Roof - light coming through

sbird90

Hey everyone. 

So two weeks ago after storm awren we had a few tiles off. Roofer put them back on (they fell into mud and didn’t break! Phew!) all good. After storm Barra last night my neighbour knocked to say there’s a tile in their garden again, can’t see any obvious missing ones when looking from outside but I’ve went into my loft and although I can’t see any holes to indicate a missing tile (there was light streaming through it after the first time I it was obvious) I did see a couple of light leaks, but to the right side of my roof and unless the tiles are made of paper no way they’d end up in my neighbours garden to the left of the house if they blew off so I think that tile is theirs but now wondering about these little gaps. The hole doesn’t look big enough for it to be a missing tile, the bottom one is where the roof meets the floor, the smaller one about 1/4 way up. There’s a few more but they’re so small my phone doesn’t even pick them up. It’s a slate roof and the house was built in 1930. Do i just need more mortar(or whatever is used to seal the gaps under the tile) or is it normal to have little gaps? I’ve read sometimes older roofs have them for ventilation but in my mind, if light gets through so does water, thanks in advance! 

FreeBear

My late 1920s roof (all original) had reed & lime mortar torching under the tiles. Most of this has disappeared, and I'm left with just the bare tiles. Loads of light coming under the tiles.. Outside, the tiles overlap each row, so there is very little chance of rain coming in. Your two pinpricks of light is nothing to worry about.

stuart45

The best time to check in the roof space is when it's pouring with rain.

TELLIT01

If you've ever watched 'Escape to the Chateau', at one point !!!!!! Strawbridge looks up and says "You should not be able to see daylight when you look up to the roof".

Regarding the origin of the tile your neighbour has found, don't underestimate the power of wind once it gets under a loose tile.  My neighbour lost a number of ridge tiles in a storm a few years ago and one embedded itself in our lawn at least 12 feet from the boundary line.  They are a lot heavier than a slate.

Ganga

My ridge tiles came off on the night of storm Awren ,found some in next doors garden and they were very heavy ,mind getting them fixed is another story ,got a quote from a reputable local company who would only do it with scaffolding ,told the insurance company and they are sending a surveyor ( loss adjuster ? ) still waiting nearly two weeks later and cannot give the go ahead ,not a happy bunny,

fenwick458

seeing light is not ideal but under certain conditions it could be fine for years to come...
I've been in lofts where it's so light I don't need to take a work light to see what I'm doing, yet not enough water will ever get in to do damage.
in certain conditions it will let some water in (driving rain) but  as there are lots of holes generally they are very draughty places too and this can be dried up quite quickly before it causes problems

anotheruser

I have small gaps in my roof.
Not been a problem as yet.

And as for Escape to the Chateau, there were gaps las large as footballs as far as I remember.
Mine are less than a matchbox in size.

MalMonroe

Call me crazy but I wouldn't want any holes, gaps or spaces in my roof. 

Can't you get someone to look at it and repair it via your buildings insurance? Call me crazy again but that's what I'd do. 

FaceHead

MalMonroe said:

Call me crazy but I wouldn't want any holes, gaps or spaces in my roof. 

Can't you get someone to look at it and repair it via your buildings insurance? Call me crazy again but that's what I'd do. 

Agree with not wanting holes in the roof, and if the problem/solution isn't clear to the OP, then getting in touch with a roofer seems like a sensible step. I wouldn't want to make a claim on buildings insurance for something so small however - using insurance is rarely a good idea in the long run.

Brie

without some holes somewhere the loft area cannot breathe properly so there needs to be somewhere that air can flow.  Our roofer (specialist in older properties) was well pleased with some the holes in ours - in a good way.  (there were problems that needed to be sorted but he liked that there were "good bones" to work with)

twopenny

I had Rosemary (clay) tiles on my 1920's roof and there were some slivers of light where tiles had come off at some time. But they were so tightly put together that it didn't seem to let any rain through.

One gap on a side ridge tile that worried me (mainly because a tradesman reckoned it would cost and all needed replacing down that ridge) I put bubble wrap underneath and there was never any puddles or even damp on there.

Try it and see. At best your mind will be at rest or you will know moisture won't affect your ceilings.