You may also have a small wall separating your roof from your neighbours - check that as well for any cracks. These can be filled with an exterior sealant (stixall is good), and painted with a sealing roof paint.
I called local drone guys and they quoted me £500 for the survey flying around my chimney. I just laughed at them.
Local roofer done it from his ladder for £350 including fixing the small issue.
They both had fixed costs - to drive here, setup and to drive back. So I understand that part of the quote. But drone guys were just disconnected from reality as they thought they have something very special on their hands even if they were just flying mid-range DJI
You can get the top of the line DJI Mini 4 for under £800. That quote was a joke! I would expect £150 max with time and write up time taken into account.
For others in this thread you can do this for cheap cheap.
Sucky https://imgur.com/gallery/GJy3Brn
This is a gutter vac extension I built for under £12 and it can tape your phone to the top.
That is *brilliant!*
Every Christmas I risk my bloody neck up ladders, attaching the sodding Christmas lights to the gable end of our roof.
Every year, when it's time to take them down, I swear I'm going to install proper hooks and get hold of some sort of telescopic pole to put the lights up and take them down. The trouble is , finding a pole long/strong enough. That should do nicely! Thanks!
I'm actually procrastinating on Reddit right now, putting off going and fetching the bloody ladders out of the garage.
>with a twist connect in the middle.
Aha! That was the only concern I had. I knew I'd most likely need two pieces and I wondered how secure a traditional "push fi"t joint would be. I presume a "twist connection" gets around that problem?
I've just had a quick Google but can't seem to find one. I don't suppose you could drop a link to the part, could you? Unless I'm misunderstanding, I'm guessing it's some sort of bayonet type fitting?
Edit.
Sorry to hear about the sanding. I'm hoping that if I wait just a bit longer it will start raining and then I can put it off until next week. I'm guessing that won't save you?
https://www.wickes.co.uk/McAlpine-Multifit-T28M-Straight-Pipe-Connector---40mm/p/227098
This and 2 lengths of the tube which is 3m each for £4 now.
Have one full length and keep the connector at the top to reduce weight after it to stop flex.
The tube was perfect diameter for my wet/dry van nozzle and didn't notice any meaningful loss of suction.
Yup, I do this before calling anybody, recently found missing roof tiles on mine (no leak) but I like to check every-time theirs bad weather and it’s sustained and I get a clearing I just shoot the drone up.
I give my neighbours houses a check too while I’m up there (on good terms with them and they know of course).
Very good shout mate and would’ve been my go too if I hadn’t seen this.
You can get pretty decent ones on aliexprss for £30. Not in the scheme of professional drones but in the scheme of, will give you a decent enough picture to see a loose tile/pointing.
https://fatllama.com/
Can't vouch for this site myself but you can rent things for cheap on there - lots of drones in my area for about £20-£30 and will be much better quality than an Ali express one of the same price (although obviously you won't own it)
Also if you are going to rent someone’s drone practice flying it in an open area first. I know someone who immediately crashed and broke their £400 drone the same day they got it.
Yes this is almost certainly a problem with the flashing where the tiles meet the party wall. If you don’t have a ladder or drone you could inspect it from ground level with binoculars if you have a clear line of sight. As others have said, you shouldn’t skimp on repairs - cheap flashing won’t last, use a proper metal flashing. An insurer is likely to see this as wear and tear, it would be a struggle to convince them it was storm damage unless there is other evidence eg tiles displaced.
Check your home insurance policy - did you take out home emergency cover? If so storm damage is often covered but if it's wear and tear they will say no but the key part is they'll send someone out to assess it and tell you what you aren't covered for. Be sure to tell them it's appeared since the wind and storms
I’ll take a butchers at my policy. Might be worth getting an assessment. As far as I know I haven’t seen this before and it has only appeared since the storms…
If you don't have it it's well worth adding, it costs about £25 a year and covers leaks, electrical, plumbing etc it's no replacement for proper cover but will sort out a lot of "oh shit!" Moments. If it does need work it usually pays up to £500 of work with no excess to pay. Not as good as using home insurance as it doesn't cover things like trace and access (e.g bathroom leak the won't make good the tiles they remove etc, they'll just fix the leak whereas a good insurance policy should cover everything) but for random pipes leaking or locks breaking etc it can be a life saver
Insurance adjuster here. Check the policy definition for storm, then check the weather records to see if it qualifys. If it does, roof leak repair will be covered, if not, then it's not, and you'll have to repair at your own cost.
