Does this loft look normal.

cherryblossom123

In the final stages of buying a house and popped up in the loft. Noticed there is a small brick structure that seems to have some of the wood part resting on top, it seems to be a support, but I can't recall if there were more than one. One of the bricks was loose at the bottom. Surveyor didn't say much about the structure of the loft, so presumably it was okay, but also it isn't boarded over so can't have checked too much. Just wanted to get some reassurance as the wobbling brick did worry me a little.   Sorry for the poor photos.  Thanks!

TELLIT01

I would contact the surveyor and ask if they inspected the loft space?  Back in the days when I last purchased a house a basic survey did little more than check that the property was worth more than the amount being borrowed.  Maybe that has changed.  Even if it was more in depth, if there wasn't a ladder available it's entirely possible they didn't look in the loft.

cherryblossom123

TELLIT01 said:

I would contact the surveyor and ask if they inspected the loft space?  Back in the days when I last purchased a house a basic survey did little more than check that the property was worth more than the amount being borrowed.  Maybe that has changed.  Even if it was more in depth, if there wasn't a ladder available it's entirely possible they didn't look in the loft.

They definitely looked in the loft space, I've seen the photos and there is about 2-6 pages detailing that. I just wanted to get a second opinion on the bricks I posted.

ThisIsWeird

cherryblossom123 said:

TELLIT01 said:

I would contact the surveyor and ask if they inspected the loft space?  Back in the days when I last purchased a house a basic survey did little more than check that the property was worth more than the amount being borrowed.  Maybe that has changed.  Even if it was more in depth, if there wasn't a ladder available it's entirely possible they didn't look in the loft.

They definitely looked in the loft space, I've seen the photos and there is about 2-6 pages detailing that. I just wanted to get a second opinion on the bricks I posted.

You've seen the surveyors photos of the loft? Did any of them include these brick pillars? If so, ask them specifically about them; "Picture 3, brick support pillar - could you explain its purpose, please? I've noticed that some bricks are loose - were you aware of this, and could it be an issue?" sort of thing.

stuart45

A purlin should be supported by a timber strut which in turn goes to a load bearing wall or beam and eventually transfers the loading to the foundations. 

TELLIT01

Many years ago I worked as a quantity surveyor.  A pile of brick to support a rafter certainly wasn't normal then, and I can't believe it's normal now.

Section62

cherryblossom123 said:

In the final stages of buying a house and popped up in the loft. Noticed there is a small brick structure that seems to have some of the wood part resting on top, it seems to be a support, but I can't recall if there were more than one. One of the bricks was loose at the bottom. Surveyor didn't say much about the structure of the loft, so presumably it was okay, but also it isn't boarded over so can't have checked too much. Just wanted to get some reassurance as the wobbling brick did worry me a little.   Sorry for the poor photos.  Thanks!

Can you confirm if the roof is hipped, and are these bricks on the 'end' side of the roof?

As stuart45 says, you'd normally expect wood to be used in this situation, but the bricks have been laid rather than just stacked up, they looked aged as if they could be contemporary with the timber, and if they are subject only to a compressive load I'm not aware of any fundamental reason why bricks wouldn't be an acceptable alternative to using a timber.strut.

There being a loose brick suggests the bricks may not be under a large load, but is not a good sign.