FTB - Loft Space making me feel uneasy - Video Included.

[RedRidingHood]

Hi all, Hope you're well. I'm a long time scroller but never made an account till today, Hopefully to get some advice. Bit of backstory; Past year or two I've been looking at purchasing my first property, with not much luck. I finally found a place that I'm happy with, but after asking to see, then viewing the loft space I'm a bit iffy but then again, It's mainly because I'm not sure what I'm looking at.

Took a buddy with me, He reckons nothing looks seriously out of place, However I'm a little concerned that in the past it's had some reinforcement work done, As well as the quality of the work seen. I'm also not 100% sure what to be looking for when it comes to the beams, And their current condition. Going up there threw me off guard a little bit as I was expecting everything to be a little cleaner / better maintained as the rest of the house also is, But this didn't appear to be the case at all.

I'm not too worried about giving it a clean / basic maintenance and re-laying insulation,As you'll see based on the video this is going to be a must. My primary concerns are serious structural issues / damp and mold. Nothing smelt too obvious up there in terms of damp/mold if any help.

It's a period house, Mid terrace. Houses each side look like they have asphalt shingles / synthetic slate roofs, As do many of the houses down the road, However the one I'm talking about appears to be using clay / concrete tiling.

I shall be getting a L3 Surveyor in to take a look, But due to the positioning of the loft hatch they've said they shan't be climbing up there fully and most likely just ducking their head in and taking a look, Hence the video I took myself inside the actual loft.

Just wondering if anybody can give any advice / spot any serious flaws or red flags as this is a major concern of mine.

Video is below

Appreciate any help, views and opinions on the subject.
Kind regards

 

[Wayners]

New timbers off the internal walls?
Did the original house have slate tiles and been replaced with heavier clay tiles?

I've seen houses with added timbers to prop up roof, as original wasn't strong enough. I'd say that was a DIY job but a good thing to do if it's ok.
Wouldn't put me off buying but get it looked at

 

[Wayners]

I should of added.
Clean up loft .
Treat timbers for woodworm. You can do that yourself.
Fit reafter trays.
Soffit vents.
More insulation.

 

[RedRidingHood]

New timbers off the internal walls?
Did the original house have slate tiles and been replaced with heavier clay tiles?

I've seen houses with added timbers to prop up roof, as original wasn't strong enough. I'd say that was a DIY job but a good thing to do if it's ok.
Wouldn't put me off buying but get it looked at

I should of added.
Clean up loft .
Treat timbers for woodworm. You can do that yourself.
Fit reafter trays.
Soffit vents.
More insulation.

Good Morning Wayne's,
I want to say that yes, the original roof would have had a slate / something similar tile roof but can't find definitive answers. Many of the other houses down that street have very thin slate looking tiles but its quite a narrow street so its hard to get a good look at the material used. My buddies initial thought was these tiles were replaced with heavier tiles also, and that the beams were added for strength. Puts me a little as ease knowing you're saying the same.

Ive gone to the extent as to hard searching for old photos of the street, dating back to the early 1900's, even though I didnt have much luck the houses certainly did not look like they had thick/heavy tiles as this one does now.

For a bit of reassurance who should I realistically be contacting to have a good look at the work done? Im awaiting the Survey (L3). Im wondering if this will be a good enough explanation / run down or if I should contact a roofer or structual engineer.

Have also taken note of your suggestions also, and they'll certainly be on the list of priorities as this is one thing Im taking serious due to the expensive nature that can be incurred from this area of the house.

Thanks again

 

[Dereekoo]

As Wayners states, appears to be just a strengthening of existing timbers probably due to doubling of roof weight due to conc tiles, all looks good. Funny thing is if it hadn't been strengthened you would have looked in loft and thought looks OK up here (unless things had started to bend but without snow loading it would have probably been ok) and accepted it as it was. Not sure about Wayners treatment for woodworm, if there are no signs after 100 years I doubt they are suddenly going to appear out of the blue

 

[RedRidingHood]

As Wayners states, appears to be just a strengthening of existing timbers probably due to doubling of roof weight due to conc tiles, all looks good. Funny thing is if it hadn't been strengthened you would have looked in loft and thought looks OK up here (unless things had started to bend but without snow loading it would have probably been ok) and accepted it as it was. Not sure about Wayners treatment for woodworm, if there are no signs after 100 years I doubt they are suddenly going to appear out of the blue

Now you mention it, you're 100% right I would have thought everything looked perfectly fine without the added joists, actually I'd of been more at ease about it all had it not been there, The irony.

