neighbours roof. Although i'm sure it would be fine, i really don't want to damage anything myself up there and have to pay to put it right. (if it's anything like trying to balance on the beams in my loft as not to step through the ceiling i'd very much like to avoid it... lol)

I'm now a little less worried about the seeing the light through my loft. A roofer has said he will arrange to come and take a look in any case - so we'll see what he says, i guess!