Roof rafter damage repair

[DIYNotIan]

Hi

We had a disused flue taken down recently. It had been occasionally leaking prior to removal, and now that it's gone and left a hole in the ceiling, I can see that one of the rafters has been damaged. The wood was wet and soft in places. I removed the worse of the soft damaged wood, and what remains has dried out quite nicely over the last few weeks. I've given it some woodworm treatment, not that there was any evidence of any, but just in case. I was going to follow up with some wood hardener and then leave it at that.

But I've been reading my bottle of wood hardener and it says to follow up application with wood filler. And it also says not to use it as a surface treatment. So would slapping on some wood hardener as a last step be a bad idea?

Do I need to use some kind of treatment to prevent wet rot? I've no idea if that's what I can, other than the fact it was wet and a bit rotten! But now that the source of the water is gone, does it need it?

Any other ideas of what's best to do?

Cheers

 

[Lower]

Personally, i'd sister the damaged rafter and then cut out the water damaged section.

 

[DIYNotIan]

Thanks for the advice @Lower

I can certainly see the sense in adding new timber to support/sister it, if that's what's needed. I did show it to a couple of builders/roofers who were here quoting for other work, and they both said just to treat it and use hardener, which is why I started on that line of thought. But that was just after a quick glance up; they didn't go up the ladder to look properly. I've hopefully got another coming next week and will perhaps ask if he can take a closer look.

Cheers