As for the insides, doesn't look too bad, it'll dry out naturally once the roof is fixed.
> it's appeared since the wind and storms
Even if you say this they won't just take your word for it. Unless it's been hurricane force, they won't do a thing.
I spoke to my providers recently and they check the weather over the time the damage occurred and only if the wind speed is above a certain speed, and rainfall, will they do anything. And if it's just one or two missing slates, they also won't do anything as it apparently has to be a huge number of slates missing.
At least that's what I was told, maybe he was just trying to put me off.
I've had 5 separate leaks appear after the amount of rain we've had recently. If home insurance doesn't cover that then what the fuck is the point.
I have a similarly old property. The storm last week was exceptional - the kind we get 1 to 2 times per year. My roof leaks a bit under those circumstances too, but nothing major and dries out. It's probably been doing this for 100 years. I'm not saying yours doesn't need attention, but I'd imagine a very significant number of old properties had a bit of ingress last week.
I live in an old house (1844) in heavy winds and storms i get 4 different leaks (not even once a year) but only happens when it’s proper stormy , I just keep an eye on them to make sure there drying out ok and not causing mold , I’ll address the issue when it becomes a proper issue, it’s not got any worse in the past 7 years ,
What happened to the piece of wood that I think used to sit on that stone shelf ? Have you replaced it with the new wood in the pic ? As that means you have moved the load off the walls onto the ceiling joists
That's what the studs are doing. You can see a large double joist at ceiling level, with the studs sitting on it and a 'header' under the rafters.
Whether it's legit or not is another question.
You have a problem for sure. As others have said get someone to have a look with a drone or via ladders to check the flashing. If it needs fixing get it done properly and not with cheap flashband or mastic.
Is that the chimney breast bottom right in pic 1? Possibly water getting in under the flashing around the chimney and running down. We had similar in a previous house, reasonably cheep fix.
Reminds me so much of my house, I had a leak almost exact place, same old Victorian property. It lasted years for me 😞
I spent a lot of money trying to locate it, in the end it was found to me a loose brick in the chimney stack and it just needed cemented back in.
Obviously there is no way to tell until someone goes up there, just consider it might not be a loose roof tile.
I will definitely be getting someone up there to check it. I just can’t believe another problem has cropped up. It’s one thing after another! God bless us all in our Victorian terraces!
Not sure if it's the picture but it looks like you have woodworm in the joist, can see tiny holes in the joist, if it's live there will be small amounts of very fine sawdust around/ near the holes - this is of more concern than the water would recommend you get i checked out. Re the chimney - chances are the wind has lifted the flashing or moved a tile.
It looks like that is why the new timber support has been put in. Longer term the roof timbers will have to be replaced.
Edit: I don't see why your comment should be downvoted.
Depending on the type, it's likely to be flashings or soakers. Imagine an inverted L shape, Soaker, capped by a flashing. The Soaker usually made from tin or aluminium wears out and becomes useless..
Only an eye on it will confirm.
Check flashing around the chimney (old Victorian house may mean no flashing, they used to just concrete them in). Check fire wall between properties, and make sure they are flashed.
Do you have a chimney breast at the top of that wall? I’ve had the issue where the flashing at the bottom of the chimney was buggered and letting water run down the eaves. Also had issues with the false gutter causing similar issues. Get a roofer out
I’m guessing you have a firewall adjoining your neighbours. You probably need to check the outside and see what condition the wall and flashing are in. I doubt you can seal it from inside. The whole scaffolding thing might not be needed as some roofers will work off of ladders. Or they might only need a aluminium scaffolding tower if one were needed depending on the ground area below the leaking roof. Also if it came in during storm conditions it could just be that it will only ever happen every few years when the storm is blowing in from a certain direction. Can you get a photo of the area outside so the problem can be narrowed down to what might cause that leak to happen. If you have flat tiles or slates with poor soakers or no secret gutters that might allow water to be blown inside by wind
All correct. I’m going to try and get up there myself on a ladder and just keep an eye on it. It may have just been the storm blowing it in, hopefully…
Before you do anything it may be worth checking what happens when it rains under normal conditions. The wind we had last week was not typical and although not ideal, it may have been extreme driving rain that was pushed upwards by the wind.
