Unusual timber situation, shall we move it?

Hi everyone, I think I have an unusual timber situation I have not seen in any threads or on photos so this may be an interesting one. Cowboy builders?

Please check out my drawing and maybe you’ll spot which timber is the odd one... if you guessed correct the 3 beams running across mid way to roof ridge screwed to the rafters (in red on my poor attempt drawing). I am guessing they are supposed to hold the roof together preventing it to deflate in or slide down. If so, why only 3?

Question: Can I move the two most far out odd beams (in red) down to sit atop of joists adjacent to the brick wall and remove the middle one completely? I’d extend and screw the far outs together to the rafter at the joist levels.

If they are to hold the roof then If I would screw all the rafters to joists instead at joist level, would that do the same or better job?

Why? They are in my way and I want to board the damn place. Note my tiles look heavy I think. M thanks

Personally i would be on the phone to an SE.
I wouldn’t take anyone’s guidance on a forum and then plough ahead.

This isn’t the sort of thing you want to get wrong or gamble upon

The rafter centres look very wide...what sort of age is the place? Reason for asking- if it is 100-odd years old then it is very likely the original roof was slate (lightweight but expensive). At some stage someone has replaced the slate with (cheap) heavy tiles. Those large bits of stick are reducing the effective span of the purlins (so that the roof doesn't sag under the extra load). Tamper with them at your peril.

oldbutnotdead said:

The rafter centres look very wide...what sort of age is the place? Reason for asking- if it is 100-odd years old then it is very likely the original roof was slate (lightweight but expensive). At some stage someone has replaced the slate with (cheap) heavy tiles. Those large bits of stick are reducing the effective span of the purlins (so that the roof doesn't sag under the extra load). Tamper with them at your peril.

Click to expand...

Thanks both. House is 1892. Agree the roof was slate, as I can see some of it lying around, and then replaced with heavy tiles. Wonder what’s the difference in price so the seller went to those lengths?

my brother's house was built with a slate roof and tiled before he bought it.
The survey pointed out the risk of the roof slipping due to weight and the solution was similar to what you have.

plastic_peanut said:

Personally i would be on the phone to an SE.
I wouldn’t take anyone’s guidance on a forum and then plough ahead.

This isn’t the sort of thing you want to get wrong or gamble upon

Click to expand...

PP spot on. I have seen it on houses near me. Slate roof off and cheap concrete tiles on. Older houses with slate roofs had timber to support the weight of the slate then of course over time the timber will weaken a bit but then a roof gets the added weight of the tiles and starts to sag.

Check out most of the roofing suppliers and they show tiles/slate per sqm. and the weight per sqm.