Roof Felt ripped / degraded

DublinDilbert · 04-10-2012 1:00am #1

Hi All,

Looking for some advice regarding roof felt.

Was up in the attic this evening and one of the rafters is quite wet. It looks like the roof felt is torn/degraded and water is getting through the hole and running down along the rafter.

My understand is that the roof felt is just there as a back up encase water gets under the slates with wind etc...

Anyone know what the rough cost would be to get someone to strip back the tiles and re-felt an area, i presume a much larger area needs to be done.

Also is there anything I can put up as a temp measure to stop the water getting on to the rafter, till I can get someone in to look at it?

thanks,

wayoutwest · 04-10-2012 7:59am

If the water is coming in when its' raining,but not windy - then there must be damage to slates,ridges or flashings.

Where is the leak visable? - is it far down from the ridge and/or is it on one of the rafters that is near a chimney breast or gable end wall?

Do you have slates or tiles?

bbam · 04-10-2012 10:09am

DublinDilbert wrote: »

Hi All,

Looking for some advice regarding roof felt.

Was up in the attic this evening and one of the rafters is quite wet. It looks like the roof felt is torn/degraded and water is getting through the hole and running down along the rafter.

My understand is that the roof felt is just there as a back up encase water gets under the slates with wind etc...

Anyone know what the rough cost would be to get someone to strip back the tiles and re-felt an area, i presume a much larger area needs to be done.

Also is there anything I can put up as a temp measure to stop the water getting on to the rafter, till I can get someone in to look at it?

thanks,

I'd say leave it be and get a professional to check it out immediatly...
If you start poking and patching it will leave it far more of a job to find the exact point of ingress of the water...

The water may not be getting through the roof where the felt is torn but running down the felt and getting through there...

God knows how long it has been leaking... another day or week will make little difference...

deandean · 04-10-2012 12:58pm

Yea you need to find & fix the water leak. Felt is mainly to reduce drafts.

A pair of binoculars is good for surveying your roof. Look for a broken or slipped slate/tile, and check all valleys for any missing concrete. I did some work on my own roof a few years back, I used a normal ladder with a made-up hook thing to go over the apex.

It's a big job getting a roof re-felted, a lot of work, maybe 3 or 4 grand and for sure they'll find other things wrong when they're up there.

If you are gonna re-felt, it's a good time to get solar panels, velux windows etc installed if you're into that stuff.

But if it's just one leak: fix it and sit out the recession.

paddy147 · 04-10-2012 1:16pm

I had a leak in my roof last year.
The was a slow drip of water everytime it rained,comming into the front bedroom and making a stain on the ceiling.
We spent hours looking up at the roof with a pair of binoculars and also taking lots of pics of the roof with a camera.
We couldnt find anything wrong.

Called out a roofer,he got up on the roof and found the problem in a matter of seconds.

There was a small tear in the lead valley,barely noticible in fact.
The snow and ice from the previous winter had stretched the lead valley to breaking/tearing point,and this small split was letting in the rain.
The small split/tear in the lead valley was approx 10 feet up the roof and well away from where the bedroom ceiling was being stained by the rainwater.

My advice is to get in a professional roofer and they will have the leak detected in no time at all.

paddy147 · 04-10-2012 1:22pm

deandean wrote: »

Yea you need to find & fix the water leak. Felt is mainly to reduce drafts.

A pair of binoculars is good for surveying your roof. Look for a broken or slipped slate/tile, and check all valleys for any missing concrete. I did some work on my own roof a few years back, I used a normal ladder with a made-up hook thing to go over the apex.

It's a big job getting a roof re-felted, a lot of work, maybe 3 or 4 grand and for sure they'll find other things wrong when they're up there.

If you are gonna re-felt, it's a good time to get solar panels, velux windows etc installed if you're into that stuff.

But if it's just one leak: fix it and sit out the recession.

Solar and bio foam too.;)

Get the roof fixed now,as prices are good at the moment.

paddy147 · 04-10-2012 1:28pm

bbam wrote: »

I'd say leave it be and get a professional to check it out immediatly...
If you start poking and patching it will leave it far more of a job to find the exact point of ingress of the water...

The water may not be getting through the roof where the felt is torn but running down the felt and getting through there...

God knows how long it has been leaking... another day or week will make little difference...

Another week can make all the difference,especially if water is collecting and pooling up in the ceiling.

The ceiling gets sodden,crumbles,turns to mush and drops/falls.:eek:

The weather forecast is not good for the rest of this week and into next week.:(

deandean · 04-10-2012 1:43pm

Nice job on the foam there Paddy you should post a set of photos & recommend a company

:D:D

paddy147 · 04-10-2012 2:08pm

deandean wrote: »

Nice job on the foam there Paddy you should post a set of photos & recommend a company :D:D

I did,and it got me banned from the construction forum,by a mod who doesnt seem to like me very much.

According to him,I was shilling the company and must have had links to the company.Absolute bull**** allegations made about me.:mad:

Never mind the fact that Im "simply a homeowner" who got some work done and was happy with the work done.

bbam · 04-10-2012 2:58pm

paddy147 wrote: »

Another week can make all the difference,especially if water is collecting and pooling up in the ceiling.

The ceiling gets sodden,crumbles,turns to mush and drops/falls.:eek:

The weather forecast is not good for the rest of this week and into next week.:(

Ahh

bbam · 04-10-2012 2:59pm

paddy147 wrote: »

Another week can make all the difference,especially if water is collecting and pooling up in the ceiling.

The ceiling gets sodden,crumbles,turns to mush and drops/falls.:eek:

The weather forecast is not good for the rest of this week and into next week.:(

Ahh Paddy.
OP described a wet rafter, not pooled water nor floods of biblical proportions.

I agree if there was that ammount of water about it would be urgent , as in get it done today.

paddy147 · 04-10-2012 3:06pm

bbam wrote: »

Ahh Paddy.
OP described a wet rafter, not pooled water nor floods of biblical proportions.

I agree if there was that ammount of water about it would be urgent , as in get it done today.

And how much water can come in,when we have very heavy rain,like what is forecast for the rest of the week and into next week.

Been there,and got the T-Shirt unfortunately.:(

DublinDilbert · 04-10-2012 5:52pm

Hi guys,

Thanks for the replies.

I believe its called a hipped roof, its a semi d house and its on the sloped side of the roof that faces the non attached semi d, if that makes any sense. The rafter is wet from about 1/2 way down.

Yea I would guess there's a small crack in one of the tiles and water has been dripping onto the felt for years and eventually the felt has rotted.

I'm just kicking myself as the neighbour was getting his attic converted and had a load of old tiles out in a skip, so i should of nabbed some of them.

I guess the problem could also be above where I'm seeing the water coming in, like a damaged ridge tile and the water is going down the felt and eventually coming in half way down the roof.

Access to the roof isn't too bad as there's an extension below. I want to get someone in just don't have time to sort it myself at the minute. If anyone knows a good roofer in D15/D7 please let me know.

Roof Felt ripped / degraded

Comments