Old roof felt coming apart

TheAmateur

Hi all,


I noticed 3 small ish holes in my roof felt, it's the old black stuff very similar to what the folks were talking about in this thread from a few weeks ago (https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2058101251).



I've added some pictures so you can see it.







To be honest I wasn't worried about it until I realised that leaves and dirt had managed to get in through the holes and land on the insulation, so now I'm worried that rain water could also get in. To me, the insulation doesn't look damp but it's hard to know for sure because now it's covered in leaves and dirt .



I tried to use some Flashband to tape the felt back together, but as soon as I touched it it started coming apart even more, the house is about 50 years old so for all I know this could be the original stuff. What would ye advise? If necessary I'm prepared to get someone in to replace it, but would rather not eat that cost if it's a. not a big deal or b. I can do something relatively simple that's 90% as good.

Paddygreen

I would get it spray insulated between the rafters. Shouldn’t cost a fortune and your house would be warmer as an additional benefit. I reckon spray insulation could be applied to the felt as it stands.

listermint

Don't.


Spray insulation between the rafters don't do that.

You may not like the answer but here it is. You need new roofing felt. That bitumin stuff has a life expectancy of between 30 - 40 years depending on roof above and environmental conditions. It lessens if the roof is southf facing and continually heating up and cooling down.

You can do a patch job on areas as you've started but ultimately it's short term. The tiles or slates have to come up and new felt go down.


You can then have insulation done if you want. Insulation going in now would hide a problem and leave water free reign to come in.

KikiCamarena

Why not spray insulation between rafter? is this because of the ripped felt or just a no no anyway?

BrokenArrows

KikiCamarena wrote: »

Why not spray insulation between rafter? is this because of the ripped felt or just a no no anyway?

Because that will just mean the water, dirt and leaves will still be coming in and sitting on top of the insulation, eventually rotting away the wood of the rafters.

Calahonda52

Paddygreen wrote: »

I would get it spray insulated between the rafters. Shouldn’t cost a fortune and your house would be warmer as an additional benefit. I reckon spray insulation could be applied to the felt as it stands.

Not the right approach as suggested.
timbers will rot in about 10 years and roof will collapse at the eaves.
Been there.

Calahonda52

This looks like a new roof with footprint sized holes.
Why/ what is the white material further down?.
The pictures are not the easiest to access.

TheAmateur

listermint wrote: »

You may not like the answer but here it is. You need new roofing felt. That bitumin stuff has a life expectancy of between 30 - 40 years depending on roof above and environmental conditions.

Yeah, I think this is a fair assessment. This could very well be the original felt, and the house was built in 1976 afaik so in that case it's probably done well to last 44 years.

Calahonda52 wrote: »

This looks like a new roof with footprint sized holes.
Why/ what is the white material further down?.
The pictures are not the easiest to access.

Sorry about that, initially they were gigantic images that stretched out the whole thread page, so I shrunk them a bit overly judiciously! The white material you're seeing is actually a previous repair job which seems to have replaced about 1/3 of the felt on the south-facing side (as @listermint says above, that side would probably have failed the earliest). I'm only in the house under a year and unfortunately the previous owner is deceased, so I don't know any more details about that repair job. To my untrained eye it looks like they did a fairly neat job of it.

listermint

Calahonda52 wrote: »

Roof trusses in 1976, don't think so

I don't know tbh. Would be in around late 70s these were being done in newer estate builds. Depends on the builder.
My own is 79 but has perlin raftor approach traditional.

TheAmateur

Thanks for the help all, I'll do a bit of research now and see if I can find a reputable roofing contractor who could re-felt. If anyone here has someone they trust could you PM their details over to me? thanks again

Calahonda52

listermint wrote: »

I don't know tbh. Would be in around late 70s these were being done in newer estate builds. Depends on the builder.
My own is 79 but has perlin raftor approach traditional.

I don't either but that felt looks very new.. anyway keep safe and sign up for doing the Leaving cert next week!:D

listermint

Calahonda52 wrote: »

I don't either but that felt looks very new.. anyway keep safe and sign up for doing the Leaving cert next week!:D

Huh ?

Lost....

NickNickleby

Calahonda52 wrote: »

Roof trusses in 1976, don't think so

My roof is held up using those "W" shaped rafters, as I call them. Is that what you're referring to when you say trusses? The house was built in 1971.
When we got attic conversion, the double U 's had to be cut, and steel girders installed. And of course, no one thought to consider the age of the felt.
Its times like this that I wish I wasn't a natural born worrier.

Calahonda52

listermint wrote: »

Huh ?

Lost....

A bit of humour these dark days, keep safe

Calahonda52

NickNickleby wrote: »

My roof is held up using those "W" shaped rafters, as I call them. Is that what you're referring to when you say trusses? The house was built in 1971.
When we got attic conversion, the double U 's had to be cut, and steel girders installed. And of course, no one thought to consider the age of the felt.
Its times like this that I wish I wasn't a natural born worrier.

Okay, learning continues , thanks

NickNickleby

Calahonda52 wrote: »

Okay, learning continues , thanks

haha, no worries! wasn't trying to be an internet smarty-pants or anything, just info.