Hello, I’m hoping a roofer can offer me some advice.
My house is detached, with a pitched roof and therefore 2 gable ends/verges. Last month I had the front verge re-pointed as some of the old mortar had fallen out and was loose. I wasn’t there when it was done but the builder assured me he raked out all the old mortar and rubble (of varying depths) and keyed in the new mortar. Last night I thought I’d have a look into the loft to make sure all was ok, but unfortunately it wasn’t.
The rafter on the gable end (behind where the re-pointing was one) was visibly wet in places (pic below just about shows the dark wet patches at the top of the rafter), and so was the black sarking/underfelt, for about the first 2 feet from the rafter, with lots of little drips on it, slowly dripping onto the loft insulation. My first thought was that water is leaking in through the verge but I’ve just read a few posts about condensation. This weekend was the first time we’ve had freezing weather since I moved in, so I’m unsure if it’s a dodgy re-pointing job allowing rainwater in or if it’s condensation. It certainly didn’t leak earlier in the year as I checked in the loft after a heavy storm and it was dry.
If it was condensation, wouldn’t it be throughout the loft, and not confined to the gable end that was recently re-pointed? Would a poor re-pointing job lead to the wetness I've described? Please help!
My house is detached, with a pitched roof and therefore 2 gable ends/verges. Last month I had the front verge re-pointed as some of the old mortar had fallen out and was loose. I wasn’t there when it was done but the builder assured me he raked out all the old mortar and rubble (of varying depths) and keyed in the new mortar. Last night I thought I’d have a look into the loft to make sure all was ok, but unfortunately it wasn’t.
The rafter on the gable end (behind where the re-pointing was one) was visibly wet in places (pic below just about shows the dark wet patches at the top of the rafter), and so was the black sarking/underfelt, for about the first 2 feet from the rafter, with lots of little drips on it, slowly dripping onto the loft insulation. My first thought was that water is leaking in through the verge but I’ve just read a few posts about condensation. This weekend was the first time we’ve had freezing weather since I moved in, so I’m unsure if it’s a dodgy re-pointing job allowing rainwater in or if it’s condensation. It certainly didn’t leak earlier in the year as I checked in the loft after a heavy storm and it was dry.
If it was condensation, wouldn’t it be throughout the loft, and not confined to the gable end that was recently re-pointed? Would a poor re-pointing job lead to the wetness I've described? Please help!