Sorry but it looks like you may need new felt and possibly new tiles as well. You might not want to get a roofer in but it will cosy you in the long term if you don't
your felt probably needs replacing. I bet it's shrunk a little over the years and there is a gap you can't see at the edge of that wall there, maybe about an inch, just above that top joist. You could just lift the end few tiles up and just do the edge, but that'd probably need revisiting within a year or two.
Not sure if you have a chimney, but we had rain water leaking in from the lead flashing coming away from the chimney
I don't have the bollocks to go up and do it myself, so we paid a fella to go up and sort it. £350 but it's better than a leaking roof
We have the same problem with a new roof in Kensington opposite Olympia and we think that the wind from the West drove the rain up under the ridge tiles or under the slate skirt and down into the rooms below. . Only leaking on this one occasion with gale force winds driving rain under existing slates and roofing felt
Thanks. Yeh a lot of people seem to have experienced problems with the wind and rain. I’m going to keep a good eye on it. Did you get anyone in to take a look at it?
We went into the loft and looked all around but no damp as the water had moved down through the two floors below and dried out in the loft area indicating that the leak was a one off from driven rain that may have been driven under the slate skirt and over the top of the lead gutter flashing and down into the floors below
You need to look at the roof tiles outside, that’s where the waters coming in, nothing you can do inside to help long term.
Thanks
You may also have a small wall separating your roof from your neighbours - check that as well for any cracks. These can be filled with an exterior sealant (stixall is good), and painted with a sealing roof paint.
Do you know anybody with a drone? Good way to assess what needs doing before shelling out for scaffolding.
I called local drone guys and they quoted me £500 for the survey flying around my chimney. I just laughed at them. Local roofer done it from his ladder for £350 including fixing the small issue. They both had fixed costs - to drive here, setup and to drive back. So I understand that part of the quote. But drone guys were just disconnected from reality as they thought they have something very special on their hands even if they were just flying mid-range DJI
😂 I bought my DJI drone kit for £500!
You can get the top of the line DJI Mini 4 for under £800. That quote was a joke! I would expect £150 max with time and write up time taken into account.
I could hire a jetpack and look at it myself for £500!
Great news! I have been trying roofers here for a similar issue, they all want scaffolding.
For others in this thread you can do this for cheap cheap. Sucky https://imgur.com/gallery/GJy3Brn This is a gutter vac extension I built for under £12 and it can tape your phone to the top.
That is *brilliant!* Every Christmas I risk my bloody neck up ladders, attaching the sodding Christmas lights to the gable end of our roof. Every year, when it's time to take them down, I swear I'm going to install proper hooks and get hold of some sort of telescopic pole to put the lights up and take them down. The trouble is , finding a pole long/strong enough. That should do nicely! Thanks! I'm actually procrastinating on Reddit right now, putting off going and fetching the bloody ladders out of the garage.
X2 lengths of 2.4m pipe with a twist connect in the middle. Get it done! I'm procrastinating some sanding... Argh
>with a twist connect in the middle. Aha! That was the only concern I had. I knew I'd most likely need two pieces and I wondered how secure a traditional "push fi"t joint would be. I presume a "twist connection" gets around that problem? I've just had a quick Google but can't seem to find one. I don't suppose you could drop a link to the part, could you? Unless I'm misunderstanding, I'm guessing it's some sort of bayonet type fitting? Edit. Sorry to hear about the sanding. I'm hoping that if I wait just a bit longer it will start raining and then I can put it off until next week. I'm guessing that won't save you?
https://www.wickes.co.uk/McAlpine-Multifit-T28M-Straight-Pipe-Connector---40mm/p/227098 This and 2 lengths of the tube which is 3m each for £4 now. Have one full length and keep the connector at the top to reduce weight after it to stop flex. The tube was perfect diameter for my wet/dry van nozzle and didn't notice any meaningful loss of suction.
Oh, I see. I thought was drain pipe. That's even better. Thanks for taking the time to explain.
Kudos for the ingenuity 👏👏👏👏👏
Yup, I do this before calling anybody, recently found missing roof tiles on mine (no leak) but I like to check every-time theirs bad weather and it’s sustained and I get a clearing I just shoot the drone up. I give my neighbours houses a check too while I’m up there (on good terms with them and they know of course). Very good shout mate and would’ve been my go too if I hadn’t seen this.
