Is the wood rotting in my loft under the valley?

HAWKLANDER

I have recently been told by a roofer who went into my loft, that the wood under the valley in the roof is rotting, because of the white colouring on the wood. I have been up in the loft myself and felt the wood from the top of the valley the bottom, and it is bone dry and doesn't have that rotten wood feel to it. The rest of the rafters in the loft don't have this white staining, which makes me think it isn't moisture in the air up there. I've done extensive research online to find out what white colouring could be and have found answers from moisture in the loft causing surface mould, to it being historic colouring from when the wood was laid on the floor before the house was built, to it being historic water damage. The house is a 100 year old Victorian Terrace house in Portsmouth. Does anyone know what the white colouring is from these photos? I'm in a dilemma on whether to have work done on the valley or not. There are no leaks below in the ceilings and I can't feel anything wet under the valley, even after it has rained.

MACKEM99

We had a problem a while ago similar to the look you have but ours was wet when it rained and then dried out in dry periods.  Got a roofer to do ours.  He took out the old valleys and put in fibre glass ones.  Never had a problem since

Albermarle

Maybe there was a leak in the past that was sorted out.
I notice the roof seems to have a liner ( underneath the slates/tiles) which would unlikely to  be original in a 100 year old house.
Does the roof have the original slate tiles, or have they been replaced at some point ?

HAWKLANDER

MACKEM99 said:

We had a problem a while ago similar to the look you have but ours was wet when it rained and then dried out in dry periods.  Got a roofer to do ours.  He took out the old valleys and put in fibre glass ones.  Never had a problem since

Thanks for the info - I felt it fairly soon after it rained, and yes, ours was dry. It feels dusty dry when you run your hand over it and is hard when you knock on it with your knuckle. I have read things saying that it is stains from really slow moving water coming down through the tiles and wood over many many years and nothing to worry about. I think I need to do more monitoring and get up there straight after long downfalls of rain to see if there is any damp feel to it. 

HAWKLANDER

Albermarle said:

Maybe there was a leak in the past that was sorted out.
I notice the roof seems to have a liner ( underneath the slates/tiles) which would unlikely to  be original in a 100 year old house.
Does the roof have the original slate tiles, or have they been replaced at some point ?

Thanks for your reply. I have read online that it could be historic, either when the roof was redone in the past and exposed during the work, ot from a previous leak.
We have roof tiles and they're definitely not the original ones, so it must have been replaced at some point. I'll have to go through the paperwork to see if there is any record of when it was done. We have felt under the tiles, which is what you can see on the underside of the tiles.
Roofers we have had over to give us quotes and get opinions, have said water is getting onto the felt and shouldn't be doing so. We've had roofers tell us that is is due to the valley not having a lip, so it runs off the side of the valley under the tiles onto the felt. Other roofers have said it does have a lip, but needs to be wider. Others have said it has cracks and water is getting down through them. Other roofers have said the overlap on the tiles is too short and this is why water is getting on the felt. The latest roofer said we should leave the vallet as it is fine and no leaks, but says we need support trays under the felt to make sure the water runs off into the gutters. Literally every roofer who comes over gives us a different story and a different solution on how to fix it.

ThisIsWeird

It's been rainin' like a dawg for lawd knows how long. Timber does not become wet and then dry out in a day or two - it'll take a week at least.

So, it feels dry? And, if you poke it with a screwdriver, it just makes a small surface dent?

Cool x 2. It's almost certainly fine.

Let's face it, it ain't going to cause any major issues in any case. If it starts to leak very badly up there, a stain will most likely show up on yer ceiling. If the timbers actually rot away, then it'll become obvious - and then you carry out the recommended work.

Until then, pour yourself a wee 'The English' and forget about it. Just have a wee looksee every couple of months or so.

Er, Scotch

stuart45

You can get cheap damp meters for around £20 that work quite well on timber.
Just check the moisture content isn't too high. Worth going on the loft when it hammering down to check for leak.

Chickereeeee

Have any of the roofers that you have invited to take a look been NFRC registered? If not, go to the NFRC website and find one that is.

Roofers are 'mixed bunch', and, having been through a similar process as you, I would always use a registered one in the future.