I live in an early 1990’s semidetached, with a roof that appears to consist of 1/2″ x 4″ boards (probably pine) mounted on the roof trusses [is the right name for that sarking?], covered in felt, then tiles. Something (presumably the felt or the batons the tiles attach to?) is nailed to the sarking with galvanised nails which protrude through about an inch (and hurt when you hit your head/back on them!). I guess they are at 12″ spacing all over the roof.

We’ve noticed when its very cold outside that these nails get condensation and drip. There’s a reasonable airflow through the eaves but it’s below zero outside and > 10deg in the loft so that seems inevitable. Other half was getting stuff out the loft recently and commented it was really wet up there with drips coming off the nails – I assumed she was referring to the condensation. Yesterday I went to put stuff back up the loft and the sarking is ringing wet, I’m pretty sure it’s not just condensation. We’ve had the odd patch of wet before when tiles have needed replacing but this is pretty much everywhere.

Its slightly better today – it has had an inch or so of snow/ice on it for a week which has now all melted.

So I’m now thinking the worst:

– if it’s all that wet, will we ever get it properly dry, and what are the likely impacts – will it rot and then fail spectacularly?
– how long should a 1990’s tile roof last? I’m thinking perhaps 30 years is about it – but haven’t seen any of the neighbours replace theirs (but someone has to be first!)
– how much roughly are we looking at to replace a single pitch (we only have one side of the apex) that is probably about 10m x 16m.

or am I overreacting and its likely just a small hole and the snow/ice helps it work its way around inside the roof? Scotland so unlikely to get hold of a roofer today – but will of course try tomorrow… I’m wondering if the person who has patched it twice previously is as good as his local reputation if we are getting this again…

Can’t help but if you manage to get a roofer to answer their phone, reply to an email, come out to see you within two months of when they promised they would then you’re doing much better than I’ve been of late.

I’d be looking to see what the ventilation is like / how can it be improved.

I would hope any roof lasted longer than 30 years. When we had ours replaced at the old house it was the first time it had been touched since the house went up… in 1890.

those nails shouldnt go all the way through i would have thought. And yea whats the ventilation like?

and

Ours is much the same age as danny above, takes a wee bit of maintenance evry year, but not much really. I’m not surprised if a roof from that era is gubbed as there was a lot of poorly manufactured building materials , it’s still disappointing though.

I’m lucky to haver a very good roofer close by who’ll always come round. Neighbours got an extension built last year, extending the current slate roof out from the house, the guys doing it have a very good local reputation, but have left it like a pigs ear, it’s awful looking, you can see where the old roof used to stop, slates broken already even though its less than a year old.

That’s before I start on the soffits, gutter etc.

I am having a new roof put on in March, bungalow, c 100m2 footprint, detached but with 2 extensions. It’s 60 years old and been patched up as tiles have slipped and the felt is a sort of bitumen so sags and cracks.

Got 3 quotes, c 8k-10k all in. 1600 tiles I think and 2 channels, 1 long ridge line.

Best guy has 6 months lead time so we are in the queue. 1 chap could do it at 1 weeks notice but he just recruited a gang of lads for each job.

About half the houses on the estate have been reroofed, to be fair none seem to have been done badly.

Ventilation sounds off, if its that warm in the loft it could be condensation.

Can’t help but if you manage to get a roofer to answer their phone, reply to an email, come out to see you within two months of when they promised they would then you’re doing much better than I’ve been of late.

Over a year for my father in law so far.

My roof is 1988, tiled on felt, in NW England so no sarking. I recently had the hip and ridge tiles refixed as the mortar was falling out, but the tiles are fine and I don’t see any drips.

If a roof space is well ventilated and moisture sealed from the house, it shouldn’t get condensation irrespective of the outside temperature, unless it’s foggy outside. If the air has come in from outside, it will have the same RH as outside, so no reason for it to condense. So drips off the nails are either leaks (which suggests damage to the tiles) or down to moisture from the house passing through the ceilings.

Thanks for the comments so far – previous house (different builder, different town, different decade) also had nails sticking through like this so whilst it’s not great – it doesn’t sound like that is that unusual. If it was just condensation on the nails I’d be fine [if you can get frost/dew on cold metal I can accept that outside air can be sufficiently saturated to condense on the nails] but the wood itself is wet (not damp – wet).

I’ll talk to the roofers about the ventilation but there’s enough of a draught up there I would be surprised if it was a problem. The only obvious gap from the house to the loft is around the crappy loft hatch (which is just 6mm ply with no bead/overlap).

Stopgap…

buy a couple of foam insulation boards
chop into strips
poke the strips over the protruding sharp ends of the nails

Our roof timbers are partly circa 1812, so I’d say usually they last quite a long time. It has been retiled at some stage (a good long while ago I’d guess), felt, tiles, battens, and it has those delightful nail ends sticking out.

Scaffolding going up as we speak at @tuboflard towers. The roof, tiles and nails are all original from 1918 but it’s bloody cold in the upper floors and slates often slipping or moving as nails have rotted. So, full new roof, membrane and insulation going on. Pricey but should make a big difference.