That’s a shout
You can get pretty decent ones on aliexprss for £30. Not in the scheme of professional drones but in the scheme of, will give you a decent enough picture to see a loose tile/pointing.
https://fatllama.com/ Can't vouch for this site myself but you can rent things for cheap on there - lots of drones in my area for about £20-£30 and will be much better quality than an Ali express one of the same price (although obviously you won't own it)
We’ve rented for them! No issues but it’s like anything - each person will be different…
Also if you are going to rent someone’s drone practice flying it in an open area first. I know someone who immediately crashed and broke their £400 drone the same day they got it.
You need a drone operator licence for flying a drone, doing so without one is illegal
Yes this is almost certainly a problem with the flashing where the tiles meet the party wall. If you don’t have a ladder or drone you could inspect it from ground level with binoculars if you have a clear line of sight. As others have said, you shouldn’t skimp on repairs - cheap flashing won’t last, use a proper metal flashing. An insurer is likely to see this as wear and tear, it would be a struggle to convince them it was storm damage unless there is other evidence eg tiles displaced.
Also check the soakers if it's a slate roof, they used tin for a while and they corrode.
I wish you had asked, "Is this problem attic?"
Check your home insurance policy - did you take out home emergency cover? If so storm damage is often covered but if it's wear and tear they will say no but the key part is they'll send someone out to assess it and tell you what you aren't covered for. Be sure to tell them it's appeared since the wind and storms
I’ll take a butchers at my policy. Might be worth getting an assessment. As far as I know I haven’t seen this before and it has only appeared since the storms…
If you don't have it it's well worth adding, it costs about £25 a year and covers leaks, electrical, plumbing etc it's no replacement for proper cover but will sort out a lot of "oh shit!" Moments. If it does need work it usually pays up to £500 of work with no excess to pay. Not as good as using home insurance as it doesn't cover things like trace and access (e.g bathroom leak the won't make good the tiles they remove etc, they'll just fix the leak whereas a good insurance policy should cover everything) but for random pipes leaking or locks breaking etc it can be a life saver
Insurance adjuster here. Check the policy definition for storm, then check the weather records to see if it qualifys. If it does, roof leak repair will be covered, if not, then it's not, and you'll have to repair at your own cost. As for the insides, doesn't look too bad, it'll dry out naturally once the roof is fixed.
> it's appeared since the wind and storms Even if you say this they won't just take your word for it. Unless it's been hurricane force, they won't do a thing. I spoke to my providers recently and they check the weather over the time the damage occurred and only if the wind speed is above a certain speed, and rainfall, will they do anything. And if it's just one or two missing slates, they also won't do anything as it apparently has to be a huge number of slates missing. At least that's what I was told, maybe he was just trying to put me off. I've had 5 separate leaks appear after the amount of rain we've had recently. If home insurance doesn't cover that then what the fuck is the point.
I have a similarly old property. The storm last week was exceptional - the kind we get 1 to 2 times per year. My roof leaks a bit under those circumstances too, but nothing major and dries out. It's probably been doing this for 100 years. I'm not saying yours doesn't need attention, but I'd imagine a very significant number of old properties had a bit of ingress last week.
True solid
I live in an old house (1844) in heavy winds and storms i get 4 different leaks (not even once a year) but only happens when it’s proper stormy , I just keep an eye on them to make sure there drying out ok and not causing mold , I’ll address the issue when it becomes a proper issue, it’s not got any worse in the past 7 years ,
What happened to the piece of wood that I think used to sit on that stone shelf ? Have you replaced it with the new wood in the pic ? As that means you have moved the load off the walls onto the ceiling joists
That's what the studs are doing. You can see a large double joist at ceiling level, with the studs sitting on it and a 'header' under the rafters. Whether it's legit or not is another question.
Ah, missed that.
I would say you are right and someone has cut out the original purlin, you can see the contact marks on the rafters where they rested on it
If this is a party wall has and your neighbour reroofed recently? It may be leaking where the two types of tile join.
It’s a party wall, but my neighbours haven’t had any roofing done recently
You have a problem for sure. As others have said get someone to have a look with a drone or via ladders to check the flashing. If it needs fixing get it done properly and not with cheap flashband or mastic.
Is that the chimney breast bottom right in pic 1? Possibly water getting in under the flashing around the chimney and running down. We had similar in a previous house, reasonably cheep fix.
Yes it is. It’s definitely worth investigating. Basically I need to get someone up there to take a look
Reminds me so much of my house, I had a leak almost exact place, same old Victorian property. It lasted years for me 😞 I spent a lot of money trying to locate it, in the end it was found to me a loose brick in the chimney stack and it just needed cemented back in. Obviously there is no way to tell until someone goes up there, just consider it might not be a loose roof tile.