Appreciate the input Dereeko, Thank you very much. This has been bothering me quite a while now as I wasn't sure I was pumping money into a house purchase that had some structural / roofing issues. Will also be showing the video to the Surveyor when he does his report.. Hopefully everything comes back clear and I can move forward.

 

[Koolpc]

Looks fine to me. Nothing is sagging. All looks good. Survey would or should pick up an issues.

 

[Dereekoo]

Looks fine to me. Nothing is sagging. All looks good. Survey would or should pick up an issues.

Wait for the 75kg/m2 of snow loading to happen

 

[Koolpc]

Wait for the 75kg/m2 of snow loading to happen

Scaremongering for no reason...

 

[Dereekoo]

Scaremongering for no reason...

Winters coming ........... now I remember in 1963..........

 

[Wayners]

I'd recommend watching gosforth handyman on YouTube. He's currently fixing up an old property and has lots off information that will help you. He has one video on what to look for before buying an old property.

There are plenty of home survey companies but I agree with the advice online that they can be expensive, with multiple bands and may not be what you want. No comebacks either.

If the roof is worrying you then it's worth getting a builder or roofer to look at it.

 

[Scally-Ho]

IMO and along with others, nothing much seems to be amiss. Some of the reinforcing does look to be from offcuts, but with nothing bowing or splitting, it seems to be sound enough. If you are worried to the point you might not buy, why not ask someone from K2 Surveyors for their professional opinion.

Independent Roofing Inspections | k2surveyors.co.uk

Thorough visual inspections carried out to determine the health and condition of any roofing system leading to early detection of problems, protection of assets, and maintenance of safe working environments for building occupants.

www.k2surveyors.co.uk

 

[RedRidingHood]

Hi all, Survey results came through yesterday, Welcoming any opinions on them and plans to combat.

Straight to the point;
Inadequate ventilation with relative moisture readings reaching 69%. This is considered high.
Where accessible, The roof timbers had recorded readings of approx 10-13%. As far as I'm aware, This is considered an 'OK' range but can soon change if the situation with the moisture readings persist and will eventually lead to timber rot (Will be checking the timbers again personally for rot).

*Added structure seemed OK, But have requested building reg certification from seller.*

Off topic, But being an old Period terrace house, I also received some expected news that downstairs walls were also damp. According to the moisture meter, Walls were receiving between 50-70% when taken. Currently unoccupied.

My plans include cutting back the insulation which is currently pushed up to the eves allowing further airflow. This was recommended by the surveyor.

Adding lap vents to the felt. I've heard these can be relatively decent.

Temporarily repairing any damaged felt with an adhesive until I can fully replace. (Haven't 100% looked into this yet).

Hopefully this will bring the moisture levels down, And the roof timbers will dry out in due course.

After this I intend on tackling the downstairs by eventually adding a Vent-Axia PIV into the loft to circulate fresh air downstairs (Pointless right now).

Meanwhile I'll be running a decent dehumidifier in attempt to grab any excess moisture downstairs. The house severely lacks any real ventilation so I'll be immediately adding trickle vents on the living / dining room windows and adding an extraction fan into the kitchen to hopefully keep levels down and soon have the PIV up and going.

The surveyor has noted damaged and moss filled guttering.. This isn't helping the issues so again this'll be on the immediate To-Do list.

While I'm no expert, This is the plan I've come up with. Feel free to pick it apart or add further suggestions.

Thanking you all again.

 

[foxhole]

Relative moisture reading perfectly normal this time of year.
Ignore wall moisture reading using a meter cannot be done , surveyor sounds unqualified.
Damaged gutters could be the reason for all the damp noted.