roof structure

Hello

The surveyor tells me that the timbers are undersized and weakened and need strengthening. He says some additional metal bracing has been incorporated but "this is not considered to be sufficiently formed".

The house is a 1930s semi.

Does anyone know what sort of work will be required and roughly how much it might cost.

My understanding of our conversation about the matter was that additional timbers need to be installed between ceiling joists and either rafters or purlins, but I may have misunderstood him.

Any comment would be very much appreciated.

alex

Pictures/sizes its like asking how long is a piece of string sorry.

Thank you Cumbrianroofer. Don't have either. Will come back when I have more info. The house itself is about 7.5 m (front) by 7 m I reckon, possibly 8m by 7.5 m

In what way have they become undersized?

Or, are you saying that heavier tiles have been used in replacement for the originals, say maybe slates?

If this is the case and the roof has sagged with the timbers bowing then you may need to do a bit of jacking/propping as well as strengthening.

As stated more info' please.

Thank you, noseall.

I think I was told something along the lines that timber may have not been as readily available then as it is now, hence undersized timbers. I will probably have a structural engineer take a look. Hope will have a clearer picture then.

alexm1 said:

Thank you, noseall.

I think I was told something along the lines that timber may have not been as readily available then as it is now, hence undersized timbers. I will probably have a structural engineer take a look. Hope will have a clearer picture then.

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Really?! I'm pretty sure they had trees back in the 30s.. Unless you live on a small island and boats only came to you once a year.. and the 2 palm trees on this island didnt give much wood..

Firstly, what exactly are the external effects of these weak timbers? Is the roof sagging or bowing at the edges? Tiles slipping? Ceiling has patches where leaks are showing? Chimney has moved?

Secondly as noseall states have the tiles been replaced with concrete ones?

Lastly, was the "surveyor" doing a homebuyers report? or a valuation? or a survey on the roof structure? Do you have a written report stating the problems?

Thank you, Static,

It was a Homebuyer report. I wander if the surveyor may have been overly cautious.
I haven't examined the roof myself. As far as I can see from ground level, having no experience whatsoever in construction, there are no obvious signs of either sagging or tile movement. The chimney looks fine as well. As far as I can remember there were no signs of leakage.

alex

alexm1 said:

Thank you, Static,

It was a Homebuyer report. I wander if the surveyor may have been overly cautious.
I haven't examined the roof myself. As far as I can see from ground level, having no experience whatsoever in construction, there are no obvious signs of either sagging or tile movement. The chimney looks fine as well. As far as I can remember there were no signs of leakage.

alex

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A homebuyer surveyor has not studied structural engineering and consequently is not qualified to categorically identify whether structural elements are undersized or not. They have probably suggested that the timbers may be undersized to ensure that in the 1 in 50,000 chance that they are actually undersized they will not have to claim on their insurance ie they are just covering themselves. Really most home buyers surveys are not worth the paper they are written on, full of disclaimers and suggestions that advice be sought from qualified professionals. The Forum is littered with threads where the OP has had a homebuyers survey condemn this or that. Most of the time the issues are fairly minor.

Try and make a visit and get some photies of the loft and some sizes and the spacing of the rafters etc and check for bowing timbers or cracks although bows or cracks are nothing necessarily to be concerned about depending on the extent, its difficult for posters to really comment unless you provide a bit more info. If the seller wants to sell I'm sure they won't mind.

As said above homebuyers surveys are urm well a little vague.. they are general building walk rounds.. telling you if the wiring is old or the boiler out of date..

Anyways go have a look in the loft.. you wouldnt buy a car without looking under the bonet to just make sure the engine is in there and isnt covered in oil.. so why not poke around the whole property when your spending 150k..

freddymercurystwin and Static, thank you both very much.