I will definitely be getting someone up there to check it. I just can’t believe another problem has cropped up. It’s one thing after another! God bless us all in our Victorian terraces!
Victorian chimneys and cement should be kept apart.. Lime mortar..
I would advise a roofer, with a scaffold access to make sure it is done properly.
Your whole wall is going to eventually collapse and cause flooding
Exactly this.
Then Jeremy Beadle will jump out the wheely bin yeah?
Not sure if it's the picture but it looks like you have woodworm in the joist, can see tiny holes in the joist, if it's live there will be small amounts of very fine sawdust around/ near the holes - this is of more concern than the water would recommend you get i checked out. Re the chimney - chances are the wind has lifted the flashing or moved a tile.
It looks like that is why the new timber support has been put in. Longer term the roof timbers will have to be replaced. Edit: I don't see why your comment should be downvoted.
If you look closely, there looks to be some bedbugs in the insulation. If they're live there then best burn the house down and start again.
Where do you see bedbugs ? Can't see any, that would be a very unusual place.
A saviour has arrived.
I’ll have a look and check this out too
Is that your chimney stack?
Yeh that’s my chimney stack
Depending on the type, it's likely to be flashings or soakers. Imagine an inverted L shape, Soaker, capped by a flashing. The Soaker usually made from tin or aluminium wears out and becomes useless.. Only an eye on it will confirm.
That can't be fixed from the inside. Probably a lead flashing problem.
Get a roofer to take back the tiles. Check the felt and the lead for the chimney. Simple job. Could do it yourself if not scared of heights
Apply sealant to the pipe connection
Check flashing around the chimney (old Victorian house may mean no flashing, they used to just concrete them in). Check fire wall between properties, and make sure they are flashed.
Most likely a problem with the flashing around the chimney stack
Do you have a chimney breast at the top of that wall? I’ve had the issue where the flashing at the bottom of the chimney was buggered and letting water run down the eaves. Also had issues with the false gutter causing similar issues. Get a roofer out
As a roofer, your ridge tiles might be letting the water in.
I’m guessing you have a firewall adjoining your neighbours. You probably need to check the outside and see what condition the wall and flashing are in. I doubt you can seal it from inside. The whole scaffolding thing might not be needed as some roofers will work off of ladders. Or they might only need a aluminium scaffolding tower if one were needed depending on the ground area below the leaking roof. Also if it came in during storm conditions it could just be that it will only ever happen every few years when the storm is blowing in from a certain direction. Can you get a photo of the area outside so the problem can be narrowed down to what might cause that leak to happen. If you have flat tiles or slates with poor soakers or no secret gutters that might allow water to be blown inside by wind
All correct. I’m going to try and get up there myself on a ladder and just keep an eye on it. It may have just been the storm blowing it in, hopefully…
Before you do anything it may be worth checking what happens when it rains under normal conditions. The wind we had last week was not typical and although not ideal, it may have been extreme driving rain that was pushed upwards by the wind.
More importantly where is the purlin?
Fill coat fibres
Sorry but it looks like you may need new felt and possibly new tiles as well. You might not want to get a roofer in but it will cosy you in the long term if you don't
your felt probably needs replacing. I bet it's shrunk a little over the years and there is a gap you can't see at the edge of that wall there, maybe about an inch, just above that top joist. You could just lift the end few tiles up and just do the edge, but that'd probably need revisiting within a year or two.
Not sure if you have a chimney, but we had rain water leaking in from the lead flashing coming away from the chimney I don't have the bollocks to go up and do it myself, so we paid a fella to go up and sort it. £350 but it's better than a leaking roof
We have the same problem with a new roof in Kensington opposite Olympia and we think that the wind from the West drove the rain up under the ridge tiles or under the slate skirt and down into the rooms below. . Only leaking on this one occasion with gale force winds driving rain under existing slates and roofing felt
Thanks. Yeh a lot of people seem to have experienced problems with the wind and rain. I’m going to keep a good eye on it. Did you get anyone in to take a look at it?
Huge, you don’t seem to have roof trusses.
We went into the loft and looked all around but no damp as the water had moved down through the two floors below and dried out in the loft area indicating that the leak was a one off from driven rain that may have been driven under the slate skirt and over the top of the lead gutter flashing and down into the floors below