Wet roof battens
 

Good evening,

Our 1950s roof, tiled with flat terracotta tiles, faces the prevaling wind here
in not so sunny St Annes. I accidentally ripped the felt and found the batten
directly over the rip was wet through and quite soft. Looking more closely,
some of the roof trusses also show signs of water as they have a slight white
'tide mark' up to an inch from the felt.

I guess the wet batten is a symptom of rain windblown up the roof but should
the rain get through to the trusses?

Q1. Is this generally a problem or should I wait till summer to see if it dries
out?

Q2. Is the 'tidemark' likely to be fungal or disolved minerals?

thanks again

AndyM

"AndyM" wrote in message
...
Good evening,

Our 1950s roof, tiled with flat terracotta tiles, faces the prevaling wind
here
in not so sunny St Annes. I accidentally ripped the felt and found the
batten
directly over the rip was wet through and quite soft. Looking more
closely,
some of the roof trusses also show signs of water as they have a slight
white
'tide mark' up to an inch from the felt.

I guess the wet batten is a symptom of rain windblown up the roof but
should
the rain get through to the trusses?

Q1. Is this generally a problem or should I wait till summer to see if it
dries
out?

Q2. Is the 'tidemark' likely to be fungal or disolved minerals?

thanks again

AndyM

Sounds more like wet rot and the start of a serious and expensive problem

Damp under the felt if not leakage through the felt, will be
condensation. Depending on design details and weather the underside of
the felt can be damp on and off throughout the year and leave traces
such as you have seen. If it also has a chance to dry off at intervals
i.e. is well enough ventilated, then it may not be a problem.
Damp and soft battens above the felt could be just normal building
deterioration. St Annes is exposed to some severe weather. (is this
Lytham St annes?). Personally, having enough to do anyway, I'd ignore
this until it manifests itself in a "definitely needs fixing now" way
e.g. slipping tiles or obvious roof leaks.

cheers

Jacob

On 20 Jan 2005 18:21:17 GMT, AndyM wrote:

I guess the wet batten is a symptom of rain windblown up the roof
but should the rain get through to the trusses?

As you say this is the exposed side of the roof and it hasn't been
exactly dry recently I wouldn't woory about it to much. Wait until it
hasn't rained for say a week and check if it's dried out. Probably
won't be totaly dry but if it's substantially dryer that would
indicate it will dry, eventually.

Q2. Is the 'tidemark' likely to be fungal or disolved minerals?

Got very similar marks in our roof, I suspect it's minerals rather
than fungal. Provided the void is ventilated and the timbers are dry
then it's probably not a problem either.

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

Thanks.
Yes I am in Lytham St Annes. 1/2 mile from the sea and regularly lifting
handfulls of sand off the car due to the strong winds. Thankfully no frosts
though.
I too have lots to do. Just fitted a boiler CH system (thanks to this NG) and
a new kitchen will be in before end of Feb.
The roof can wait.

AndyM

AndyM wrote:

Good evening,

Our 1950s roof, tiled with flat terracotta tiles, faces the prevaling wind here
in not so sunny St Annes. I accidentally ripped the felt and found the batten
directly over the rip was wet through and quite soft. Looking more closely,
some of the roof trusses also show signs of water as they have a slight white
'tide mark' up to an inch from the felt.

If you look in an old roof (i.e. without sarking) you would be amazed at
just how much stuff can come through it (especially snow!). So the
battens being a bit wet is not too surprising. They usually stay put
well enough even if rotten right up until someone walks on them ;-)

I guess the wet batten is a symptom of rain windblown up the roof but should
the rain get through to the trusses?

A certain amount will get though by the nails through the felt. Again
not much to worry about as long an you don't obstruct ventilation to the
underside of the roof.

Q1. Is this generally a problem or should I wait till summer to see if it dries
out?

I would expect this to be unlikely to be an immediate problem.

Q2. Is the 'tidemark' likely to be fungal or disolved minerals?

Fungal would be recognisable by wispy fibres or fruiting bodies etc. So
probably just a tide mark plus dissolved air bourn pollution.


--
Cheers,

John.

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AndyM wrote:

Thanks.
Yes I am in Lytham St Annes. 1/2 mile from the sea and regularly lifting
handfulls of sand off the car due to the strong winds. Thankfully no frosts
though.
I too have lots to do. Just fitted a boiler CH system (thanks to this NG) and
a new kitchen will be in before end of Feb.
The roof can wait.

That's the spirit!

Save up and then do everything up top that needs it - you will probably
need scaffolding - so its a great time to sort out chimney repointing,
Chimenty linres for whatever, TV aerial installion, tiling flashing and
so on all in one go.

Use of a repuabel roofing firm that offer a guarantee is possibly worth
it in terms of final re-sale value.


AndyM