As @greybeard said moisture can and will pass through ceilings if there’s no vapour barrier (such as foil backed plasterboard). Have a think about how much moisture vapour you produce: are there many people living in the house, do you dry clothes indoors, boil food, have a non-vented tumble dryer, have a lot of baths/showers, are there working extractor fans in the kitchen and bathroom and do you use them etc.
Do you know what the roof covering is? Most concrete tiles or natural slates should last well in excess of 30 years.

buy a couple of foam insulation boards
chop into strips
poke the strips over the protruding sharp ends of the nails

ok – at the moment that is just going to trap water in the wood, but if we can get it dry that might make sense (especially for the ones I keep banging my head on!)

As @greybeard said moisture can and will pass through ceilings if there’s no vapour barrier (such as foil backed plasterboard).

OK – well I think its bog standard platerboard, but all with artex on it, and 30 years of repainting on top.

Have a think about how much moisture vapour you produce: are there many people living in the house, do you dry clothes indoors, boil food, have a non-vented tumble dryer, have a lot of baths/showers, are there working extractor fans in the kitchen and bathroom and do you use them etc.

– 4 people,
– we do dry clothes indoors (otherwise they would freeze at the moment!) but mostly with a condensing tumble dryer in a utility room with an extractor on a humidistat.
– we do boil food, but use the cooker hood (extract to outside) pretty religiously as if we don’t the windows run with condensation
– No 1 son has a LOT of long showers for someone who rarely goes outside at the moment – there’s no extractor in the bathroom – but we do open the window. I’ll see if I can rig up a humidity sensor and track the trend…

Do you know what the roof covering is? Most concrete tiles or natural slates should last well in excess of 30 years.

They look like slates to me – but I’m no expert. I’m reassured by your and other’s comments about the expected lifetime – so now I just need to get it dry and get it fixed.

every scottish roof I have been in has the nails right thru the sarking boards. a nail that only went most of the way thru would be impossible to actually get to bite given the wobblyness and thickness of the slates. You need that extra length to get it to bite into the boards.

If you live in Scotland and are after a cowboy, I’ve got just the chap!
We are currently doing battle through the courts. It is not fun.
Just a heads up to choose your roofer very carefully.

A slate nail is about 45mm, sarking board 12.5mm and slate about 5mm. Off course the nail is going to poke through. As TJ says if it didn’t the first gust of wind the lot would be down the street.

Sounds like loft is too warm and the air is condensing on the cold nails, it will be more noticeable with the current cold frosty weather. How much loft insulation is there?

I’d still focus on the humidity levels in the roof space before considering the roof coverings unless there is an obvious problem such as broken or missing slates. Maybe look at Farnell who do simple humidity meters.
It is possible that there is an inherent problem with the roof coverings (such as inadequate lap of each slate over those below which has only become apparent due to failure of the felt which was previously taking the water down to eaves level). A decent roofer should be able to tell you, but I’d still start with condensation.

@ThePilot
If you live in Scotland and are after a cowboy, I’ve got just the chap!
We are currently doing battle through the courts. It is not fun.
Just a heads up to choose your roofer very carefully.

Not called McFee by any chance? Parents had some serious issues with cowboy roofer from fife – who quite frankly defrauded them and is lucky I’m not the physical violence type…

There’s a few local to me – who I know where they live which is at least a little reassurance.

How much loft insulation is there?

Looking at it – I’d say its the original glass fibre from when the house was built. Probably 2″ thick.

@poly No, I’m in sw Scotland. If anyone this way is looking to get their roof done and needs his name so they don’t make the same mistake I did, I’m more than happy to supply it.
Sorry to hear about your parents, it really is a nightmare having a cowboy in.
Mine did much the same, you could call it nothing other than fraud. Karma had better get its skates on, lots of work to do!

Looking at it – I’d say its the original glass fibre from when the house was built. Probably 2″ thick.

Aren’t you out by like a factor of five there?

Also, https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/green-homes-grant/

@ThePilot I’m also SW Scotland, wouldn’t mind that name if you don’t mind (I can’t PM as it won’t work for me at work and I’ll probably forget when I get home), need some roof work done and it’s nice to know who to avoid.

@squirrelking
PMed you. Good luck with it.

‘re bodger roofers I went to see past customers of 1 quote we had, they paid the deposit by credit card to protect the whole job. Not sure who mediates if it had gone to a dispute but sounded like a good idea to me.

I am pretty sure if you part pay for something like 100 quid via visa you get protected for the whole purchase.

Looking at it – I’d say its the original glass fibre from when the house was built. Probably 2″ thick.

For new builds minimum loft insulation is 270mm.

You have 50mm ish get some 200mm rolls of insulation to cut down on heat loss and prevent condensation.

Poolman, that’s correct, I often buy pricey stuff with E-vouchers I can get a discount or earn points…I bought a new Induction hob yesterday. But I paid the final 10% by credit card to get the protection.

Not sure how it applies to stuff like roofs though as a dispute is likely to be more complex than if your hob fails within 2 years! If I had any doubts over the roofer I wouldn’t rely on a credit card to cover any issues, I’d change roofer.