Possible wall plate issue

[holt79]

I apologise for the lack of technical knowledge on this post.

I would appreciate some advice concerning my new roof. The roofer has used a wood beam (is this called a wall plate?) to support the bottom of the roof and to this wood beam he attached the outside guttering. It is therefore partly exposed to the elements and I'm worried that it won't take long for this wood beam to become compromised or rot after a few years of exposure.

The roof tiles do not overhang this beam by very much and no facia has been used to protect the beam. I'm not sure if the beam has been treated either.

This is only the case on the back roof - the front roof has the guttering attached to a facia.

Is this usual practice?

My house is semi-detached and was built in 1910.

Many thanks in advance.

 

[noseall]

I think a photo would be very useful here.

Houses of a certain age were built with exposed purlins and plates meaning the wall plate and purlins and often the rafter ends would be extended beyond the external masonry, made into a feature and painted.

This is rarely done with modern houses though not impossible and is the only reason it would be done - i.e. to match existing.

Is this an extension we are talking about?

 

[Harbourwoodwork]

I ve done that finish on oak timber frame but not usual finish detail some pic's as above

 

[holt79]

Thank you for your replies. Attached are two pictures of part of the wall plate (behind black guttering).

Untitled

• holt79
• 10 Dec 2012
• 1

Untitled

• holt79
• 10 Dec 2012
• 1

It's not an extension - when I bought the house the back roof needed to be completely replaced. This covered the main back roof and also the roof over the bathroom which is what I have shown in the above pictures (same applies for the main back roof).

Does this look alright? Should I look into getting some wood preserver and applying it?

Many thanks.

 

[Harbourwoodwork]

It doesn't look right so far,It needs a facia board to finish it off and keep the weather out,the gutter brakets are then mounted on the facia, that metal bracket looks very none standard what is it holding up? some more pics of the rest of the building would be useful to see what the detail is like on the original, some pics of the roof covering would be interesting and any pics of inside roof construction.

 

[holt79]

I'll take some more pictures tomorrow. However, my next door neighbour's house (identical to mine) doesn't have fascias on the back roof but you can't see what the guttering is attached to as it's so close to the building - I'll take some pictures of that too for comparison.

Is there anything I can do apart from getting fascias put on? Do you think maybe the roofer did it this way to match neighbouring properties or because he was cutting corners?

 

[^woody^]

Fascia boards are purely decorative. I can't see any real problem with exposure, as long as the timber used was treated - that's properly factory treated, not given a lick of preservative.

Some properties were constructed like that, but it's not immediately clear if the roofer has done it by design or for expedience.

There may well be some issues with draughts and air leakage though, unless measures have been taken internally

 

[holt79]

Thanks woody. I don't even think a fascia board could be added as the overhang of the roof tiles is minimal so once a fascia is added it might mean that the guttering can't catch rain water properly.

Do you know what the lifespan of the wall plates would be treated vs untreated?

I'm not sure that I can ask the roofer if it's untreated or treated as I'm sure he'd say it's treated (regardless of whether it is or not...). Sorry I'm a bit cynical as far as that is concerned...

 

[gregers]

if untreated then you can get insect attack,then moisture which if it doesnt disperse may lead to wet rot then continue into dry rot then you have problems,THIS IS WORST CASE SCENARIO or it could be perfectly ok for the next 50 years .like as you find in certain properties with timber that hasnt had any kind of covering at all.

treated none of the above for a long time.

 

[holt79]

Thanks Gregers. So could I apply some wood preservative to avoid insect attack/moisture causing problems or won't this work?

 

[Harbourwoodwork]

There are plenty of properties with exposed spar feet but this roof has the wall plate on the outside??this will rot or cause ingress of water leading to other problems a facia board would give rain a run off, if the roofer has not allowed for this he's set it out wrong and I would say not worth a blast on a ragmans trumpet

 

[catlad]

I would not worry about it as it looks like rough sawn treated timber to me, but there is nothing to stop you unclipping the guttering and painting it with bitumen paint.

 

[Harbourwoodwork]

I will say it again the roofer has put the wall plate on the outside skin of bricks !!!????

 

[^woody^]

I will say it again the roofer has put the wall plate on the outside skin of bricks !!!????

That is how things used to be done. The plate is sheltered

 

[joe-90]

Yes but if the gutter spills out of the back of the gutter it can go under the wall plate and into the brickwork. A fascia board would prevent that.