Dry rot or not?

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This weird dark brown stuff has just appeared on one of my rafters near the top of my roof by my chimney breast. I've had unfortunate luck with roofers and since 2012 it's leaked here, in fact I think it's been leaking (on occaision) in this place since before I bought the house 9 years ago. It only gets wet in the worst of weathers though.

Do you know what it is and do you know how to fix it?

It's too high up for me to get near BTW.
 
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What you show is suspicious but until someone actually examines the "dark brown stuff" & confirms that its organic, the roots of a plant like vegetation, then its not possible to say what it is.

Try for a roofer who will go up on the roof and take pics of the area around the chimney stack - and hopefully they (or someone else) will climb some steps in the loft to examine and probe the rafter in the pics.
Why dont you take pics from ground level of the gable peak (presuming you have a gable) at the chimney stack? And pics in the loft showing the whole upper chimney breast?
Post all pics on here.

You appear to have an unusual construction detail with the top of the rafter actually going into the chimney breast brickwork - this is a bad practice.

Are the flues in the c/breast still in use or redundant?

Whatever it is or any other faults we can suggest how to fix them.
 
Here's some old pics of the area.


21-12-12.



22-12-12.



& here's a pic a builder took this summer, 12-07-16.




My latest roof is supposed to be under guarantee for 10 years, most Christmasses it leaks, I phone the guy and he comes back and squirts some leadmate around the chimney flashings and then it doesn't leak for another year. If I have some kind of rot caused by the continuing leaks would I expect him to sort it or is that not covered by a guarantee?

Regarding the chimney, I don't have an open fire, the fire is blocked off in the living room and has an electric heater there now. The kitchen extra hood is linked to the flue somehow I think though but I never use it.
 
Your roof is not fit for purpose so the roofer is responsible for returning and making it fit for purpose.

One method would be to peel back all the lead flashing and lift a couple of ridge tile and a few "flat tiles" to search for a damp pattern?

The "brown stuff" could be wet rot tendrils - not great but better than dry rot. Whatever it is the sound method of dealing with it would be to replace the rafter.

You need more pics of the flaunching & pots on top of the stack, and the other side of the ridge tiles.

IMO, the lead flashing soakers should be under the "flat" roof tiles - although I dont think the soakers are leaking - but I cant be certain.

The lead saddle, in my opinion, should go under the ridge tile. It appears to stop above the ridge tile in an abbreviated form, and a line of possibly leadmate or similar has been used?
There also appears to be a patch of sand and cement on the saddle upstand - is it a repair?

Doubtful that the flues are involved but they should be swept and ventilated from the bottom and at the top.
 
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OP,
I'm attempting to help you with the limited information you've provided, when suddenly further information and photos appear in different posts?

Good luck with your issues.
 
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My house got completely hammered by wind and rain yesterday but surprisingly my roof didn't leak! :eek: Surely I can't expect my last roofer to return and make alterations to the flashing if my roof isn't currently leaking??? :?: :confused:

Is the suspected wet rot his responsibility to get sorted? Or can he just say it's mine?

Here's a pic of the chimney pots as requested. (From 2012).


Re. the smeared cementy looking stuff over the lead flashing (or quite possibly Leadmate) - yeah, it does look suspicious like it's been put on cos there's a crack. Each winter when it leaks again around both the chimneys (there's one at the other side of the house) my old roofer comes back with his Leadmate gun and squirts. I would like to finally have all my flashing in order like however it's supposed to be done and not just get bodge repairs every so often because soon my 10 year guarantee will mean nothing, he may go out of business or just refuse to come back and is it 6 years that you've got to take a claim to small claims court if it comes to that? My last roof got done in October of 2012. In a way I wish it had leaked last night because then I'd feel legitimate in phoning up the roofer again and calling him back and telling him to finally give me new flashing. He was supposed to put new flashing on originally but he left the old stuff there. :(
 
Well the fact that he keeps coming back with Leadmate indicates he isn't interested in doing a permanent fix. Someone told me that new lead flashing is an expensive material, I guess he's trying to avoid giving me new flashing if he can avoid it. :(
 

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