Pitched roof, large section of felt missing

isley76

Hi,

The house I recently bought had some diy insulation put in by the previous owner in the form of rockwool between the rafters held in by hardboard screwed to the rafters.

My surveyor recommended this be removed as it was a condensation risk (no air circulation behind the felt).

This week after heavy rain I noticed some water staining on the hardboard so took it off to inspect the felt.

Shock horror there is a huge section of felt missing and I can see the tiles behind:

close up:

I'm a real novice but I understand the felt is just a backup and if the tiles are still good then the roof should still be watertight.

Since there is water coming in somehow I think there is a problem and will wait with a bucket next time there is rain to try and see where it is coming in.

Can anyone advise me what to do about the missing felt? I'm planning to take down the rest of the hardboard tomorrow to see if there is any more missing felt.

Is this repairable or is it a home insurance claim?

Many thanks,

Isley

freddymercurystwin

isley76 wrote:

I'm a real novice but I understand the felt is just a backup and if the tiles are still good then the roof should still be watertight.

Correct

isley76 wrote:

Can anyone advise me what to do about the missing felt? I'm planning to take down the rest of the hardboard tomorrow to see if there is any more missing felt.

Is this repairable or is it a home insurance claim?

Get the tiles fixed and you won't need to worry about there being no felt. Plenty of roof's are in existence with no felt and they do not leak. You can't claim on your insurance for a leaky roof, its wear & tear only for any damage caused by it although I suspect any assessor would say that as the previous owner did not repair the felt but removed it instead your insurance would be invalid.

Anyhoo repair the tiles, fit some mineral wool insulation at ceiling joist level, shut the loft door and forget all about it.

alastairreid · Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 11:43 pm Post Subject:

and that looks like condensation as opposed to a leak from the roof.

datarebal · Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 8:08 am Post Subject:

probably condensation.
as it's interlocking tiles the felt would be easy to repair

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New Forest Roofer

isley76 · Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 10:20 am Post Subject:

Thanks guys,

I hope it is condensation but the house is quite high up on the peak of a hill and it gets very windy in our street. I wouldn't be surprised if the wind was blowing the rain up under the tiles in which case wouldn't the felt be needed?

Quote:

as it's interlocking tiles the felt would be easy to repair

datarebal, please could you explain why interlocking tiles make it easy to repair the felt?

Thanks,

Isley

datarebal · Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 6:16 pm Post Subject:

No problem, Interlocking tiles are easy and fast to strip. This makes it easy to strip a patch of tiles simply cut the batten and replace the damaged area of felt. Provided there is access from below a pach the size of the one in your picture could be sorted in an hour or so...

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New Forest Roofer